Even eight years after its introduction, the competition does not have the allure of its counterparts, but it is still an important part of the international calendar, especially for Scotland.
Head coach Clarke has spoken repeatedly about how his players need to face strong opposition to keep improving.
This time around, they will not be playing Europe’s elite, but competitive games against sides of a similar level present a good test and strong preparation for the next set of European Championship qualifiers.
Promotion brings prestige, glamour games next time around and prize money, but arguably the real prizes come in how a successful campaign sets Scotland up for the future.
The seeding for qualification campaigns and finals is always a complicated affair, but there is one simple truth that applies to them all. Winning games pushes a team up the rankings and into a better position – and winning competitive games is more valuable than victory in friendlies.
There is also the importance of a good Nations League as a lifeline to reach major finals. Four teams who failed to qualify for the World Cup directly have been given a second chance through the play-offs due to their Nations League record.
And let us not forget that Scotland’s long exodus from a major finals was ended because of a Nations League lifeline – the emotion of the play-off victory in Serbia that sealed a place at Euro 2020 was only possible because of a strong campaign.
It should not be the case that the national team needs a similar chance to reach Euro 2028, but a horrible set of circumstances could arise that make Nations League success essential.
As co-hosts of the tournament, the idea of Scotland not making the finals and seeing fans of other nations celebrating at Hampden in unthinkable.
However, with four nations hosting the finals, Scotland, England, Wales and Republic of Ireland all have to go through the qualification campaign.
In an ideal world, the national team succeeds there and books a place, with three group games at Hampden guaranteed.
Uefa has set aside two places for host nations who fail to qualify in an attempt to make sure all four are in the tournament proper.
However, if more than two of the four fail to qualify automatically, it comes down to qualifying ranking and Scotland could conceivably miss out altogether.
In that specific case, having a play-off place banked from the Nations League would be heaven sent.
Leave a Reply