A joyous, yet bewildered Tartan Army bounced out of Hampden Park following Scotland’s 3-1 victory over Greece in Thursday night’s 2026 World Cup qualifier.
In what was a truly uninspiring football performance from the home side, Scotland hung on for an hour until Greece took the lead through Kostas Tsimikas, before turning the game around with goals from Ryan Christie, Lewis Ferguson and Lyndon Dykes.
Scotland fans entered the game with trepidation, having seen their team thoroughly outplayed by Greece in a 3-1 loss earlier this year which relegated Scotland to League B of the Nations League.
By half-time the Tartan Army’s fears were only heightened after enduring a futile first half performance, which had completely flattened the atmosphere. Ivan Jovanović’s Greece side played with swagger and joy, moving the ball through the lines with ease, exploiting gigantic holes in the Scottish midfield.
Scotland could only take solace from the fact that Greece were yet to find the net – as they had done twice in the first half the last time they played in Glasgow.
Manager Steve Clarke commended his team’s resilience, commenting in his post-match press conference: “Don’t underestimate the work the players put into the first half. You have to try and control the game in the bad moments. Tonight, in the bad moments we worked ever so hard to keep the game level or keep the game tight.”
If the first half was uninspiring, the early stages of the second half weren’t much better. The fans’ mood slumped lower when Scotland’s bright spark, Ben Gannon-Doak, was withdrawn on the hour, drawing boos from the home support. His replacement Billy Gilmour is highly regarded among fans and seen as the team’s main creative player who brings a calmness to the midfield.
Gilmour had barely touched the ball when Greece made over 40 consecutive passes, shifting the play from side to side, culminating in a fine team goal finished by Tsimikas. By this point, in the 62nd minute, Scotland had yet to force a save from Greek keeper, Konstantinos Tzolakis.
Greece’s slick dominance had finally yielded a goal and Scotland’s situation looked ever more bleak. Strangely, Clarke believed this was the spark Scotland needed, saying: “Once the Greeks scored, it seemed to take the shackles off a little bit. We seemed to find an extra half-yard of pace. The press was better. We looked more of a threat going forward.”
Scotland found an immediate equaliser through a sweet, first-time finish from Christie and Hampden Park was finally rocking. The home side sensed the game was there to be won, and with 10 minutes to go, snatched the lead thanks to a close range effort from Ferguson: the midfielder’s first international goal.
After a beautifully tipped save at the other end from keeper Angus Gunn, Dykes capitalised on Konstantis Tzolakis’ slip and smashed the ball high into the roof of an empty net to seal the three points.
Despite a late flurry and some intricate combination play between Gilmour and Kieran Tierney, this was a Scotland victory that most fans would admit was undeserved.
The game showed football’s paradoxical nature, dissimilar to most other sports, where a team can play terribly and win or play well and lose, as Clarke said: “Sometimes you don’t get what you deserve in football and sometimes you get a little bit more than you deserve.”
Scotland have suffered their share of bad luck many times in qualifying campaigns and tournaments. Perhaps the country was due a break.
Looking ahead
Scotland got away with a poor performance and the three points, but Clarke suffered selection blows ahead of Sunday’s game against Belarus. Goal-scorers Christie and Ferguson both received yellow cards and will be suspended.
More worryingly for Clarke is a fresh injury to fullback, Aaron Hickey, who was replaced by Anthony Ralston just before the 60th minute. Clarke said: “Aaron was actually a doubt to start the game after picking up a small knock to his knee and I think he’s just aggravated it. I don’t know for sure yet, but that was the reason I called Max (Johnston) into the squad as cover.”
After Denmark’s 6-0 defeat of Belarus, goal difference could play a major part in this group. Clarke remained level-headed, saying: “There’s no point in doing what we’ve done so far in the group and underestimating the Belarusians when they come here. We have to make sure we get three points on Sunday.
“We have good momentum just now, and we have to make sure it continues,” he added.
Scotland’s game against Belarus kicks off at 5pm on Sunday and is available to watch live on BBC Scotland and BBC Two.