Scotland suffer World Cup double jeopardy as domino effect of horror run gives Steve Clarke his toughest test yet

Scotland face a nightmare World Cup scenario after Steve Clarke's men kicked off their Nations League campaign with back-to-back defeats.

Despite improvement in performance levels from the disappointing Euro 2024 campaign, the Tartan Army watched as their heroes suffered late heartbreak at the hands of Poland and Portugal to take Scotland's dismal run of form to just one win 14 games and bottom of their group in Nations League A. Croatia are up next before the return clash with Cristiano Ronaldo and Co at Hampden, with the nation currently sitting at 48th in the FIFA world rankings.

Going into the campaign, Clarke's men were eyeing Pot 1 in the upcoming World Cup qualifying draw if they could provide an impressive showing in the Nations League. But following two defeats so far, they currently stand as the last side in the seeding for Pot 2 and in jeopardy of dropping to Pot 3.

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That leave Scotland with an uphill battle to reach the 2026 tournament in America, Canada and Mexico with the opening exchanges of the league meaning it's unlikely they will finish as one of the four best-ranked group winners from the Nations League who have not finished in the top two in World Cup qualifying.

Ultimately, it appears that being in League A, Group 1 has acted as a double blow with tougher fixtures likely to impact further on the world ranking. It could leave Clarke navigating two higher seeds in a bid to bring Scotland back to the World Cup in 2026.

And while the outlook may be negative at this stage, rivals Portugal have seen the positive signs with Bruno Fernandes showing surprise support. He said after the 2-1 win in Lisbon: "Scotland are a very tough team with several Premier League players.

"They are dangerous from set pieces and that's how we conceded the goal. But the most important thing was our reaction and the way we won the game. I think you saw the depth of our squad because the subs came on and made a huge difference."