Scotland may need a positive result against record five-time champions Brazil to remain at the World Cup 2026 after Steve Clarke’s team lost to a Morocco side who took a major step towards the knockout stage in Boston.

Ismael Saibari’s clinical finish after 70 seconds from Brahim Diaz’s lofted pass proved enough for the Atlas Lions, who had much the better of the contest and struck the woodwork when Jack Hendry blocked Saibari’s second-half shot.

The result leaves Scotland on three points following their opening win over Haiti, with Morocco, who drew with Brazil, on four.

The Selecao and Grenadiers meet in their second matches of the tournament at 01:30 BST on Sunday.

World Cup 2026 analysis: Scotland vs Morocco

Bayern Munich-bound Saibari put Morocco ahead after 21 minutes with a superb dink against Brazil and the PSV forward’s second goal of the World Cup set the tone as Scotland held on but failed to contribute an attempt on target.

Lyndon Dykes headed wide and Ben Gannon-Doak and Kenny McLean also helped Scotland build momentum as second-half substitutes, with Scott McTominay having a shot blocked against the side netting.

Should Scotland have been awarded a penalty here…? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/N0aBouLkrO

McTominay appealed unsuccessfully to referee Ilgiz Tantashev after going down inside the penalty area with Neil El Aynaoui at close quarters.

“You could see there was a challenge on the left leg,” former Scotland striker Ally McCoist told ITV, with his opinion backed by pundit and former official Christina Unkel. “The referee probably got that one wrong.

“The second half was miles better. Scotland could and should have had a penalty. They will live to fight another day.”

Former Ireland captain Roy Keane disagreed that a spot kick should have been awarded. “The Morocco player puts his leg out, but not enough to give a penalty,” added former Australia boss Ange Postecoglou.

“[McTominay] was going down anyway.”

Morocco tested goalkeeper Angus Gunn on several occasions and went close when Ayoube Amaimouni curled a shot narrowly wide during second-half added time with Scotland committing numbers forward.

The 2022 semi-finalists will be confident of advancing as one of the top two with a game against Haiti to come.

Should they lose against Brazil, Scotland must hope they are one of the eight best-performing third-placed teams from the 12 groups if they are to reach the last 32.

Scotland were a little unfortunate not to take a point when they faced Brazil in their first game at their last appearance at the finals in 1998, when Tom Boyd’s 74th-minute own goal decided the match.

Scotland, Morocco World Cup 2026 fixtures, schedule

Both teams play their final games of the group stage on Wednesday.

World Cup 2026: Scotland team vs Morocco

Defender Scott McKenna was out with a calf injury for Scotland, who brought in Kieran Tierney, Nathan Patterson and Ryan Christie.

Aaron Hickey, Ben Gannon-Doak and Lawrence Shankland made way.

Scotland starting XI: Angus Gunn, Andy Robertson, Grant Hanley, Kieran Tierney, Jack Hendry, Nathan Patterson, Scott McTominay, John McGinn, Ryan Christie, Lewis Ferguson, Che Adams

Scotland substitutes: Liam Kelly, Craig Gordon, Aaron Hickey, John Souttar, Dominic Hyam, Anthony Ralston, Scott McKenna, Tyler Fletcher, Kenny McLean, Lyndon Dykes, Ross Stewart, Ben Gannon-Doak, George Hirst, Lawrence Shankland, Findlay Curtis

World Cup 2026: Morocco team vs Scotland

Morocco were unchanged.

Morocco starting XI: Yassine Bounou, Achraf Hakimi, Noussair Mazraoui, Issa Diop, Chadi Riad, Ayyoub Bouaddi, Azzedine Ounahi, Ismael Saibari, Bilal El Khannouss, Neil El Aynaoui, Brahim Diaz

Morocco substitutes: Munir El Kajoui, Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti, Marwane Saadane, Zakaria El Ouahdi, Youssef Belammari, Redouane Halhal, Anass Salah Eddine, Sofyan Amrabat, Chemseddine Talbi, Samir El Moukabit, Gessime Yassine, Soufiane Rahimi, Amine Sbai, Ayoub El Kaabi, Ayoube Amaimouni

Scotland vs Morocco: World Cup 2026 stats

• These sides’ only previous encounter was during the group stage of the 1998 finals, Morocco winning 3-0 for their largest-ever World Cup victory
• Scotland have won eight of their last 12 competitive matches (D1 L3) and five of their last seven (L2), with their only previous defeats during that run coming home and away to Greece
• John McGinn has scored 21 goals under manager Steve Clarke for Scotland, which is the joint-most goals by a player under a single Scotland manager along with Denis Law under Ian McColl (21 in 21 games)
• The Tartan Army missed the chance to win more than one game and consecutive games at a single major tournament for the first time
• Clarke is leading Scotland at a third major tournament following EURO 2020 and EURO 2024, which is more than any other head coach for the national team
• Including EURO appearances, Scotland have failed to surpass the opening round in any of their 12 previous attempts at major competitions
• Ten of Morocco’s last 13 World Cup matches have come against European teams, with no side playing as many games at the tournament against European opposition since the 2018 finals
• Morocco have lost one of their last seven World Cup group matches against European opposition (W2 D4) – a 1-0 defeat against Portugal in 2018
• They are unbeaten in their last six group stage matches at the World Cup (W3 D3), which is the best run by an African nation: Cameroon were unbeaten in five between 1982 and 1990 and Senegal had five unbeaten group games between 2002 and 2018
• Reigning African Footballer of the Year Achraf Hakimi made more tackles (26) than any other player at the 2022 World Cup and recorded the second-most ground duels won (41)
• Midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi was France Under-21 captain until the midfielder’s switch to Morocco was approved in May. Brahim Diaz, who top-scored at this year’s Africa Cup of Nations with five goals, was born in Spain