Haiti v Scotland: World Cup 2026 – live | World Cup 2026

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Don’t get humped!

That was the tongue-in-cheek response from Steve Clarke when asked about Scotland’s lessons from their past tournament openers. The 5-1 defeat against Germany two years ago still stings, clearly.

“Obviously we know the last two tournaments haven’t gone the way that we wanted them to go,” added Clarke.

“We have another chance, and that’s credit to the players that they keep qualifying for these major tournaments. It’s great to be here, but we also want to do something special.”

The other key theme from Clarke’s pre-match press conference was the importance of Scott McTominay. Clarke joked about picking the Napoli man to play centre-half for Scotland previously and compared McTominay’s now talismanic status to that which Gareth Bale shouldered for Wales. However, the former West Brom manager was keen to stress that Scotland are not a one-man team.

“I think I’ve got 26 superstars here,” said Clarke. “I think to try and put so much onto one person isn’t fair. We have built everything over the last seven years as a squad. That’s everybody being together and everybody playing their part at certain times.

“Some daft coach played Scott as a centre-half five years ago. But obviously he’s not a centre-half. And since moving further forward he’s done great for us.

“No, we’re delighted with Scott’s abilities and what he can bring to the team. But we’re going to need another 15 to bring the same if we want to have a positive tournaments.”

Back when Kenny McClean put the cherry on the cake of Scotland’s dramatic playoff win against Denmark in November, the concept of this game was a cause for wild celebration, but now, facing World Cup minnows Haiti, this game represents opportunity. A win, especially one by a convincing scoreline, will go a long way to ensuring Scotland get the group stage-shaped monkey off their back.

There will be nerves among the Tartan Army in Foxborough and those watching from afar, but the preparations for Steve Clarke’s side have gone very well. Eight goals scored against in warmup games against Bolivia and Curaçao, one conceded, crucially Scott McTominay has gotten over a tummy ache to ensure his manager has a full complement to choose from. McTominay’s new advert with Adidas is also a triumph and these are the things that really matter in setting ‘the vibe’.

More seriously, the makeup of the forward line is the big pre-match question for Clarke. Lawrence Shankland has been in hot form and Ché Adams did well alongside the new Rangers striker against Bolivia. Given the opportunity against Haiti, fielding a similarly attacking side to the XI that started in New Jersey could be a risk worth taking.

Haiti impressed in their 4-0 against New Zealand but were less hot against Peru, losing 2-1. There chances rest on the ability of Sunderland’s Wilson Isidor and their talisman Duckens Nazon to trouble the Scottish backline when they get a chance on the break.

Team news at 1am BST/8pm EST/10am AEST.