FOXBOROUGH, U.S. – As the 2026 FIFA Women’s World Cup enters its second group stage matchday, Scotland’s men’s national side stands 90 minutes away from writing a new chapter in the country’s decades-long World Cup drought history. Captain Andy Robertson has made the team’s ambition clear: build on a hard-fought opening win and secure a positive result against Morocco on Friday that would push the Scots into the tournament’s knockout round for the first time ever.
In a pre-match press conference held at Gillette Stadium on the eve of the fixture, Robertson acknowledged that every member of the squad, coaching team and support staff has openly embraced this historic goal. “We want to be the first group to do this for our country, and there’s a really special feeling chasing that milestone,” the 32-year-old fullback told reporters. “We don’t hide from how tough this challenge is — we’re facing one of the top teams in the world. But if we bring our best performance, we can make things hard for any opponent, and that’s something we’ve proven over many years.”
Robertson, who recently completed a high-profile move from Liverpool to Tottenham Hotspur after nearly 10 years at Anfield, led Scotland to a narrow 1-0 opening victory over Haiti last weekend at the same Boston-area venue. That win marked a number of long-awaited milestones for Scottish football: it was the nation’s first World Cup match since 1998, its first tournament win since 1990, and only the fifth Scottish victory at a World Cup finals in the country’s history.
The expanded 48-team format of this year’s tournament has created a more accessible path to the knockout round, with the eight best third-placed teams across the 12 groups advancing to the next stage. Under the current rules, just one point from Scotland’s remaining two group fixtures could be enough to secure progression. But a tough path lies ahead for the Scots: after facing Morocco, they wrap up Group C play against five-time World Cup champions Brazil in Miami, with both Morocco and Brazil ranking among the top six teams in the latest FIFA world rankings. The 2022 World Cup semi-finalists Morocco will present a particularly daunting challenge, one that carries extra historical weight for Scotland.
The two sides last met in Scotland’s final group match at the 1998 World Cup in France, where a lopsided 3-0 defeat eliminated the Scots from the tournament. Those painful memories are not lost on the current camp. Scotland head coach Steve Clarke admitted his side has a clear understanding of how tough the task ahead is. “Morocco is an incredibly strong side. They made it to the semi-finals four years ago, and I think this current group is even better than that 2022 team,” Clarke said.
Despite the challenge, Clarke sees an upside to going into the match as clear underdogs, a role that fits Scotland’s national mentality better than being the favored side. When they faced Haiti last week, Scotland was the higher-ranked favorite, and the team struggled through a tight contest before claiming the win. “Sometimes the Scottish mentality means we’re more comfortable when everyone writes us off,” Clarke explained. “Against Haiti we were the favorites, and we had a real fight to get the win. This time around we’re the underdogs, and that’s a position Scotland often thrives in.”
Off the pitch, Robertson has high praise for the legions of Scottish fans that have traveled across the Atlantic to support the team, who have already won over locals in the Boston area. The famous Tartan Army, Scotland’s passionate supporter contingent, has gone viral on social media for taking over the city, including a well-documented fan visit to Fenway Park to attend a Boston Red Sox MLB game.
As a former Liverpool player, Robertson has a personal connection to the Red Sox organization: Fenway Sports Group, which owns Liverpool, also owns the Boston baseball club. Robertson revealed that the group’s owners were thrilled by the Tartan Army’s visit. “One of the owners sent me a lovely message saying how happy they were to see all the Scotland fans there,” he said. “They loved seeing all the kilts and Scotland shirts, hearing the fans’ songs, and the whole party atmosphere the Tartan Army brought to the ballgame. They’ve been incredible, these fans.”