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Scotland face a mouthwatering reunion with Brazil in their first World Cup campaign since 1998 after being drawn in Group C at Friday’s ceremony.
Steve Clarke’s players will also face Morocco and Haiti on their return to the big time, opening their campaign against the latter on 13 June. That curtain raiser will be played in either the Boston area or the MetLife Stadium near New York City.
The Brazil game, which will be played in Miami or Atlanta on 24 June, will evoke memories of the opening match of France 1998. Back then, Scotland were narrowly beaten 2-1. The countries have met only once since then, in a 2011 friendly that Brazil won 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium, but the fixture used to be a regular occurrence at World Cup level. They were also drawn together in 1974, 1982 and 1990.
Morocco also conjure up images of a meeting in the 1998 tournament, although Scotland will not want to hark back to a 3-0 defeat. This time the teams will meet in Philadelphia or the Boston area on 19 June.
Wales and Northern Ireland both discovered their potential opponents, although only one of them can qualify because they will compete in the same playoff quartet. Canada, Switzerland and Qatar await in Group B should either side progress.
The Republic of Ireland also have a playoff to negotiate before they can plan for World Cup 2026. Should they be successful, Heimir Hallgrímsson’s team will play Mexico, South Korea and South Africa.
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The playoff ties will take place in March, each team needing to navigate a semi-final and final in order to book their place. Wales and Northern Ireland will face a showdown in Cardiff on 31 March if the former beat Bosnia and Herzegovina at home and the latter come through a trip to Italy. Ireland will host North Macedonia or Denmark if they win their away semi-final against the Czech Republic.
