Greece 3-2 Scotland: World Cup 2026 qualifier – as it happened

10.12pm GMT Ewan Murray was in Piraeus. Here’s his verdict. Thanks for reading this MBM. Related: Scotland lose in Greece but Denmark stumble takes World Cup qualification to decider 10.11pm GMT Steve Clarke talks to BBC Scotland. “Strange night, strange game, very open … lots of chances missed … good saves from both goalkeepers … unfortunately not the result we wanted … [Denmark’s failure to beat Belarus] proves the last game at Hampden, when we got booed off the pitch, the three points was a little bit better than people realised at the time … Belarus played really well against us and obviously taken that momentum into the next game … it’s nice that they’ve done us a favour … a slow start … it took us 30 minutes to settle … we had chances to make it 1-1 … second half we started on the front foot … suddenly we were thinking that it might be a long night … but these players are a credit to themselves and to their country … they didn’t give up … we had chances to make it 3-3 … some good things … much better with the ball … more positive … some people may be happy with a good performance but I’m disappointed we didn’t get the result … we’ve got a lucky break … Belarus have done us a big favour … we have to believe in ourselves a bit more … the last 20 minutes, we put a very good Greek side on the back foot … we put them to the sword … a lot of chances … we looked like the good team I know we are, and we have to show that more often.” 10.03pm GMT Post-match postbag. “I will admit I didn’t see this permutation coming, but I’d still bet I know what the end result will be. 90+6 for the Danish winner, then?” – James Humphries “It’s coming home, baby! Bring on Denmark, your boys are going to take a hell of a beating on Tuesday, a hell of a beating! Hans Christian Anderson, Peter Schmeichel, Niels Bohr, Lars Ulrich …” – Simon McMahon “Danish nerves got to them in the end. I think they had eight shots in the last ten minutes, and not a single one was on target. Belarus did well, but the boys in red and white really let the pressure get to them. As someone from a country that was once a colony of Denmark, I hope the Scots stamp their ticket to America on Tuesday” – Kári Tulinius “I may hate Scottish football, but I love Scotland captain, and former Dundee United man, Andy Robertson. COME ON SCOTLAND!!!!” – Simon McMahon again “With Belarus holding on, surely Simon McMahon will switch from whisky to White Russians” – Peter Oh 10.00pm GMT Ben Gannon-Doak, who scored his first international goal tonight, speaks to the Beeb. “It was a great game … we could have started a lot better … the early goal doesn’t help anyone … we played well at the start of the second half … 3-0 for any team is a bit too much … a lot more pleased with the team’s performance this time round than last time [against Greece] … hopefully we can take it into the game against Denmark … thank you God we’ve still got a chance … if we can take part of that performance into Tuesday, that’s more than enough to get it done … obviously I’m delighted, thank you God, but I’d rather have played rubbish and won … I just want what’s best for the team … I’m happy I’ve scored my first goal even if it’s a defeat.” 9.56pm GMT Scotland captain Andrew Robertson talks to the BBC. “That’s what we wanted [for automatic qualification to still be a possibility] … today was such a strange game … you cannot concede three goals … let’s start with that … it’s hugely disappointing … our performances against Greece have been criticised but that’s the most we’ve created against them … that’s a fact … eight or nine really big chances … we got the attacking bit right but not the defensive bit … 3-0 down a lot of teams crumble but my God we fought back … we could have come away with a draw … in the end it wouldn’t have mattered anyway … Denmark have dropped points which shows you how better Belarus have got as the campaign has gone on … so winner takes all on Tuesday … that’s all we could ask … people were writing us off from the very start, saying we were the third-best team in the group … now we’ve got a final to play on Tuesday … I hope everyone in Hampden gets behind us.” 9.51pm GMT Scotland get away with it on a preposterous night in Group C! They could have been thrashed tonight after an abysmal first-half performance in Greece. It’s also true that they weren’t far off completing a sensational comeback from three down: Scott McTominay hit the bar, Ché Adams missed two sitters, and Odysseas Vlachodimos made a series of wonderful