Scotland captain Andy Robertson has told his teammates they've got a chance to make history — and they aren't hiding from it.
Speaking on the eve of their second Group C match against Morocco at the Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, the 32-year-old left-back said the squad wants to be the first Scotland team to reach the knockout rounds of a World Cup.
“I don't think any of the lads or the coaching staff and backroom staff have shied away from it,” Robertson told reporters. “We want to be the first team to be able to do that for our country. And it's obviously a nice feeling to try and do that.”
Scotland kicked off their campaign with a 1-0 win over Haiti at the same venue last weekend. That victory was their first World Cup win since 1990 and only their fifth ever at the finals. It was also their first appearance at the tournament since 1998.
But the road gets much tougher now. Morocco reached the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar — the best performance by an African nation in the tournament's history. Scotland coach Steve Clarke believes this Moroccan side might be even stronger.
“We're under no illusion about the size of the task. Morocco are a really, really good side. They reached the last four of the last World Cup and I've got a feeling this Moroccan team is probably slightly better than that,” Clarke said.
Scotland will then face record five-time winners Brazil in Miami to close out the group stage. With the expanded 48-team format allowing the eight best third-placed sides to advance, one point from the next two games could be enough. But the Scotland players know they're up against two of the top six teams in the world rankings.
Clarke thinks the underdog role might actually suit his team. “Sometimes the Scottish psyche, the Scottish mentality is that we're a little bit more comfortable when we're the underdogs,” he said. “We were the favourites against Haiti and we found the game a struggle, but we managed to win. This time we're the underdogs and sometimes Scotland prefer it that way.”
The Morocco game also brings back painful memories. In 1998, Scotland played Morocco in their final group match and lost 0-3, which knocked them out of the tournament.
Robertson, who recently signed for Tottenham Hotspur after almost a decade at Liverpool, also praised the Scotland fans who have taken over Boston. The Tartan Army have gone viral on social media, with their fan march to Fenway Park to watch the Boston Red Sox drawing attention. Robertson knows the Red Sox owners well — Fenway Sports Group also owns Liverpool.
“The Liverpool owners were absolutely delighted that the Tartan Army were in. One of them sent me a nice message,” Robertson said. “I think he was quite happy to see the different songs being sung and the amount of kilts and Scotland shirts about the place. They certainly made a party of it at the baseball game.”
Kick-off against Morocco is on Friday. A win would put Scotland in a strong position to reach the knockout rounds for the first time in their history.