World Cup 2026
Football dwarf misses coup – Scotland narrowly wins
Updated June 14, 2026 – 5:23 amReading time: 2 minutes
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The “Bravehearts” have a lot of trouble at times with an outsider. A scene brings about the decision.
A dry spell of over 35 years is over: Scotland narrowly beat outsiders Haiti 1-0 (1-0) at the start of the World Cup, celebrating their first victory since the 1990 World Cup.
John McGinn (28th) scored the goal of the game in Boston on Sunday night German time. Football dwarf Haiti kept up well for long stretches and created chances – but was without luck in the end and did not celebrate a successful comeback more than half a century after the World Cup premiere in 1974.
The team from the crisis-plagued Caribbean country, which has to make do without home fans due to a US entry ban, will now face Brazil. As leaders of Group C, Scotland took a big step towards their debut in the knockout phase and can once again rely on their frenetic fans against Morocco in the football temple of the New England Patriots.
As soon as the Scottish anthem was played, the arena vibrated, with noble fan Rod Stewart also joining in the excitement. According to media reports, around 30,000 supporters, many of them in kilts and jerseys, had already turned Boston into a party zone with the sound of bagpipes in the past few days. The battle cry “No Scotland, no Party” rang out before kick-off from countless bright yellow school buses that the fans had rented for the ride to the stadium.
With this tailwind, the Scots started the game better, but then had increasingly nervous moments and repeatedly made their opponents, who were lurking in transition situations, dangerous. At times it was wild, Scott McTominay (17th) had Scotland’s lead with his shot from 15 meters off the post.
Then the Haitians were very unlucky when McGinn’s deflected follow-up shot was deflected unstoppable by Jean-Ricner Bellegarde. Despite the lead at the back, the Scots remained vulnerable defensively.