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Scotland have edged past Haiti 1-0 to begin their 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign with a win in Massachusetts today.
John McGinn gave Scotland a first-half lead, steering home via a deflection for their first World Cup goal since Craig Burley in 1998.
The closest Haiti came to equalising was Frantzdy Pierrot's late header, which narrowly missed wide.
The result sees Scotland go top of Group C and boosts their chances of progressing to the knockout stage after Brazil's 1-1 draw with Morocco.
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Scotland beat Haiti for first World Cup win since 1990, 88% chance they reach knockouts
Scotland striker Lawrence Shankland spoke to BBC Sport:
💬 "You see your family and the fans dancing around and that's why you put the graft in all your life to get to this moment.
"We knew it was a game we needed to win if we're being realistic about where we want to go.
"There was pressure on us to win. No one is under any illusions that it wasn't our best performance, but it' all about winning."
You can see what it means to the Scotland fans who stayed up into the early hours!
Next up for them, Morocco back in Boston on Friday.
Victory leaves Scotland with an 88 per cent chance of reaching the knockout stage at this point according to The Athletic’s World Cup projection tool.
However, they also must face Brazil and Morocco in Group C.
Scotland midfielder Lewis Ferguson spoke to BBC Sport.
💬 “Amazing, the scenes at the end. These fans have waited so long for that, so that was special and it was nice to take it all in.
“It's a relief to get over the line because we were under a bit of pressure at the end.
“There was a lot of people expecting us to win and we expect to win as well — we back and believe in ourselves.”
At 31 years, 238 days old, John McGinn is the oldest player to score for Scotland at the FIFA World Cup, surpassing Kenny Dalglish (31 years, 103 days old) against New Zealand in 1982.
Thanks to Opta for that one.
This place has turned into a night club. Scotland fans aren't leaving, they are dancing.
Batman and Robin are here having a lovely one.
Haiti were excellent in this match — taking the game to Scotland and really pushing late in the game.
They had all the momentum in the final portion of the game but Scotland held firm.
Good stuff from Steve Clarke's side.
Scotland won their opening match at the FIFA World Cup for the third time (also 1974 and 1982).
All three times they won their first match they were top of the group after one matchday, with all three groups also featuring Brazil.
Thanks to our friends at Opta for that.
The NYC-based Scots are going to party long and hard tonight.
The Knicks are on the verge of winning their first NBA title since 1973…
And you can follow that match live here on The Athletic.
John McGinn's incredible year continues.
Following on from Europa League success with Aston Villa, he scored a vital goal tonight for Scotland.
Composed when it mattered.
Scotland manager Steve Clarke spoke to BBC Sport:
💬 “I just said to Andy Robertson, it's about time we won a game in the group stage.
“We put the supporters through it a little bit. Everyone said it was a must-win game — we won the game.
“This is what this team is all about. If they want to play, they can play but if they have to dig in and show that character and resilience, that's what they do as well.”
Don't let the fact that this match kicked off at 2am in the early hours of Sunday morning back in Scotland fool you.
People will have been up to watch this match, gathered together and packing out watch parties.
What a reward for their early start and a good way to start their Sunday!
Huge celebrations from Scotland at full time and rightly so — that was a battle throughout the second half.
They have waited for a long time to even qualify for the World Cup again, never mind to win a game!
What a performance from Ben Gannon-Doak.
He was so important to everything Scotland did going forward, plus he made sure to get back and do his defensive duties.
At one point, he celebrated his defensive duties as wildly as he might a goal. Excellent stuff.
Scotland's party anthem is on inside the stadium and the fans are raucous inside!
For those wondering, Yes Sir, I Can Boogie, the Baccara 1977 dance classic, is the tune ringing out around the stadium.
You'll have that stuck in your head for a week.
Scotland above Brazil and Morocco?
That'll do indeed.
The win takes them top of Group C, above Brazil and Morocco who drew earlier. Lovely.
The pressure was on for Scotland to win this match if they wanted to progress out of the group.
They will not be expected to win against either Morocco or Brazil and so three points sets them up well to progress as one of the better third-place sides.
They could yet cause plenty of bother for both those teams, of course.
That, I think it’s fair to say, is the Scotland we’ve seen many times on head coach Steve Clarke’s watch.
They really do have occasions when they look like they met for the first time a few hours before kick-off.
But the bottom line — they’ve a serious chance of going through now.
That's it in Boston, John McGinn scoring the only goal to earn Scotland three points.
A valiant performance from Haiti.
They really made Scotland work for that win.
A first World Cup victory for Scotland since 1990.
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