It looked like qualification for the next big international tournament was all but assured after Scotland won their first five Group A qualifiers
But now defeat to Spain - and a win for Norway in Cyprus - has put the party on hold as the nation waits for the single point which would guarantee a place at Euro 2024.
Despite recording a 2-0 win over the Spanish at Hampden Park in March, Group A leaders Scotland are now just three points ahead of Spain having played a game more.
Spain face Norway in Oslo next week, and if the Norwegians drop points, Scotland’s place in Germany will be secured.
Otherwise, the games against Georgia away and Norway at home in November will be crucial.
We want to know - are the jitters setting in for Scotland fans? Or is qualification still all but a formality?
Vote now in our online poll:
READ MORE:
Spain 2 Scotland 0: Instant reaction to the burning issues
Scotland playmaker Ryan Christie calls on UEFA to provide VAR clarity
Steve Clarke issues Andy Robertson injury update
After the game, manager Steve Clarke said: “Tonight was a first chance to qualify. It has gone beyond us. Maybe the result on Sunday night goes in our favour and we qualify from that. But we won’t qualify from that, we will qualify for the work we have done, we have 15 points from six games.
“If the result doesn’t go our way and Norway then we have a very realistic chance in the two games in November to win the section.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here