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The World Cup continues to produce the unexpected. On a throbbingly hot afternoon in the low flat plains outside Dallas the Netherlands and Japan played out a high-grade, ultimately thrilling Group F game, Daichi Kamada scoring an 89th-minute equaliser to make it 2-2 just as the Dutch looked like taking an early hold on one of the tougher groups.Sport does love to spring surprises. As the entire bib-clad Japanese bench emptied on to the pitch to celebrate Kamada’s deflected goal, as the Japan fans writhed and roared and fell over themselves in the stands, it was tempting to wonder if perhaps the unthinkable is happening.There has been so much talk of tired players, format collapse and empty seats (the stadium was full here), a note of disaster-ism so committed you wondered at times if it was necessary to play the games at all. But football remains a strangely unbreakable product, no matter how energetically you might try.There is a reason this thing stands unchallenged as both the world’s most gripping spectator sport and its most reliable macro-distraction, the dictator’s Neuralyzer box, there to erase all those unhappy feelings with a single flash of blinding light. And it does feel as though something else has been taking place across a spunky opening week. Maybe – whisper it – the World Cup is actually good.This was a lovely spectacle from the start. The Dallas Stadium is a vast concrete spaceship dumped down off the freeway beyond the city limits. Inside, the swooping panelled glass roof gives it the feel of an outsized Victorian railway station, or a vast and humid mega-greenhouse, the kind of place a giant would grow his tomatoes.At kick-off the base colours were beautiful, warm royal blue versus deep zingy classic orange. Japan have been an excellent World Cup team in recent times. It felt significant afterwards that their coach, Hajime Moriyasu, was asked about his evident disappointment at only taking what he still described as a “very meaningful point”.“The Netherlands are a top-class international team,” he said. “Look at the Fifa rankings, there’s quite a difference. But we can look back at today’s match and learn from the Dutch and enhance our power.”Here Japan set up with attacking midfielders in the wing-back spots and the defensive three Moriyasu has tended to use since Qatar. Ronald Koeman had hinted that Memphis Depay might be fit, but Donyell Malen started in the centre of attack.And the Netherlands took the ball away early on. They really should have scored on three minutes as Malen produced a grappling turn and a powerful shot that was palmed away by Zion Suzuki. After that the game became a series of wary thrusts in between a steady holding pattern of carefully metered Dutch possession.Japan had some neat, high-pressing flurries. Frenkie de Jong was measured and stately on the ball, a footballer who always seems to be playing inside his own demilitarised zone.The hydration break arrived just as the game seemed as if it might start to congeal, although the day was enlivened at that point by the sudden appearance of the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders on what is reportedly the world’s largest HD screen, the kind of spectacle the human brain struggles to process, literally a 150ft woman dancing with a pompon.The Dutch began to press. With 34 minutes gone Malen saw a close-in header direct from a corner batted away at ankle level by Suzuki. Japan had their own best chance just before half-time, a nice combination down the right leading to a cross and shot just wide from Keito Nakamura. But at the break the Dutch were on 67% possession with twice as many passes, controlling the tempo and geometry of the game.They took the lead five minutes into the second half, Virgil van Dijk producing a finely angled header that bounced in off the far post. At that point Japan looked flat, unable to sustain possession, trapped in their own half. But they found an immediate injection of urgency on the left flank, and it was from there that the equaliser came six minutes later. A smart fizzed combination of passes ended with Nakamura whipping a right-foot shot into the corner via a fine deflection off Jan Paul van Hecke.The second hydration break took away Japan’s momentum. Given the stadium is air conditioned there was clearly no need for it, beyond the fact this is now advertising protocol. How much hydration does anyone need? How much money does football need? Here a cynical and unnecessary piece of tinkering materially shifted the flow of the game, purely so that someone could try to sell you some crisps.The Netherlands surged back, finding pockets of space between the lines as Japan struggled to re-condense. Crysencio Summerville made it 2-1 on 64 minutes, taking the ball from Ryan Gravenberch, gliding inside and curling a lovely left-foot shot into the far corner.Japan responded as they had to the first goal, forming a discussion circle in their own half even as the Dutch players were celebrating. The end was high drama, the equaliser created by a whipped left-wing corner.Group F looks wide open, and surely destined for some kind of as-things-stand late drama come the final round of games. Plus Dallas has passed its own first test as a high-functioning soccer stadium. For those who prefer their World Cup a little more sullen and sedate: England are here next.

