Scotland and Poland, who each only managed one point at Euro 2024, will be going for the win when they play on Thursday, the first day of the new UEFA Nations League season.

The two countries square off at Hampden

Park ahead of challenging matches against Portugal and Croatia, their other League A Group 1 adversaries.

Scotland’s most recent attempt to make it to the major event knockout stage ended in loss, having lost to the tournament hosts by five goals, drawn with Switzerland, and then lost to Hungary.

Even though Steve Clarke’s team lost in Germany, they have advanced to the top division of the Nations League and qualified for consecutive Euros.

The Scots will have more difficult competition in the 2024-25 edition after defeating the Republic of Ireland and Ukraine to win first place in their group the previous time around. On Sunday, they will go to Portugal in lieu of Poland.

If they placed in the top two, they would advance to the UEFA tournament’s quarterfinals; a third-place finish would mean a relegation playoff, and a bottom-place finish would guarantee relegation back to League B.

Scotland’s medium-term goal is to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, which would be their first global finals since 1998. But initially, they will aim to compete in League A.

Similar to Thursday’s hosts, Poland placed fourth in their summer European Championship group after suffering defeats to the Netherlands and Austria in their first two games before upsetting France in Dortmund.

Robert Lewandowski, the all-time leading scorer and record appearance holder, scored from the penalty spot to save a 1-1 draw against Les Bleus, but his thigh issue plagued him the entire tournament, limiting his country’s effect.

After taking over in September 2023, Michal Probierz had won six of his ten games before to Poland’s first defeat at the Euros. Despite Poland’s elimination, which followed a run of underwhelming results at major championships, Probierz has been kept in his position as manager for the time being.

The Eagles avoided relegation in their most recent Nations League campaign, coming in third place behind Belgium and the Netherlands, after making it through the playoffs to both qualify for Qatar 2022 and

Euro 2024.

Probierz must now maintain his country’s standing at the top of Europe before deciding how to go with the World Cup.