Scotland have the chance to make history tonight by qualifying for the knockout stages of a World Cup for the first time.
A draw against Morocco in Boston would almost certainly be enough but a win would guarantee Steve Clarke’s men a place in the round-of-32.
Scotland edged out Haiti in their opener but will have to raise their performance levels if they are to achieve their objective.
Morocco reached the last four at Qatar 2022 and secured a well-deserved draw with Brazil in their opener in New Jersey.
And Clarke knows the challenge they face against the team controversially awarded the Africa Cup of Nations title this year.
“Any time you play a team inside the world’s top 10, you know you’re going to have to be good without and with the ball,” Clarke told a pre-match press conference.
“We’re under no illusions about the size of the task for the next game. Morocco reached the last four in the last World Cup and I think this team are slightly better than that – that gives you idea of the task ahead.”
Where to watch Scotland v Morocco: TV channel, live online streams
Kick-off on Friday is at 23:00 BST (18:00 ET / 15:00 PT). In the UK, live coverage is on ITV1.
Fans can stream the action via ITV’s website and ITVX app, which is available on a vast variety of devices for viewing on the go.
World Cup 2026: Scotland v Morocco 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 11 competitive matches (D1 L2) and five of their last six (L1), with their only defeats 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 could 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
- Nine of Morocco’s last 12 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 six World Cup group matches against European opposition (W2 D3) – a 1-0 defeat against Portugal in 2018
- They are unbeaten in their last five group stage matches at the World Cup (W2 D3), which is the joint-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.
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