Scotland begin preparations for the start of their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign in September with a friendly double-header this week.
Steve Clarke's side face Iceland at Hampden Park on Friday night before travelling to Liechenstein on Monday for their final warm-up match ahead of the bid to reach the tournament in the United States, Canada, and Mexico next year.
The Scots are looking to bounce back from a sour end to their Nations League campaign back in March when they succumbed to a 3-1 aggregate defeat to Greece in their League A/B play-off with a 3-0 loss in the second leg at Hampden coming as a major disappointment following the 1-0 away victory in the first leg four days earlier.
The setback - which ended a run a three successive victories - meant Scotland lost their place in the top tier of the Nations League as they were relegated back to League B after one campaign in League A.
Scotland will now look to restore some positivity against two opponents they will be expected to beat. Iceland have tumbled down the Fifa rankings in recent years after the highs of reaching the quarter-finals of Euro 2016 and qualifying for their first World Cup in 2020.
Now down at 74th, they finished third in their Nations League B section behind Wales and Turkey, but in front of Montenegro, who they registered their two wins against. Liechtenstein, meanwhile, are ranked 205th in the world, and lost twice to San Marino in their Nations League D campaign, one of only five teams below them in the rankings.
Clarke has a decision to make over his team selection and tactics for both matches. He has named seven uncapped players in his squad but is without regulars Craig Gordon, Kenny McLean, Ryan Christie and Lyndon Dykes through injury.
A fully fit Kieran Tierney also resurfaces an old dilemma for Clarke over how to incorporate both the returning Celtic left-back and Liverpool’s Andy Robertson in the same starting line-up with a possible return to a back three, or an experimental option at his disposal.
Here is how we predict Clarke could line up against Iceland at Hampden on Friday...
1. Angus Gunn - GK
The currently unattached 29-year-old goalkeeper following his Norwich City exit will likely be brought back in to start for his 16th cap in place of the injured Craig Gordon. | SNS Group
2. Max Johnston - RB
A home friendly against Iceland feels like the right time to give the 21-year-old Sturm Graz right-back his chance in the Scotland starting XI after a breakthrough season in Austria, which culminated in a second successive league title win and appearances in the Champions League. | SNS Group
3. John Souttar - RCB
After years of injury trouble, the Rangers defender appears to have finally cemented his status as a first-choice centre-back for Scotland. In line to win his 16th cap. | SNS Group
4. Scott McKenna - LCB
A puzzling one. The Las Palmas centre-back who played almost every week in La Liga, and starred in victories over Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, albeit before suffering relegation, has been kept out of the Scotland starting line-up by a Grant Hanley who couldn't get a game for either Norwich or Birmingham last season. Now must surely be the time to give the Souttar-McKenna partnership a chance, which, on paper, should be Scotland's strongest centre-back pairing. | SNS Group