Scotland Stunned Its Way Back To The World Cup

Entering Tuesday's final World Cup qualifier, Scotland was desperate for a win. Though even a loss would have kept Scottish hope alive via a possible playoff, a win would guarantee that Scotland would be making its return to the World Cup for the first time since 1998. (Big week for the not-since-98ers, it seems.) Tuesday's showdown in Glasgow against Denmark, the group leaders heading in, was essentially a playoff-to-avoid-the-playoff, and it delivered on the excitement implied by those stakes. Thanks to a late Kiernan Tierney winner, and a Kenny McLean exclamation point, Scotland survived 90-plus grueling and dramatic minutes to win 4-2 and book its ticket for the tournament next summer.

Let's start at the end. Well, almost the end. With the score deadlocked at 2-2 and time running out for the Scots, McLean launched a ball into the top of the Danish box. After the ball bounced around a couple of times, Danish midfielder Morten Hjulmand failed to clear it cleanly, and his mishit landed at Tierney's left foot from about 28 yards out. The Celtic left back stroked a first-touch curler past a combined eight Scots and Danes, sending it just past his club teammate Kasper Schmeichel in goal. Predictably, the Hampden Park crowd exploded:

With all due respect to the Spanish commentary—my preferred method for watching international soccer matches—the above call wasn't nearly hype enough. For that, we have to go to Alasdair Lamont's radio commentary for BBC Sport Scotland, which truly captures the bliss of being back in the World Cup after 28 years away:

Denmark still had hope and time after Tierney's stunner; as a reminder, a draw would have done enough to get the Danes to the World Cup without needing the playoff. And so, Denmark threw everything it had at Scotland in the final few minutes, but to no avail. There was one more goal, though, a fitting conclusion to this bit of Scottish delirium. In the 98th minute, after recovering the ball in his own half, McLean took a few steps before looking up and spotting Schmeichel off his line. The Norwich City midfielder made the audacious choice to go for glory from the halfway line, and he was rewarded handsomely:

Scotland wouldn't have made it to the World Cup without Tierney and McLean, but it also wouldn't have done so without Scott McTominay, who scored a picture-perfect bicycle kick just three minutes in, continuing his dream era that began with his move to Napoli in 2024. Before anyone had been able to settle into the match, Ben Gannon-Doak lobbed a cross into the box, and all six feet and three inches of McTominay rose up to meet the ball upside down. He might not have gotten the purest of hits on the ball, but it was good enough to kickstart Scotland's momentum:

Let's check in with some Scottish fans after that banger:

Denmark would equalize in the 57th minute thanks to a penalty from Napoli-via-Manchester United striker Rasmus Hojlund, which put Scotland back on the hunt for that World Cup–clinching goal. The decisive moment seemed to arrive in 78th minute with a Lawrence Shankland go-ahead goal, but Denmark equalized once again four minutes later, setting the stage for Tierney's heroics.

This has been a week of stunners for the British Isles; while Ireland only clinched a playoff spot with its own last-gasp goal on Sunday, it remains alive for its first World Cup since 2002. (The less said about how Ireland got robbed in 2010 the better, lest Dave McKenna comes to throw a tube amp at my head.) Wales and Northern Ireland both also remain alive, with the former finishing second in Group J and the latter clinching a playoff spot thanks to its performance in the Nations League. (Compared to its neighbors—to put a nice spin on those relationships—England had a boringly dominant campaign, booking its ticket to its former colony for next summer with eight wins and zero goals conceded.) There's a world where all four of the Home Nations teams, plus Ireland which is definitively not part of the Home Nations, make it to the World Cup. Scotland already lives in that world, and the Cup awaits thanks to one of the biggest wins in its modern history, and a pair of goals that have etched the names of Kieran Tierney and Kenny McLean into the annals of Scottish soccer history.

Correction (3:15 p.m. ET): An earlier version of this post called England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland the "Great Britain" teams. They are the Home Nations teams. This has been corrected above.