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The net rippled and Curaçao’s bench exploded in every conceivable ­direction, their giddiness underpinned by a lucid awareness of the goal’s place in history. Livano Comenencia had just equalised against Germany and an island of 158,000 inhabitants, represented here by an accomplished group born almost entirely in the Netherlands, could revel disbelievingly in a moment it had dreamed of.Reality eventually bit, Julian Nagelsmann’s side declaring on seven and easily avoiding an embarrassment that would have outdone their group-stage exits in the previous two World Cups. They will surely reach the knockouts this time and could have made absolutely certain by adding several more. Nagelsmann will be pleased that threats emanated from across the pitch, half a dozen different scorers bearing testament to that, but it should go without saying that more accurate tests of strength await. Kai Havertz, rounding things off neatly late on with his second goal, will hope to be similarly efficient later on.Half of Curaçao’s population could occupy the vast, sheer stands of Houston’s stadium. The challenge was for their team not to be dwarfed but the noise from their 7,000-strong “blue wave”, a number of whom had travelled from the island on a day trip, told its own story before kick-off. The fact of being here, celebrated exuberantly at a launch party near the city’s midtown the previous night, was enough for most. Progressing from a daunting Group E would be an even greater achievement than the improbable act of qualifying.When a marauding Deveron Fonville was checked abruptly by Aleksandar Pavlovic in the opening moments it was clear Dick Advocaat, breaking a record himself as the tournament’s oldest ever coach, had not sent Curaçao to stand on ceremony. He had picked three forwards but with that came a risk of exposure. Germany had already probed down the left before Felix Nmecha, keeping an attack alive after Jamal Musiala’s shot had been blocked, exchanged passes with Florian Wirtz and took aim. His first-time strike from 16 yards, firm and curling, left the keeper Eloy Room standing.The floodgates seemed sure to open. Nmecha was quickly emboldened to shoot again, missing the far post by inches, and then Leroy Sané danced inside only to scrape wide. Nmecha and Wirtz both had further efforts before Curaçao could cross the halfway line meaningfully.Yet Comenencia’s moment of magic did not come entirely as a surprise. Curaçao had warmed into the game, Leandro Bacuna lofting over and Tahith Chong exhibiting some tidy footwork, when a rapid attack down the right was only half dealt with by Nico Schlotterbeck. Jürgen Locadia, seizing on the loose ball, had a shot blocked but Comenencia was not to be denied. He cracked a low shot past Neuer via a slight deflection and wrote an indelible entry in World Cup lore.Curaçao were coursing with adrenaline and momentum. It was almost immediately halted by the now standard three-minute hydration break, apparently still necessary in a closed-roof arena cooled to around 22 degrees, and instead of football a pulsating crowd was distracted by a Mariachi band performance from a stage in one of the corners. Who and what, exactly, did that irrelevance serve?In fairness it took Germany another 17 minutes to profit. Room reacted smartly to tip over a Schlotterbeck header, Comenencia then blocking from Pavlovic and Fonville denying Sané a certain goal. Curaçao were living a charmed life but could not get away with leaving Schlotterbeck completely unmarked to glance Nathaniel Brown’s right-sided corner past a helpless Room.Nagelsmann, the subject of pre-match mischief from a potentially jobseeking Jürgen Klopp, celebrated in relief. His team kept pressing and had breathing space by half time. Nmecha, bursting forward from midfield at every opportunity, was tripped in the box by Riechedly Bazoer and Havertz rolled the penalty in nonchalantly just before the whistle.The contest had been great fun while it lasted. It was definitively over 68 seconds after the resumption when Joshua Kimmich, given time and space to tuck inside, slid a pass down the inside right to greet a clever Musiala run. A sharp finish, chopped across Room from an angle, gave the scoreline a look to reflect Germany’s steady stream of chances.Then Brown raised the volume with a delightful goal, the impressive left-back steering in a deft volley after Deniz Undav’s flick. Undav, a substitute, quickly scored from close range shortly after Jearl Margaritha had come close for Curaçao. A deft dink from Havertz completed the rout but the blue wave had made its impression.

