United States midfielder Maurice Edu has earned Scottish clubs an extra spot in futures Champions League competitions.
Edu's stoppage-time goal for Rangers against Sporting Lisbon on Thursday clinched a 2-2 draw and ensured the Scottish champions reached the round of 16 in the Europa League on away goals.
It also lifted Scotland above Switzerland into 15th place in the UEFA rankings, which grade countries on their clubs' performance in the Champions League and second-tier Europa League competitions over a five-year period.
Switzerland's last European competitors, Young Boys and FC Basel, both were eliminated Thursday.
The 15th-ranked country enters its champion and runner-up in the Champions League at the third qualifying round, meaning they need to beat two opponents to join the lucrative group stage. The 16th-ranked nation only enters its champion, which begins at the second qualifying round.
This season, the 32 group-stage teams in the Champions League were guaranteed ?7.2 million ($9.9 million) for taking part.
This year's ranking decides entries for the 2012-13 season and will be confirmed by UEFA in May.
Scotland's standing has dropped since Rangers reached the UEFA Cup final, the Europa League predecessor, in 2008. Two straight years of poor results in Europe mean only this year's league champion will enter next season's Champions League.
At the top of the rankings, Italy is losing ground to Germany in a race for third place - which is worth four Champions League entries, three direct to the group stage - behind England and Spain. The fourth-ranked nation gets three entries, and only two direct.
Inter Milan's Champions League title last year, beating Bayern Munich in the final, barely held off a German surge but Serie A clubs' decline has continued this season.
All three Italian teams - Inter, AC Milan and AS Roma - lost at home in the first leg of the round of 16, and the country has no teams left in the Europa League.
