After a 28-year wait, a 28th-minute goal to announce their return. Scotland are back in the World Cup 2026, creating history with both their presence and their victory and making a nation dream again. It may have entailed a deflected goal, an unconvincing performance, a struggle to beat a Haiti side officially only the 83rd best in the global game, but this was still a day – if not necessarily a display – for Scotland to savour.
And a league table that, in their long exile from this stage, would have required a stretch of the imagination. From top spot in Group C, Scotland can stare down at the five-time winners Brazil in the standings; the 2022 semi-finalists Morocco, too. It may only last for a few days, but this team are positioned to go where no previous Scotland side has: to the knockout stages in a major competition, to the extra game that seemed almost mythical.