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Squad has evolved since 2024 but the European champions are happy to embrace the tag of tournament favouritesSpain knew, now everyone else does too. It was almost 1.30am on 15 July 2024 when Álvaro Morata, the captain who had lifted the Henry Delaunay trophy, headed down the slope and towards the team bus parked beneath the Olympic Stadium in Berlin. A European champion now, he came with a big black boombox, a small blue Euro 2024 wash bag, a mischievous look and a knowing grin. “Seems I have an eye for a player,” he said.Seems he did. A month earlier, when the mood was not so optimistic, Morata had been asked if Spain really had any world-class footballers, the kind that could win the Ballon d’Or and thus a major trophy. “Yes,” he replied and he had started naming them: Rodri, Pedri, Nico Williams, Lamine Yamal. Now, medal in his pocket, he left the naming to them. “You choose one,” he said. “Any one.” There were candidates everywhere. They were there in Berlin and, although Morata is no longer around, they are there in Chattanooga too.At Spain’s World Cup training base, over a little level crossing and through some woods, there is confidence. But then there always was. Players too, despite the external doubts that were dealt with in Germany. “All Rodri lacks is marketing,” Morata had insisted before the Euros and a few months later Rodri won the Ballon d’Or his captain believed he deserved before. The question may not be whether Lamine Yamal will follow but how often. Luis Enrique adds “Potter” to Pedri’s name. Fabián Ruiz has won two Champions Leagues in a row. If no one talks about Mikel Oyarzabal, especially not Mikel Oyarzabal, they should. And David Raya and Joan García were the season’s best keepers in England and Spain – and they’re the ones who won’t play.“Why can’t Spain win the World Cup?” the coach, Luis de la Fuente, says. Usually when the word favourite comes out, footballers run the other way. Spain’s players have embraced it. There are two reasons for that: one, because that’s just other people talking; and, two, because why not? “I don’t think we were favourites at the Euros and we won it,” Rodri says.Coming into the Euros, Spain’s players had felt the confidence they had on the inside and the confidence others did not have on the outside. In Oyarzabal’s words: “Maybe there was no crack, but look at it: we might not have had ‘names’ but we were convinced we had players who were top three in the world. And we were clear that while there were teams with very good individuals, as a group we were stronger. There were none like us. We heard the things people said, the fact they didn’t trust in us … and then people started climbing on board.”Everyone is fully on board now. Spain’s Euros was possibly the best there has been: no champion had won every game before, and they had defeated Croatia, Italy, Germany, France and England en route. They are unbeaten in 30 games. And if that number needs an asterisk – they were defeated on penalties in the 2025 Nations League final – it is unmatched. Here’s another number: asked to put a figure on how Spain feel on the eve of the first match in Atlanta, Mikel Merino went for 100%.Those numbers convince others; for Spain’s players, it comes more as confirmation. They’ve changed their minds, not us.Just before Spain’s squad left Las Rozas bound for the US, Oyarzabal was asked what differences he sees between this team now and the one that won the Euros. “Not much,” he replied. The striker does a lovely line in deadpan but there is something in that.There are differences, of course. One stands out particularly, its impact intangible and yet to be tested. Eight players have gone and they include Morata and Dani Carvajal. At Euro 2024 there was a kind of captaincy triumvirate, a leadership that was shared and complementary: Morata was empathy, humanity; Carvajal was competitiveness and character; Rodri was football. Something has been lost there and the Manchester City midfielder admits that he too will miss them.“Mora[ta], me, Carva[jal]: we had a great group, now I’m the only one left,” he says. “I’ll try to absorb what I learned from them. And others emerge [as leaders]: Unai [Simón], Oyarzabal, Ferran [Torres]. I don’t think it will change me a lot; I played that role before. But wearing the armband is a different story.”Yet there may be an argument that Spain are stronger than at Euro 2024. Rodri’s season has been built towards this World Cup after his knee injury and now, he says, he could not be better. Lamine Yamal, 16 in Germany, is two years older. After an injury of his own, the winger admitting “I was praying it was nothing” and missing Spain’s preparatory games, he is ready. Merino is ready too. Only Williams’ fitness is a concern. Oyarzabal has scored 13 in 11 games; he has also scored in every final he has played. Above all, though, there is a stability, an assuredness, a continuity.