Scotland manager Steve Clarke says he faces welcome selection headaches after his side rounded off their World Cup preparations with a commanding 4-0 victory over Bolivia in Harrison, New Jersey.

Clarke fielded two strikers from the start in the final warm-up fixture before Scotland's FIFA World Cup 2026 opener against Haiti in Boston next week — and the gamble delivered immediately. Lawrence Shankland broke the deadlock early, Scott McTominay added a third, and Che Adams contributed a brace to put the result beyond any doubt.

"We've got fantastic problems," Clarke said after the match. "Really good first half, then I turned round to my bench and the changes we were making were good. You lose a little bit of the rhythm of the game when you are making so many changes, both sides."

Clean sheet a welcome bonus

Clarke also highlighted Scotland's defensive solidity as a secondary source of satisfaction, noting that the clean sheet was long overdue. "The boys who went in, their priority was not to concede because we wanted a clean sheet. It's been a little while since we had a clean sheet so it is nice to get that," he said.

The manager pushed back against criticism of his side's scoring record, pointing to back-to-back four-goal hauls as evidence of improved clinical edge. "Goals will be important — obviously we get told that we don't score enough goals but that is back-to-back fours. It's about the creation of the chances, the creation of the chances was good tonight and if you create good chances then we have got players on the pitch who will score goals."

Heat test passed in New Jersey

Scotland's display carried extra merit given the oppressive heat at the Red Bull Arena venue. Clarke expressed satisfaction at how his players coped physically, particularly after preparations in Florida had delivered humidity but little of the high temperatures they had sought.

"We went to Florida for heat and humidity and we got the humidity but a lot of rain. We probably didn't get the heat we expected but we got that heat in the first half today and I thought we handled it well," Clarke said. "We are as well prepared as we can be at this stage and we will prepare well this week and make sure we start the tournament well."

Euro 2024 a reminder to stay grounded

Despite the positive mood in the camp, Clarke was quick to temper expectations, drawing on the bitter lesson of Euro 2024 — when Scotland also travelled to Germany in confident form, only to endure a disappointing group-stage exit.

"We've obviously won a couple of games going into the tournament and it is always important that the players are feeling good about themselves," he said. "But, to be honest, they felt good about themselves going into Germany — so I wouldn't read too much into it!"