Scotland defeated Haiti with the minimum 1:0 in a match from the 2026 World Cup, and the only goal was scored by John McGinn (28') in the first half.
This match is one of the group stage matches played in the United States, where the heaviest weight of the championship on the planet will be carried. The host of the match is "Gillet Stadium" in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
This match is part of group "C" at the World Cup finals.
Earlier, the super clash from the group between Brazil and Morocco was played, in which the two teams did not defeat each other and drew 1:1, giving the "gaidaris" the chance to take advantage and temporarily lead the standings if they win against their much more modest opponent.
You can watch this, as well as all 104 matches from the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico, live with a picture on bnt.sportal.bg.
Last week, Haiti lost 1:2 to Peru in the last match before the World Cup, allowing a late comeback. French specialist Sebastian Mine, who leads the team, decided today to come out with exactly the same eleven that he started with last weekend, which made sense, since his starters then managed to take the lead in the score with the goal of Wilson Isidore, who also started today, in the 16th minute, and the goals in their own goal were then received only in the 81st and 84th minutes. There was also a Bulgarian trace among the Haitians, since Johnny Placid started under the goal, who was guarding for the disbanded Tsarsko Selo. On the bench was Duquesne Nazon, who had a period for the 31-time home champion CSKA.
Eleven names. One country behind them 🇭🇹 pic.twitter.com/zOnzULodRm
In their last control a week ago, the "gaidarite" they crushed Bolivia 4-0, having played them just over a week ago on Saturday, June 6th. Compared to this match, national coach Steve Clarke made only one change, and then-starter Ryan Christie gave way to John McGinn. Otherwise, all four goal scorers from the test against the South Americans - Scott McTominay, Lawrence Shankland and Che Adams - were on hand to watch the first referee's signal from the green carpet.
Although all three official opening matches of the World Cup had already passed, the start of the match was quite spectacular and the appearance of the two elevens turned into a mini-show in itself.
"The Pipers" decided not to surprise anyone and immediately took absolute control of the events, pressing their opponent deep into their own half. Ben Doake took the first accurate shot in the 3rd minute, and 60 seconds later Shankland tried his luck, but his shot hit the body of a Haitian defender.
In the 5th minute we saw the first signs of something like an attack from the symbolic hosts in today's match. Midfielder Louisius Deedson took over, saw a corridor and an advantageous opportunity to shoot from distance, but did it in a shameful way and sent the leather ball out.
In the 7th minute Robertson interfered with McTominay, who intercepted with his head, but instead of lowering the ball low, he hit it with his forehead from the bottom and it flew high over the crossbar.
A quarter of an hour after the start, Haiti reached its cleanest position since the beginning of the match. Belgard intercepted a cross in the penalty area with his head and the leather ball licked the near side post from the outside.
The British responded instantly and in the counterattack McTominay shook the crossbar from his right with a powerful shot.
Furthermore, the clear goal opportunities decreased significantly and the "gaidars" moved towards territorial superiority, while the Haitians had two dangerous runs towards the opponent's goal, which ended in crosses.
The water break in the middle of the half helped the British to pick up the pace more and so for about half an hour at the beginning they capitalized on their advantage. First, Che Adams failed to beat Haitian goalkeeper Johnny Placid from a small angle, after which the ball spun around the penalty area, and there was John McGinn lurking there, who had nothing else to do but give Scotland the lead.
In the 35th minute, the Haitians were close to equalizing, causing chaos and a ballooning ball from the Scottish defense, but there was no one there to deliver the decisive blow. However, even if the latter had happened, there would have been no goal, as the attack was stopped due to an offside by Wilson Isidore.
In the 37th minute, Isidore was again at the epicenter of events for the symbolic hosts and intercepted a cross from a free kick, shooting with his head into the outfield.
In the 39th minute, the first yellow card of the match came. It was for Jean-Ricne Belgard, who played with a lot of motivation throughout the match and eventually overheated, making a too rough tackle from behind, which ended with a hit not on the ball, but on the calves of a Scottish footballer.
The second half began with another yellow card, this time for the Europeans' representative, Hickey.
The Haitians, for their part, had strong opening moments in the second half and seven minutes after the restart, they reached a corner kick.
In the 55th minute, Ben Doake was forced to take the lead, but his volley hit the body of a defender. This situation unleashed new pressure on the British, who in the following minutes reached three consecutive corners.
After an hour of playing time, the strongest minutes for the Haitians came and to a large extent they dictated the situation on the field, surprisingly pushing their opponent into their half. However, there were no goal opportunities, and things even developed to the taste of Steve Clark's boys, who defended very competently. They even had their counterattack opportunities and frankly missed the moment when they should have closed the match, because with a second goal the way back for Haiti became hopeless, to put it mildly.
In the 70th minute, the Scots had a claim for a penalty after McTominay fell in the penalty area while crossing from a direct free kick. Initially, there were doubts that he was held, but later it became clear that the Napoli player overplayed and fell himself, and the referee Mustafa Gorbal frankly spared him a yellow card for simulation.
In the 73rd minute, McGinn, falling, took a shot and sent the ball out of bounds, failing to score a second goal.
In the 77th minute, Lenny Joseph tried to diversify for the Haitians for the first time, shooting from distance, but he did it so sluggishly and lightly that for the goalkeeper of the "gaidaris" Angus Gunn simply had to crouch down and neutralize.
In the 85th minute, the symbolic hosts had a big chance. Piero won the aerial duel on the edge of the penalty area with Hendry and delivered a killer header, but the ball flew wide of the goal.
In the rest of the match, purely footballing virtues were lacking, and the Scots completely turned the match into an ugly bullfight with two outrageous tackles that could have cost a lot. Already in the 1st minute of added time, Curtis jumped and elbowed his opponent in the back of the head, and in the 5th minute, McLean jumped with his buttons forward straight into his opponent's thigh.
In the 7th minute of added time, Experiences personified Haiti's absolute goallessness and shot high above the goal from an unrealistic distance. In the rest, the symbolic hosts never brought the ball forward in the second half and had to accept defeat.
HAITI 0:1 SCOTLAND
0:1 John McGinn (28')
WORLD CUP 2026, GROUP PHASE
GROUP "C", ROUND I
STARTING LINEUPS
HAITI: 1. Johnny Placid, 2. Karlens Arcus, 4. Ricardo Ade, 5. Hannes Delcroix, 8. Martin Experience, 11. Louisius Deedson, 17. Danly Jean Jacques, 10. Jean-Ricne Belgard, 15. Ruben Providence, 20. Franzdi Piero, 18. Wilson Isidore
Coach: Sebastian Mine
SCOTLAND: 1. Angus Gunn, 2. Aaron Hickey, 13. Jack Hendry, 5. Grant Hanley, 3. Andrew Robertson, 17. Ben Doake, 4. Scott McTominay, 19. Lewis Ferguson, 7. John McGinn, 20. Lawrence Shankland, 10. Che Adams
Coach: Steve Clarke
START: Sunday, June 14, 2026 | 4:00 AM
STADIUM: "Gillet Stadium", Foxborough (Massachusetts, USA)
CHIEF REFEREE: Mustafa Gorbal (Algeria)
Source: sportal.bg