“The team is more or less the same, the same group,” Oyarzabal says. “Luis has coached almost all of us at youth level. If you’re no good on the pitch, it doesn’t mean much but it’s important that it’s a healthy, respectful group, that it’s nice to be here, good day to day. At the Euros, when no one said we were favourites, we won it. We’re the same as we were then: calm, confident.”And they are good on the pitch, just as they always were. Which doesn’t mean they will win but does mean they believe they can. The change is more about perception than players.Rodri makes the point that even the Spain team that won three tournaments in a row between 2008 and 2012 were “unknown” once, that they had to lift their first trophy to become “names”. Sometimes recognition is not the same as reality; this team too have their trophy, but they knew they could play. “We’re the same: we have the same excitement, the same belief, the same confidence, the same group, the same good atmosphere,” Merino says. “Maybe the perception from outside has changed but inside nothing has changed at all.”“The future is theirs,” De la Fuente insisted as his captain bounded past in Berlin. “I just hope they get me tickets to see it,” Morata said.

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Eze dismisses idea of changing spot-kick technique‘If there is a penalty to take I’ll be there again’Eberechi Eze says he will not let his missed penalty in the Champions League final stop him from stepping up in a shootout for England in the World Cup.The attacking midfielder sent his kick wide when Arsenal lost on penalties against Paris Saint-Germain in Budapest last month but he is determined not to let the disappointment define him and is confident in his technique. Eze, who also had softly-struck penalties saved for Crystal Palace in games against Liverpool and Newcastle last year, dismissed the idea that it is time to move away from his stuttering runup to the ball.“No, I think I have taken penalties for a long time and it’s part of the journey,” he said. “You have to continue to improve, find new ways to improve. I’m not going to stress too much about it because I know I’m in this position for a reason and all the training behind it.”Eze has a calm mentality and will not shy away from taking another penalty. “Football is full of everything and you have to try to accept everything as it is, to enjoy it as much as you can,” he said. “Playing in a Champions League final is where I want to be, it’s what I want to do.“We’ll go for it again next season and if there is a penalty to take then I’ll be there again. All the big players have missed big penalties, have experienced these type of moments. I’ve had messages from everyone to speak on those moments. For me it’s not something I wish never happened. I’m grateful it happened. I’m going to grow from it, learn from it and move forward.”There is no doubt that Eze would take a penalty for England in a knockout tie. “If called upon, for sure,” he said. “Why wouldn’t I take it?”England worked on improving their relationship with penalties during the Gareth Southgate era. They won a World Cup shootout for the first time when they knocked out Colombia in the last 16 in 2018 and they converted five nerveless kicks when they defeated Switzerland in their Euro 2024 quarter-final.However, Southgate’s hopes of helping England win silverware for the first time since 1966 were dashed when they lost the Euro 2020 final to Italy on penalties. The backlash on social media was extreme and Eze has looked at how Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka handled the experience of failing to score against Italy. Both forwards are in England’s squad in the US and Saka exorcised his demons by scoring in the shootout against Switzerland two years ago.“Honestly before even speaking to them, you can see the way big players carry themselves,” Eze said. “You step up, you do what you need to do. If you miss, you miss. If you score, you score. It’s having the mentality to keep going. That’s part of the journey.”The miss against PSG aside, not much has gone wrong for Eze during the past two years. He scored the winner for Palace when they beat Manchester City in the 2025 FA Cup final and he helped Arsenal win the Premier League after joining Mikel Arteta’s side last summer.“It’s important for a player’s confidence to have that under your belt, to experience winning,” Eze said. “It gives you a different level of confidence and a lot of players [in the squad] experiencing that is only going to help us here.”Eze is competing with Jude Bellingham and Morgan Rogers for the No 10 role. He is likely to be on the bench when England face Croatia in their opening match in Group L but he is ready to play anywhere across the frontline. “I think that’s the type of player I am, it’s not just one position I can play,” he said. “Wherever I’m called upon is where I will play. I’ll try to express myself and enjoy myself.”

