The mood inside the Scotland camp is one of resignation after a chastening 3-0 defeat by Brazil left their World Cup hopes hanging by a thread. Midfielder John McGinn admitted it is "unlikely" his side will progress, while head coach Steve Clarke bluntly stated: "I think we're going home."
Needing only a draw to almost certainly reach the last 32, Scotland capitulated in Miami, undone by three poor goals in a match where they were outclassed from start to finish. Inside ten minutes, Scott McKenna was caught in possession by Bournemouth forward Rayan, allowing Vinicius Jr to race clear and slot past Angus Gunn. The Real Madrid star then nodded in a second before half-time after Gunn and full-back Nathan Patterson misjudged a Bruno Guimaraes cross, and Matheus Cunha added a third after the interval.
“Scotland's World Cup hopes hang by a thread after a 3-0 defeat by Brazil, with John McGinn saying qualification is 'unlikely'.”
Despite a spirited second-half performance, Scotland huffed and puffed without reward. The defeat leaves them third in Group C with three points and a goal difference of minus three. They must now wait until the early hours of Sunday to discover if that will be enough to claim one of the eight best third-place spots — an outcome that Opta rated at just 42% after the final whistle.
"We lose poor goals at poor times against a team that can punish you with quality," McGinn told BBC Sport. "The lads are gutted, we fell short on quality but we gave it absolutely everything. The lads are empty now. It's unlikely [we'll qualify] but we'll wait and see."
The Aston Villa midfielder also acknowledged a moment of fortune: VAR had earlier disallowed a second Vinicius goal for a foul on defender Jack Hendry. "We probably were fortunate to have the [second] goal disallowed," he added.
Clarke, who signed a new contract until 2030 earlier this year, was equally downbeat. "We made it difficult for ourselves, that's it," he said. "We gave them the goals, we gave them the game they wanted. Disappointing."
For Scotland, the long wait begins now. A 42% chance is not zero, but the despondency in the camp suggests the players already know the answer.