A sense of deja vu will have descended on those old enough to remember the last time Scotland competed at football’s World Cup finals as once again they will cross swords with Brazil and Morocco, two of their opponents in 1998.
Steve Clarke’s team will meet Haiti in their first match in the tournament on Saturday 13 June in either Boston or New York.
They then take on Morocco on Friday 19 June in Boston or Philadelphia, before finishing against five-time winners Brazil in either Atlanta or Miami on Wednesday 24 June.
The locations will prove popular with Scots, as there are regular flights to the eastern US and Barrhead Travel has reported strong demand.
But after the euphoria of qualification the fans have been brought down to earth by the price of match tickets – quoted at anything from £1,000 to above £30,000.
For those watching back home there is more likelihood of the games being played at watchable hours. The Liberal Democrats have joined the Scottish Beer & Pub Association (SBPA) in calling for licensing hours to be extended.
Match venues, dates and kick-off times will be confirmed by Fifa and announced publicly on Saturday in a live broadcast at 5pm UK time.
Clarke was excited by the draw that gives his team a good chance of winning start against a nation that Scotland has never played.
“Bring it on,” he said. “The draw’s fantastic. We’re playing three top sides from three different continents of the world and that’s what the World Cup’s all about.”
However, Haiti won their group comfortably and Morocco are currently on a 12-game winning streak. Oddly, it is Brazil who are in indifferent form. In their last outing they drew 1-1 with Tunisia, and have also lost to Japan and Bolivia in recent months.
In 1998, Scotland and Brazil opened the World Cup at the Stade de France, only for a Tom Boyd own goal gifting the South Americans a narrow 2-1 win.
Following a 1-1 draw with Norway, Scotland went to St Etienne with hope of progression, only to be beaten 3-0.
The 2026 tournament will be the first to feature 48 teams who will play in Canada, Mexico and the United States between 11 June and 19 July.
In a major change to the draw, the top four nations in the Fifa world rankings – Spain, Argentina, France and England – have been awarded special seedings which ensure they cannot meet until the semi-finals, assuming each wins their group.
England will begin their campaign against Croatia in Dallas or Toronto on Wednesday, 17 June, before facing Ghana on Tuesday, 23 June in Toronto or Boston, and Panama on Saturday, 27 June in Philadelphia or New York.
Wales or Northern Ireland would join Canada, Qatar and Switzerland in Group B, should either come through two rounds of Uefa play-off matches in March.
The Republic of Ireland could meet Mexico, South Africa and South Korea if they qualify.
US President Donald Trump was awarded the first Fifa Peace Prize during a star-studded draw ceremony which lasted for more than two hours.
It featured a performances by Lauryn Hill and was hosted by the supermodel Heidi Klum alongside Kevin Hart, the US comedian.
After receiving the Peace trophy, medal and certificate from Fifa president Gianni Infantino, Trump said it was “one of the great honours of my life”.
Infantino described the tournament for American viewers as equivalent to watching “104 Super Bowls in one month”.
Viewers in the UK were less than impressed, some calling the ceremony “grotesque”, “cringeworthy” and misguided for bringing politics to sport.
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