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Lille midfielder excelled against Brazil but it was no surprise to his national coach after a key role in convincing him to turn down France’s overturesThe name Ayyoub Bouaddi was on everyone’s lips after Brazil’s draw against Morocco on Saturday night. Even the army of concerned South American journalists firing questions at Vinícius Júnior at the MetLife Stadium had to acknowledge that the Real Madrid forward had been fortunate to be named as man of the match despite scoring a superb equaliser to rescue a point for Carlo Ancelotti’s side in their opening game of the 2026 World Cup.Instead it was the imposing figure with a distinctive mop of hair in Morocco’s central midfield who stole the show on his first competitive international appearance. Bouaddi managed the most touches (88), won the most duels (11) and completed the most successful passes in the opposition’s half (30), finishing with a passing success rate of 93% as he dominated Casemiro – a player almost twice his age and with a vastly different career trajectory. It came as no surprise to his coach, Mohamed Ouahbi, after he played a crucial role in convincing Bouaddi, who made his debut for Lille in March 2023 three days after his 16th birthday, to turn down France’s overtures just before this tournament.“He didn’t impress me because we already know what a player he is,” Ouahbi said. “I’m not the guy to be afraid of playing youngsters. We were sure and certain that he’d have a big match, and so it wasn’t a risk at all – it wasn’t the kind of match for taking risks against Brazil.”He added: “We had a lot of meetings with him to get him to choose Morocco, and he was good. He already has a lot of experience in Ligue 1. It’s not just about his age; he has already played more matches than others [older than him], more matches in the Champions League. There was also the masterclass against Real Madrid and so he may only be 18 but he already has a lot of experience.”Ouahbi was referring to Bouaddi’s performance in a 1-0 victory against Ancelotti’s Madrid in October 2024 on the day he turned 17, which ended with Lille’s supporters singing happy birthday to him on the pitch. That ensured that every big club in Europe has been tracking his progress since, with Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich thought to have registered an interest in a player believed to be valued at about £70m by Lille.“Let’s keep this mindset, it’s only the beginning,” Bouaddi said on social media after the Brazil game. A photograph of him attending a Morocco match as a 10-year-old at the 2018 World Cup was also doing the rounds as the internet swooned. “He’s a great player,” said Morroco’s Sunderland winger Chemsdine Talbi. “He came to help us and we’re really happy to have him on the team.”Bouaddi was born and raised in Creil in the Oise department, where his father, Hassan, used to be deputy mayor, and played for AFC Creil until he joined Lille’s academy at 13. Not long before his historic debut in the Conference League that made him the youngest player to play in a European club competition game, he won a public speaking contest for players enrolled at professional academies in France at the Élysée Palace that was attended by Brigitte Macron. Bouaddi is studying for a degree in mathematics and physics “to make the most of my free time”. “That’s how I was raised,” he said. “It helps keep your mind sharp.”The future looks bright for him and Morocco under Ouahbi, who is in his first senior role as manager after winning the Under-20 World Cup last year. The midfield that finished the game against Brazil had an average age of 20.6, with Roma’s Neil El Aynaoui – the son of the retired tennis player Younès – and Samir El Mourabet of Strasbourg also impressing against a Brazil side that looked laboured by comparison.Casemiro’s partnership with Bruno Guimarães will probably not be seen again and although Fabinho added some stability when he came on in the second half, the 32-year-old’s best days are behind him. Brazil’s starting XI had the highest average age for a game since 2006, although Vinícius rejected the suggestion that they were calling out for an injection of youth in the engine room.“I don’t believe that,” he said. “I think we have to adapt to the players we have here, young players, more experienced players, adapt to each other, help us, because it will make all the difference for us. Experience matters a lot in this competition, and the young guys like me and other players who are here, we will have to do everything for our group to achieve great results in the competition.”

