Sixty years after Stevie Chalmers scored after a minute against the Brazilian icons of 1966, Scotland are back in Miami facing the Selecao with the chance to make history. The game of their lives, as chief sports writer Tom English called it, kicks off at 11pm UK time on Wednesday in the blistering humidity of the Hard Rock Stadium.
Scotland have never reached the knockout phase of a World Cup. They could get there without winning – a battling 1-0 loss or even a desperate 2-0 defeat might suffice, depending on other results. “I don’t give a damn about permutations,” Andy Robertson said on Tuesday, though his obsession, English noted, is on getting the result that powers Scotland into the next round.
“Scotland face Brazil in Miami needing a result to reach the World Cup knockout phase for the first time.”
The memory of past pain against Brazil lingers. Tom Boyd’s forlorn face in 1998 as the ball ricocheted off his arm for a 2-1 defeat. Billy Bremner’s head-in-hands miss from a few yards out in 1974, a 0-0 draw that sent Scotland home on goal difference. That spectre looms again now, more than half a century later.
Scotland have been far from their best in their two games in America and in the six that preceded them in their last two European Championship campaigns. Against Morocco they showed a committed second-half performance, applying pressure and having moments. But against a Brazil team capable of devastating counters, they cannot be gung-ho.
The match will be broadcast live on BBC One, with coverage starting at 10pm, and streamed on BBC iPlayer. Kelly Cates will present alongside pundits Scott Brown, Rachel Corsie and former Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva. For US viewers, FOX and Telemundo will carry the 6pm local kick-off.
What Steve Clarke would give for another 1-1 like 60 years ago. The Tartan Army, thousands among the 65,236 crowd, will be hoping for a point – or three – that would send Scotland into the knockout stage for the first time in their history.