Scotland v Haiti LIVE: World Cup line-ups and latest team news ahead of must-win return

The format of the Euros gives us a bit of a clue. Four points (so one win, a draw and a defeat) is almost guaranteed to be enough. But, no, one win on its own is sometimes not enough to go through.

At Euro 2016, third-placed sides Turkey and Albania were eliminated on three points despite both winning one of their games and losing the other two.

At Euro 2020, Finland and Slovakia both finished third in their group with one win and two defeats, but three points was not enough to qualify.

And in Euro 2024, Hungary were eliminated on three points while Slovenia did ‘a Portugal’ and advanced despite three draws and zero wins.

The magic number for progress is therefore likely to be three points, plus a goal difference of at least -1 – the higher, the better, obviously.

Scotland warmed up for the World Cup by scoring four goals in back-to-back games.

A 4-1 victory over 10-player Curacao at Hampden sent Scotland off to the United States in style, where they also beat Bolivia 4-0 in their final game before the big-kick.

Lawrence Shankland scored twice against Curacao, with youngster Findlay Curtis getting on the scoresheet too. Shankland scored again in the win over Boliva, while Che Adams got himself a brace.

Unlike their previous two major tournament appearances, Scotland’s forwards have found some form…

The winger made a huge difference for Scotland in World Cup qualifying, injecting a raw ability to beat a man out wide into a team that is often painfully one-paced. That Gannon Doak has barely played since the win over Denmark due to a hamstring injury, and only returned to action for Bournemouth shortly before the end of the season, could be an issue.

The glow-up since moving to Napoli has been wonderful. A scudetto-winning legend in Naples, nominated for last season’s Ballon d’Or, McTominay has developed an aura that brings genuine hope to the Tartan Army.

The overhead kick against Denmark will be replayed over and over, but we’ll take a tap-in in the USA. Either way, his ability to arrive into the box and produce a decisive moment could be crucial to getting through.

Predict the winner of Scotland’s group stage matches….

Are you all ready to party like it’s 1998? Scotland’s men are making their long-awaited return to a World Cup and the Tartan Army will be reunited with two of their group stage opponents from 28 years ago in Brazil and Morocco. Fancy that.

Haiti also join the fun and will be making just their second World Cup appearance, as well as their first since 1974. The Caribbean nation are first up for Steve Clark’s side, whose hopes of becoming the first Scotland team to advance from a group stage of a major tournament could rest on that opening clash in Foxborough. Ooft.

Group C, after all, is the only pool at this expanded World Cup to feature two top-10 nations in Brazil, the record five-time champions, and Morocco, the (massive asterisk) African champions and World Cup semi-finalists from four years ago. It’s a belter of a group.

Scotland returned to full crowds at Euro 2024, with the Tartan Army travelling to Germany in their thousands in a memorable tournament… off the pitch.

On it, Scotland were dire, perhaps the worst side at the Euros. Things got off to a bad start when they faced Germany in Munich, going down to 10 men early on and losing 5-1 to the hosts.

“Don’t get humped,” Steve Clarke replied when asked what he learned from that one…

The Tartan Army travel well and, after 28 years since their last World Cup, they’re unsurprisingly out in force in the US.

Boston has become a sea of Saltires, even though we’re still seven hours away from kick-off.

Scotland made their return to a major men’s tournament when they played Czech Republic at Hampden in their opening match of Euro 2020, in front of a crowd limited by the after-effects of the Covid pandemic.

And Scotland’s return fell a little flat, losing to the Czechs 2-0. That match is best remembered by Patrik Schick’s goal from the halfway line, which beat the unfortunate David Marshall.

Kenny McLean got his own back a few years later….

Scotland have been warned that they can’t take Haiti lightly before meeting in Boston tonight. Haiti are one of the lowest-ranked sides at the tournament, but Scotland can hardly afford to be dismissive of anyone…

“It’s important we respect the opposition, make sure we’re properly prepared, we play to the best of our ability and see what the result is,” Steve Clarke said.

“We’ve watched Haiti very closely, we respect their abilities on the pitch. Since they’ve qualified, they’ve improved the squad.

“We think we know how they’ll play. We think we know their system. They have very dynamic players, especially the attacking players so we have to be careful.”