Scotland draw Czech Republic in round one of World Cup play-offs

Scotland will have to beat Czech Republic, then either Lithuania or Sweden in successive two-legged play-off ties if they are to reach next summer's Women's World Cup.

Melissa Andreatta's side won their qualifying group in League B ahead of Belgium and were duly seeded in path 2 of the play-off draw. A total of 32 teams entered that, with eight successful sides progressing to the finals in Brazil.

Denmark, France, Germany and Spain have already qualified after winning their League A groups.

Scotland are away in the first leg of round one before welcoming the Czechs - who finished second in their group behind Wales - in the second leg.

"I'm expecting a very tight game, especially when everything is on the line," Scotland head coach Melissa Andreatta said of the draw.

"Everybody wants to be on the world stage at major tournaments so I wouldn't expect anything other than a very tight game, very competitive.

"It's going to go down to fine margins and we'll be prepared to take advantage of those fine margins so that we're on the better side."

Should they win that tie on aggregate, they will then play the winners of the match between Lithuania and Sweden.

Sweden came third in their League A group - behind Denmark and Italy - while Lithuania topped their League C group.

With Scotland's men currently in the United States for this summer's tournament, Andreatta would love to get there with her side but admits there is a very long way to go.

"When I spoke to the players and the staff after the game when the boys qualified I knew how much it meant to them then," she added.

"I've just come from Edinburgh airport to see a lot of folk coming and going to the World Cup.

"The excitement is real, the passion is undeniable and of course we want to be a part of that but we are also realistic and know there's a lot of hard work to be done before we do that.

"We don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves and just focus on what's next and that's game one against this formidable opponent."