Scotland celebrated its first victory in a World Cup finals in 36 years, as it defeated Haiti 1-0 in the opening match of Group 3 of the 2026 World Cup and took… top spot in the group standings after Brazil’s 1-1 draw with Morocco.

The Scots were much more cynical in the match against Haiti by AEK striker Franz Piero. They had the first big moment in the match with McTominay’s crossbar in the 17th minute and finally reached the “golden” goal that gave them the three points in the 29th minute with McGinn. In a phase where the Aston Villa midfielder also had luck on his side, as his rather… clumsy pass went against Bellegarde, changed course and ended up in the Haitian net for Scotland’s 1-0.

Referee : Mustafa Gorbal (Algeria)
Yellow cards : 39′ Bellegarde – 46′ Hickey, 90’+1′ Curtis, 90’+5′ McLean
Red cards : –

The lineups of the two teams:
HAITI (Sebastien Minier) : Placid, Arcus, Ade, Delcroix, Experience, Bellegarde, Jean-Jacques, Dinchon (61′ Casimir), Providence (85′ Fortune), Isidore (76′ Joseph), Pierrot.
SCOTLAND (Steve Clarke): Gunn, Hickey (75′ Patterson), Robertson, Hanley, Hendry, McTominay, McGinn (83′ Curtis), Ferguson, Adams (75′ Dykes), Gannon-Dock (75′ Christie), Shankland (83′ McLean).

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