Dark Blues on the move while Austria give underfire Foda their backing
Scotland will be the secondhighest European movers in the FIFA Rankings this month after their World Cup qualifiers.
We are set to move above both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland into 44th place.
Steve Clarke’s side drew their first two games with Austria and Israel before sweeping the Faroe Islands aside to start their group with five points out of nine.
And that will be enough to see them rise from 48th to 44th place in the April FIFA rankings – which will be their highest position since November 2019.
The 44th spot will see the Dark Blues leapfrog both Irish nations. The Republic will be in 47th place, and Northern Ireland in 48th spot after their poor start to the Qatar 2022 qualifiers.
But the size of the task that Scotland have in this summer’s Euro 2020 tournament can be summed up by how far behind their group rivals they are.
Opening game opponents, the Czech Republic, will be four places ahead of the Scots in 40th, Croatia will be in 13th spot and England will continue to be ranked as the fourthbest team in the world.
Belgium remain on top of the pile
Meanwhile, Scotland’s World Cup qualifying foes, Austria, have given their manager a vote of confidence after their disastrous defeat to Denmark in midweek.
The Austrians managed to claim a 2-2 draw in Glasgow before coming from behind to defeat the Faroe Islands.
But their 4-0 home loss to Denmark – their heaviest home defeat in their history – has seen the knives being sharpened for manager, Franco Foda.
And Austrian FA president, Leo Windtner, has been forced to give him his backing ahead of this summer’s Euros.
He said: “Franco Foda got us to the Euros, and he will be our manager for the tournament and beyond.
“We suffered a very bitter defeat to Denmark, there can be no denying that.
“But we will learn lessons from that. Not just the manager, but the players and our organisation too.
“There are only a couple of months to the Euros, and we will use our time to prepare fully for it.
“People are speculating about the manager’s future. But does everyone just forget the many, many good games we had with him?
“I won’t be pressing any red buttons any time soon.
“I believe in this team – and I believe in the manager.”