Scotland are out of the 2026 World Cup after Croatia's 2-1 victory over Ghana in Group L ended any remaining hope of progression. Steve Clarke's side cannot now qualify as one of the eight best third-placed teams required to advance to the knockout rounds.

It is a familiar story for Scotland — a group-stage exit from a major tournament. Across nine World Cups and four European Championships, they have never once made it past the opening phase.

A campaign of promise and pain

Scotland returned to the World Cup stage for the first time since 1998, having secured qualification in dramatic style with an unforgettable win over Denmark at Hampden Park last November. Their supporters travelled in their tens of thousands to the United States, and the tournament began with genuine optimism.

John McGinn's deflected strike gave Scotland a 1-0 win over Haiti — the group's lowest-ranked team — and ended a 36-year wait for a World Cup victory. That goal would prove to be their only one of the tournament.

A 1-0 defeat to Morocco, 2022 semi-finalists, followed in their second match. Scotland then faced Brazil in Miami knowing that a draw would likely be enough to advance as one of the best third-placed sides.

Costly errors against Brazil

The game against Brazil unravelled in the first half. Defender Scott McKenna was dispossessed inside his own penalty area, and Vinicius Jr punished the error to open the scoring. The Real Madrid forward was denied a second by VAR, which ruled he had fouled Jack Hendry before rolling the ball past Angus Gunn.

Just before the interval, Scotland gave possession away close to their own goal again, and Vinicius Jr headed in at the back post to make it 2-0. Matheus Cunha added a third after the break, and Scotland's late pressure produced nothing — leaving them third in Group C on three points with a -3 goal difference.

Exit confirmed

Clarke and several of his players had already acknowledged after the Brazil defeat that reaching the last 32 was improbable. Results elsewhere, including Ecuador's comeback win against Germany, had trimmed Scotland's chances of advancing to just 5.26 percent with six groups still to finish. Croatia's win over Ghana removed the final sliver of hope.

Scotland, who have featured at the past two European Championships, depart the United States having shown glimpses of their quality — but ultimately undone by defensive frailty and the unforgiving nature of a World Cup group stage.