A five-goal thrashing at the hands of the hosts, followed by a draw with Switzerland and a defeat to Hungary, was Scotland's latest attempt to reach the knockout stages of a major tournament.

Although Steve Clarke's men came up short in Germany, they have recently qualified for back-to-back Euros and earned promotion to the elite level of the Nations League.

Having beaten Ukraine and the Republic of Ireland to top their group last time out, the Scots will face tougher competition in the 2024-25 edition, with a trip to Portugal on Sunday following the visit of Poland.

A top-two finish would see them progress to the quarter-finals of UEFA's newly-expanded tournament, while third place would mean a relegation play-off and bottom place would mean relegation to League B.

Qualifying for the 2026 World Cup - which would be their first global finals since 1998 - is Scotland's medium-term priority, but first they will try to hold their own in League A.

Like Thursday's hosts, Poland finished fourth in their group at this summer's European Championship, losing their opening two games - to the Netherlands and then Austria - before frustrating France in Dortmund.

All-time leading scorer and record capper Robert Lewandowski scored from the spot to salvage a 1-1 draw against Les Bleus, but he was hampered by a thigh problem throughout a tournament in which his nation made little impact.

Michal Probierz took over in September 2023 and had won six of his 10 games before losing for the first time at the Euros, and although Poland's exit continued a trend of disappointing performances at major finals, he was retained as coach for the time being.

Between the play-offs to reach both Qatar 2022 and Euro 2024, the Eagles survived relegation in their most recent Nations League campaign, finishing a distant third behind Belgium and the Netherlands.

Now, Probierz will be tasked with keeping his nation afloat in Europe's elite competition before setting his sights on the World Cup.

Scotland possible starting lineup:

Gunn; Porteous, Hanley, McKenna; Ralston, McGregor, Gilmour, Robertson; McTominay, McGinn; Dykes

Poland possible starting lineup:

Skorupski; Bednarek, Dawidowicz, Kiwior; Frankowski, Zielinski, Slisz, Moder, Zalewski; Swiderski, Lewandowski

Prediction:Scotland 1-2 Poland

Scotland vs Poland stream and TV listing

International：Holasports