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US broadcaster overran ads during hydration breakBroadcasts must return 30 seconds before play resumesFox will not face any sanction from Fifa for breaking the governing body’s advertising rules during the opening game of the World Cup between Mexico and South Africa last week.The US broadcaster broke Fifa’s strict guidelines for showing commercials during hydration breaks on the first occasion they were in operation by returning to the live action 10 seconds after play had resumed during the second half at Mexico City Stadium.Fifa’s tournament regulations, which were given to all rights holders two months ago, state that while broadcasters can show ads during hydration breaks they must return to the match 30 seconds before play resumes.While Fox’s commercials overran by 40 seconds, the broadcaster is understood to have provided an explanation to Fifa by claiming that it was unaware that referee Wilton Sampaio signaled a hydration break early after Raúl Jiménez scored Mexico’s second goal of the game, and that it was unaware it had been called. As a result Fox was late in cutting to its commercial breaks, which subsequently overran.While some viewers complained about Fox’s error, there have been no repeat incidents since. Telemundo, the World Cup’s Spanish-language broadcaster in the US, has opted not to cut away to full-screen advertising during hydration breaks, which last for three minutes and take place once in each half regardless of temperature.

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Precious win gives Steve Clarke’s team a platform but nervy display against Haiti could prove a missed opportunityIt felt so typically Scottish that even rare success on the World Cup stage delivered such paradoxes of emotion and analysis. In Ireland, sporting glory is routinely cherished without contradiction. Scots have far more of a tendency to apply “ah, but” as an addendum. So it proved from Boston to Brora, where dissection of the 1-0 win over Haiti was far from straightforward. Rightly so.Record books will show John McGinn’s scruffy goal earned the Scots just a fifth win at a World Cup finals. The claiming of a point against Morocco on Friday will, barring an extraordinary set of results elsewhere, seal Scotland a knockout berth for the first time. They haven’t even featured at this level since 1998. Any team within touching distance of heady times, rewarding a fantastic supporter base in the process, can hardly be castigated.“It felt like a home game,” said the midfielder Lewis Ferguson of the scene in Boston. “I didn’t realise until we stepped on to the pitch how many Scottish people were there. The away kit was everywhere. Our support is amazing and never in doubt. They travel everywhere. They always have, always will, that’s a given. We went on a walk within the city on Saturday and it was full of Scotland fans. That gave us that little buzz going into the game.“I wasn’t born for the 1998 World Cup so I’ve never witnessed Scotland playing at this level. So to be part of the team that’s won a game is really special.”Attention towards Ferguson is apposite. He was excellent in midfield against Haiti, justifying faith from Steve Clarke. Scotland’s central defensive pairing of Grant Hanley and Jack Hendry were strong. Ben Gannon-Doak displayed directness and decision making that bodes well. Elsewhere, though, questions were raised that mean those keen to present the game as an ideal World Cup start are being over optimistic.After Morocco, Brazil lie in wait. If Scotland remain on three points, they are already in the territory where relying on goal difference to secure qualification as a third-placed team looks borderline. Haiti offered opportunity which Scotland did not properly grasp, for no other reason than they returned an indifferent performance. Beyond celebration in Massachusetts and plenty of it in the middle of the night back home in Scotland, that will be quietly recognised.