Scotland's next manager has been challenged to mould his team into a unit capable of matching Croatia's level of success in international football.

Croatia will be Scotland's next opponents after the Scottish Football Association confirmed a friendly at Hampden against the Euro 2008-bound side on March 26.

The Balkan country has a population of under 4.5million, fewer than live in Scotland, but Croatia have qualified unbeaten for the past two World Cups, and also reached Euro 2004.

Croatia even finished third at the 1998 World Cup, which was the last tournament Scotland qualified for.

And Scottish FA chief executive Gordon Smith believes the improving Scots - who are ranked 14th by FIFA, four places behind Croatia - should aspire to a similar record.

"Our football is on the up - and we are only a few places below Croatia in the rankings," Smith said.

"What we have to do, though, is get back to the situation where we regularly qualify for major championships.

"This is what Croatia do - and this is what we must seek to emulate.

"I firmly believe that playing against better teams shows us the standard that we have to reach. That is why I was so keen to negotiate a friendly against Croatia."

The SFA remain on course to name their new manager by the end of January, with Saints boss George Burley remaining a contender for the post along with Tommy Burns, Mark McGhee and Graeme Souness.

Celtic first-team coach Burns has reportedly spoken to SFA chiefs - despite reports last weekend that he was unwilling to be interviewed.

Smith stressed Scotland will "definitely" have a new boss in place before January is out, and he is relishing the March clash with the team who shattered England's hopes of qualifying for Euro 2008.

"We saw in their matches in the Euro qualifiers against England that Croatia has an exciting squad who play great football," Smith said.

"They have an impressive pedigree on the world stage - finishing third in the 1998 World Cup.

"If we ourselves want to keep on improving, then these are exactly the types of teams that we should be playing."

Scotland have played 10th-placed Croatia twice before.

Both games came during the qualifying campaign for the 2002 World Cup. The teams drew 1-1 in Zagreb and 0-0 at Hampden.

Croatia will face Germany, Poland and Austria at this summer's Euro 2008 finals, having qualified along with Russia from their tough qualifying group.

The famous 3-2 win at Wembley for Slaven Bilic's side on November 23 2007 ended England's chances of reaching the finals.

Smith believes the opposition will present the right sort of test for Scotland, and insists the national team are set up to compete against such high-quality sides.

"We have a great squad of players who are improving all the time and we will soon have a new manager in place who we all hope will lead us to the World Cup and beyond," said the SFA chief.

Souness is the current bookmakers' favourite.