'Hungry' Scots face Belgium, Israel & Luxembourg

Melissa Andreatta says Scotland are "hungry" to reach the 2027 Women's World Cup after being drawn to face Belgium, Israel and Luxembourg in qualifying.

"It's a positive reaction [to the draw]," the head coach told BBC Scotland of being in Group B4. "It makes it much more real.

"This group have a desire to make the nation proud, their friends and family proud of how they go about doing that and a team that, when they focus on their strengths, that they believe in themselves, anything's possible."

The qualifiers will be played across six matchdays, on a home and away basis, during 2026, starting on 3 March and finishing on 9 June.

With no opportunity to qualify automatically for the tournament because they are in League B, Scotland will need to come through a play-off campaign after the group stage if they are to claim a place in Brazil in 2027.

Currently ranked 20 in the world, Belgium were the highest of the four top seeds with whom Scotland could have been matched in Tuesday's League B section of the draw.

Scotland find themselves in the second tier after being relegated from League A in the last Nations League.

Andreatta's side are ranked five places below, with the sides having played out two draws against one another in the autumn of 2023.

At 68, Israel were the lowest ranked of the pot three sides Scotland could have drawn, while Luxembourg are 110th.

Scotland last played Israel in European Championship qualifying last year, when the away fixture was played in Hungary.

The Scottish FA has been approached for comment about the likely arrangements this time.

"It's all about football and for us, we'll focus on the football game and preparing ourselves and focussing on ourselves and what we can control to ensure that we perform on matchday," Andreatta said of the potential disruptions to preparations that could arise around the fixture.

"These players are professionals. They've been around long enough now and have experienced lots of different things that come with football matches and they'll be focused like we have been in the past, again, for a good performance come matchday."

How does qualification work?

Uefa has been allocated 11 places for the 32-team 2027 World Cup.

An additional European team could also qualify through Fifa's intercontinental play-offs.

Only the four winners in League A will automatically qualify for the finals and the remaining teams will have to go through the play-offs for the remaining eight places.

Should Scotland win their group, they will face a side who finished runners-up or third from League B.

Win that and they could face a side who have come through a draw featuring sides who finished runners-up or third in League A, plus the two best-ranked runners-up from League C.

Should Scotland finish second or third in their group, they will first face a side who finished in fourth place in League A, or a Group B winner.

The first round of the two-legged play-off is scheduled for October 2026, while the final play-off round will be at the end of November and start of December.

Who are Scotland's opponents?

Belgium

Scotland have faced the Belgians 13 times, winning five, drawing three and losing five.

The latest two meetings came in the Nations League, with both matches drawn 1-1, in September 2023 at Hampden and three months later in Leuven.

Though those two draws were the only points the Scots picked up in the top tier, the lasting memory comes from the first meeting at Hampden, when Caroline Weir ruptured her cruciate ligament.

Belgium find themselves in League B after losing a play-off to Republic of Ireland, having finished third in their group, behind Spain and England but above Portugal.

New Belgium head coach Elisabet Gunnarsdottir led Valur to four Icelandic titles.

Israel

Scotland last played Israel in European Championship qualifying in June 2024, winning 5-0 in neutral Hungary after a 4-1 win at Hampden the previous month.

That injury against the Belgians meant Weir missed the Nations League B meetings, but the Scots didn't need the Real Madrid midfielder's magic to secure handsome wins.

Martha Thomas scored all four goals in the closed-doors game in Budapest.

In the aftermath of the 7 October attack by Hamas and the Israeli government's military response, European football's governing body, Uefa, decided no matches in its own competitions could be held in Israel for security reasons.

As a result, Hungary has mostly been the home of both Israel's men's and women's football teams in the past seven months.

When the Israelis came to Hampden, kick-off was delayed as a protestor chained himself to a goalpost.

The Scots topped their group last year, with Israel finishing bottom and suffering relegation to League C.

However, Nisso Avitan's side have since won promotion again, topping a three-team group that also included Estonia and Bulgaria without losing a game.

Overall, Scotland have won all four meetings between the sides.

Luxembourg

Scotland will be playing Luxembourg for the first time.

Dan Santos' side won promotion to League B after finishing their group unbeaten ahead of Kazakhstan, Armenia and Liechtenstein.

Though Scotland have recent history with Belgium and Israel, Andreatta said: "I think that does help, but what we need to remember too, every team is making progress in the women's game."

What did Andreatta say?

Scotland head coach Melissa Andreatta: "What goes unsaid a lot in professional sport these days is the unity and the strength of the group together and they honestly are a 'team first' group, and I think that's a real strength of theirs and that'll put us in good stead when times get tough, because there will be tough times.

"Anything's possible with this group and I'll never write off any Scottish team or Scottish athlete because I think sometimes that's when the best comes out of us. Our backs are up against the wall and we get everyone, you know, supporting us and then anything's possible."