“We could have been better on the ball and we will be,” said Ferguson. “It was difficult and we were under pressure towards the end. But we dealt with it, got a clean sheet and three points.” Again, all correct. Scotland were, however, jittery.Ferguson, like Clarke, referenced a level of pressure encountered by Scotland’s players due to widespread expectation they would swat Haiti aside. Scotland teams of the past have blundered against inferior opposition at World Cups. A reality is that 1978, 1982 and 1990 are not relevant in the context of Clarke and this squad. More pertinent are the European Championships of 2021 and 2024, from which it should be safe to believe Scotland have evolved.Haiti are comfortably the worst team Scotland have faced in a finals under Clarke. Yet they still laboured for long spells, the anxiety touched upon by players and staff readily apparent. It is legitimate to ask what was learned from 2021 – when the Scots slumped to an opening defeat against the Czech Republic – or three years later, when Germany thumped them in Munich. Haiti are an enthusiastic but patently limited team. Scottish nervousness due to the simple fact they were of higher quality is not entirely rational.“It’s going to be really difficult against two top sides,” said Ferguson. “Both of them are ranked in the top eight in the world. So they’ll be tough games but I feel we can come alive in those sort of games when we’re the underdog. We’re looking forward to it, the next one will be a completely different game. But we’ll back ourselves.”Ferguson has touched upon a Scottish cliche, that when hopes are low the team can prevail. That has not forcibly been borne out under Clarke, especially against sides of the stature of Morocco and Brazil. In practical, tactical terms Scotland will need much more composure – and probably greater numbers – in midfield. Scott McTominay’s stomach bug in the lead-up to Haiti provides a decently extenuating circumstance for a poor showing but there were ominous parallels there, too, with the summer of 2024. Scotland need McTominay’s star quality to shine through.Another danger emanated from Morocco’s draw against Brazil, which was confirmed before Scotland kicked off. Morocco will now carry real belief they can top Group C, which will focus their minds for Scotland. Brazil will not have sauntered towards first place in the section by the time they face the Scots in Miami. Elite teams who are hugely incentivised are clearly a more substantial problem for Scotland than if going through tournament motions.“I want more,” said McGinn. “I wanted a second and third [goal] and to kick on in the group. That wasn’t stress free but it was never going to be. They are a tricky team.”The Scotland camp is well within its rights to accentuate pluses. It is similarly fair to ponder shortcomings. This Scottish team is within days of marching to where Denis Law and Kenny Dalglish could not. To do so, they must prove psychological shackles against Haiti were indeed the real problem.

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Anxious dead-of-night watch parties ended in celebration after 1-0 victory over Haiti in first finals match since 1998It was around 2.28am in the UK that John McGinn ended 28, arguably 36, years of hurt – and anyone daft enough to be asleep will surely have stirred as chants of “no Scotland, no party” echoed from Boston to Glasgow.The scenes after McGinn’s deflected goal and Scotland’s 1-0 defeat of Haiti were joyous. Sheer unbridled happiness. And relief.Dead-of-night watch parties were held across Scotland, the biggest at the Ovo Hydro arena in Glasgow, where more than 5,000 fans celebrated Scotland’s first World Cup match since 1998.When the final whistle blew, drinks went flying in the air and the noise raised the roof.For neutrals, the match between the 42nd Fifa-ranked team (Scotland) and the 83rd (Haiti) was not a great footballing spectacle. It was a laboured, anxiety-inducing victory, but nobody cared. For Scotland, a win is a win.“It was really good, but I think we could have done better,” said 12-year-old Darcy Morrison, who was watching in Glasgow with her mother and brother. “I thought we were going to beat them 4-0 but we didn’t.”Denise Rae, 52, from Aberdeen, was dressed in a Scotland bucket hat and sunglasses. “It was amazing,” she said. “It’s been a long time coming. Come on, Scotland, we can do it. Let’s get to the next round.”Fiona Barrie, 24, said the game had been a “big deal” for her sister, Dee. “She was born the last time Scotland were in the World Cup, she was 74 minutes old at the final whistle. So it’s a big deal for her,” she said.William MacGregor, 41, from Dumbarton, described the post-goal atmosphere as “bouncing … Drinks were flying everywhere when the goal went in. Not mine, I kept