The madness of the Nations League shake-up explained and why super Scots are slumped at bottom of A group

The UEFA Nations League. A great concept, but my word, they don't half make it complicated.

It's changed the face of European international football for the better, particularly for the wee guys (like Scotland) who benefit from more competitive games and increased accessibility to tournaments. Next time round, Steve Clarke's team go into it in League A, mixing it with some of the best teams in the world and a far cry from the days of playing Israel, Albania, Slovakia then Israel again.

Being in League A means access to the Nations League finals if we perform well, and this year they have changed it to make it even more inclusive (and complicated). Where before it was simply the four League A group winners who advanced to the straight knockout finals, now all the winners and runners-up will go into a quarter-final tournament. The winners of those ties then advance to the finals and have the chance to be crowned Nations League champions, a crown previously worn by Portugal, Italy and most recently Spain.

The pots are out for the draw for the 2024/25 tournament, but they've raised a few questions ... such as why on earth are Scotland ranked so low in the seeding when we've performed so well in recent internationals and are heading for Euro 2024? Record Sport have everything you need to know right here.

The draw takes place in Nyon on February 8, 2024. From a Scotland perspective, the pots look fairly ominous; we're in Pot 4 alongside Israel, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia.

That of course means we can't draw Israel. Don't all celebrate at once though, because we can draw France, Portugal and Spain in the same group if we get really unlucky. Yikes.

2024/25 Nations League pots

Pot 1: Netherlands, Croatia, Spain, Italy

Pot