Can Scotland escape their World Cup group with a win?


After 28 years of absence from the World Cup finals, Scotland is back and will face Brazil, Morocco and Haiti in the US. This is no small challenge for coach Steve Clarke and his team, but Tartan Army will carry the American dream of going far after previous positive performances. Scotland's chances are also boosted by the expanded format, where finishing third in Group C could be enough to progress to the knock-out round. The eight best third-placed teams from the group stage will join the group leaders and runners-up in the first round of 32. So will a win be enough for Scotland? Based on current regulations, only the four third-placed teams will not have a place in the round of 32 from the 12 groups. All eyes will be on the match against Haiti, which Scotland absolutely must win to have a realistic chance of progressing. Four points will almost certainly be enough to get through, but is three points enough? Maybe, but goal difference will play a key role. Looking back at recent World Cups and applying the same logic - although in those cases three third-placed teams entered - it was only in 2010 that four points were needed. The chance to win for Scotland will come more in the opening match against Haiti. The team, ranked 83rd in the world, qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1974 after defeating Nicaragua last month. Coach Sabastien Migne has not been able to set foot in Haiti since being appointed two years ago, due to the prolonged conflict forcing them to play at home 500 miles away in Curacao - an island nation near the coast of Venezuela. Wolves midfielder Jean-Ricner Bellegarde is in their squad, along with many players from Major League Soccer and other European leagues. Morocco is the second seeded team in the group. Ranked 8th in the world, they reached the semi-finals at the last World Cup and possess talents such as Paris Saint-Germain's Achraf Hakimi and Real Madrid's Brahim Diaz. They are also champions of the African Nations Championship after being declared winners of the 2025 tournament, after the Confederation of African Football controversially overturned the result of the final because Senegal withdrew. Morocco won all eight qualifying matches, scoring 22 goals and conceding just twice. Brazil's stars like Vinicius Junior and Gabriel need no introduction, as does coach Carlo Ancelotti. However, the five-time champions have struggled in the qualifying campaign. They finished fifth in their group of 10 South American teams, losing six matches - including defeat to Bolivia, who were beaten 4-0 by Scotland in a friendly last weekend. So if Scotland can beat Haiti and then pick up at least a point or lose narrowly to the top two seeded teams, they will have a good chance of progressing to the last 32. Without getting too far ahead of time, this is where things get complicated. What we do know is that if Scotland progress, they will have their first qualifying match at the major finals on May 29, May 30 or June 1 (BST). Let's start with the most likely scenario... If Scotland top the group, they will face the runners-up in Group F (comprising the Netherlands, Japan, Sweden and Tunisia) in Houston on May 29 (6:00 p.m.). Second place will have a round of 32 match against the winner of the same group on May 30 (02:00). There are three other possibilities for finishing third. That includes returning to Boston to face the winner of Group E (top seed Germany) on May 29 (9:30 p.m.), or facing the winner of Group I (top seed France) in New York 24 hours later. The final option is a trip to Mexico City to meet the winner of Group A. Co-hosts Mexico are in this group, along with South Africa, South Korea and the Czech Republic. With many possibilities to be clarified throughout the group stage, there could be a short time for Scotland between discovering their knock-out opponents and their next destination if they finish third. Former Scotland captain Scott Brown said at the time of the draw: "We have to try to beat Haiti, it will be a big game for us. Morocco, we will be the underdogs when looking at the world rankings, it's a tough game. Brazil is a big game. Everyone wants to be in Scotland against Brazil. Seeing the yellow shirt, they have top quality players. As well as Morocco. We have to beat Haiti and try to get points somewhere. There is still hope for us." Former Scotland striker James McFadden said: "It's a tough group. You've got the famous match against Brazil. Then Morocco, everyone will predict them as a dark horse because they got to the semi-finals last time. And it's hard to say, because it's international football, but the match against Haiti is a winnable match. That makes things a little better. If you finish third, it gives you a chance. We should try to make it difficult for the opponents, especially especially Brazil and Morocco.