mine.”Scotland’s last World Cup appearance was 28 years ago, but the last victory was even further back – a 2-1 win against Sweden in 1990, which included Mo Johnston hammering home a late penalty.Among the famous names in the stadium for Sunday’s match was Rod Stewart, who cancelled a gig in San Diego on Friday because of illness. Hours later, he posted a clip of himself and two of his sons on a private jet to Boston singing: “no Scotland, no party”.Stewart, 81, said he had been to six World Cups and that if Scotland could get through to the next round, “I’ll die a happy man”.Also in the 64,000-plus crowd were the actors Gerard Butler and Martin Compston, the singer Clare Grogan and the chef Gordon Ramsay, who visited the players before the match, reportedly telling them: “Let’s fucking go!”There were reports at the weekend that the thousands of Scotland fans who had converged on Boston before the match had gone some way to drinking the city dry.One fan spoken to by WBZ News at Logan airport said his only complaint about the flight to Boston had been that “we ran out of beer”. Another said he was about to drink his duty-free whisky before hitting the town. “I want to find Cheers,” he said.The Boston Globe described thousands of “kilt-wearing, bagpipe-playing” Scottish fans as taking over parts of the city. After the final whistle it was “time for even more beers”, the newspaper’s reporter at City Hall Plaza wrote. Callum Liddle, 29, who had travelled from Scotland to Boston, said: “It’s the best day of my life.”The Scottish first minister, John Swinney, was also at the match. After the final whistle he described the team as outstanding and said the Tartan Army had been “great ambassadors for Scotland”.“I can tell you, there’s not as lovely a feeling as being the first first minister in Scotland to see Scotland win a game in a World Cup,” he said.In Boston the morning after, the kilts had largely been put away and people were nursing sore heads with big smiles as they gathered around the Common.“The game was a typical Scotland game but we sneaked it so that’s fine”, said Jordan Davidson, in town from Aberdeen on a joint trip with his daughter, Molly. “The whole week we’ve been here has been great. The bars have been brilliant, people have been wonderful and the atmosphere at the game was fantastic. Haitian people were lovely, they were singing, they were dancing and the Tartan Army were just on first-class form. As you can probably hear from my throat.”Molly wasn’t born the last time Scotland got a win at the World Cup and didn’t want to tempt fate by predicting another, with Scotland still to face Morocco and Brazil in Group C. “I’m scared to predict anything at this stage. I think that’s exactly what a Scotland fan would say, right? But I’m really happy to just be here now and have these memories, especially with my dad. Yesterday with the Haitian fans, seeing everybody dancing together, coming together, even though you’re technically opponents – I think that’s what sums up the World Cup and to experience that firsthand has been incredible.”The victory means Scotland are top of their group, after Brazil drew with Morocco. Although not mathematically certain, things will really have to turn for them not to qualify.For Haiti the result is clearly disappointing, but to even qualify for tournament was a massive achievement. There were no home fixtures because of the humanitarian crisis and gang violence in the country.For Sunday’s match, most councils in Scotland extended the licensing hours of bars and clubs. The hospitality trade expects to see a sales boost of about 40%.There will be headaches, but the king has approved Swinney’s proposal of a Scotland bank holiday on Monday 15 June. So who cares?

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⚽ Kick-off: 12pm local/1pm EDT/6pm BST/3am AEST⚽ Player guide | Bracketology | Golden boot | Email DanielGermany: Neuer, Kimmich, Tah, Schlotterbeck, Brown, Pavlovic, Nmecha, Sane, Musiala, Wirtz, Havertz. Subs: Baumann, Nubel, Rudiger, Anton, Goretzka, Leweling, Woltemade, Gross, Beier, Stiller, Amiri, Raum, Thiaw, Ouedraogo, Undav.Curaçao: Room, Floranus, Bazoer, Obispo, Fonville, Comenencia, Leandro Bacuna, Hansen, Chong, Juninho Bacuna, Locadia. Subs: Bodak, Doornbusch, Sambo, Gaari, van Eijma, Roemeratoe, Antonisse, Noslin, Gorre, Martha, Margaritha, Kuwas, Kastaneer, Brenet, Felida. Continue reading...