World Cup draw: Scotland drop one place to 29th in Fifa rankings

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Scotland drew 1-1 with the Republic of Ireland to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for Euro 2016Image source, SNS
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Scotland drew 1-1 with the Republic of Ireland to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for Euro 2016

Scotland have been confirmed in the third pot of seeds for this month's World Cup qualifying draw after the latest Fifa rankings were announced.

Gordon Strachan's team have dropped one place to 29th, despite a friendly win over Qatar and a draw against the Republic of Ireland last month.

The rankings form the basis for the seeding for the qualifying draw, which takes place on 25 July.

Scotland were fourth seeds for their current European Championship campaign.

It means the Scots will avoid a rematch with Euro 2016 qualifying opponents Poland, as well as other third seeds Ukraine, Hungary, Sweden, Albania, Northern Ireland, Serbia and Greece.

They could face England or Wales who are among the top seeds, while Italy and France are dangerous second seeds.

There will be seven groups of six teams and another two groups of five. The nine group winners qualify for Russia 2018 and the eight best runners-up play off for a further four spots.

Scotland sit third in Group D behind Poland and Germany in the race for a Euro 2016 spot.

Meanwhile Scotland's women have moved up one place to 20th. They begin their Euro 2017 qualifying in September away to Slovenia.