last-ditch saves. There’s almost certainly little to be gained in attempting to make any sense out of any of it. But then the same can be said for Denmark’s inability to beat group whipping-boys Belarus at home. Had they done so, Denmark would have qualified for the World Cup, and Scotland would be facing the play-offs. Now, if they beat the Danes on Tuesday night at Hampden, they’ll be going to the World Cup instead. What a weird and wonderful evening. Scotland will have to get a lot better if any of this is to make a difference, though. Updated at 10.48pm GMT 9.46pm GMT FULL TIME: Denmark 2-2 Belarus. Belarus have their first point of the campaign, and in doing so, throw Scotland a lifeline!!! 1. Denmark P5 W3 D2 L0 F14 A3 Pts112. Scotland P5 W1 D1 L1 F9 A5 Pts103. Greece P5 W2 D0 L3 F7 A10 Pts64. Belarus P5 W0 D1 L4 F4 A17 Pts1 9.44pm GMT There’s still one of nine added minutes to play in Copenhagen. What a position to put yourself in. The Scotland national football team, ladies and gentlemen. 9.42pm GMT The Scottish players congregate. Waiting. Anticipating. Shades of Manchester United at Sunderland all those years ago, waiting on news from Manchester City v QPR. This is agonising. All those missed chances in the second half! 9.41pm GMT It’s Denmark 2-2 Belarus, with the game deep into injury time. Should Belarus hold on, Scotland can still finish the group in top spot, if they beat Denmark on Tuesday. But Belarus have to hold on. Can Belarus hold on? Will Belarus hold on? 9.40pm GMT FULL TIME: Greece 3-2 Scotland Oh Scotland. Over to Copenhagen, then … Updated at 9.45pm GMT 9.39pm GMT 90 min +4: Greece clear the corner, but then Tetteh bowls McGinn over on the right. McGinn sends the free kick in, but McTominay can’t win a header and Vlachodimos claims. Scotland’s brave attempt at a comeback looks doomed. 9.38pm GMT 90 min +3: Ralston drives hard down the right and wins a corner off Tsimikas. Gordon comes up for it … then is told to go back by the Scotland bench. This is glorious nonsense! 9.37pm GMT 90 min +2: It’s attack versus defence. Scotland probe. McGinn then romps down the right, reaches the byline, and rolls into the six-yard box. Hirst is preparing to slam home from a couple of yards, only for Vlachodimos to once again intervene by sticking out a leg. The ball then pings off Hirst’s shin and away. Scotland have had some chances in this second half. 9.35pm GMT 90 min: There will be four additional minutes. Scotland thought there would be more, given all the subs, goals and VAR checks. 9.35pm GMT 89 min: Greece make a double change, sending on Kostoulas and Hatzidiakos for Mouzakitis and Tzolis. 9.33pm GMT 88 min: One last throw of the dice for Steve Clarke. He replaces Gannon-Doak with Hirst. Updated at 9.33pm GMT 9.32pm GMT 86 min: Dykes chests down on the edge of the D, but there’s no point trying to get a shot away, because the whistle goes for a shove on Retsos. “Love football?” splutters Simon McMahon. “You’re kidding, right? I hate football. Especially Scottish football. Is it any wonder I’m a we’re a nation of pathetic drunks?” 9.31pm GMT 85 min: … but Scotland will take it. Tsimikas then feels Souttar’s elbow scrape his jaw, and goes down theatrically. Daft from Souttar, wily from Tsimikas, and it’s a yellow card. There’s suddenly an edge to this game. 9.30pm GMT RED CARD: Bakasetas (Greece) 84 min: Bakasetas competes with Ferguson under a high ball. The pair fall backwards. Bakasetas puts his elbow in Ferguson’s chest, and the referee shows him a second yellow card! That’s an extremely harsh decision. 9.28pm GMT 82 min: Shankland and Dykes come on for Christie and Adams. Meanwhile some rotten news coming out of the state of Denmark: the hosts have equalised through Gustav Isaksen on 79 minutes. Can Belarus hold on? 9.26pm GMT 80 min: Nothing comes of the resulting corner. How on earth are Scotland not level? Having said that, how on earth were they not 4-0 down after 30 minutes? But this is why we love football. We all still love football, right? 9.25pm GMT 79 min: This is absurd! Gannon-Doak romps down the right and cuts back from the byline to the in-rushing McTominay, who will surely steer home from six yards … but his low poke is somehow flipped over the bar by Vlachodimos’s extended left leg! What a save! McTominay should have scored, it’s true, but that was an outlandish stop. 9.23pm GMT 78 min: Masouras’s first act is to leap for a header and get cheekily nudged mid-air by McGinn. A free kick in a dangerous position … but it’s calmly cleared by Scotland, and Gannon-Doak launches a counter. He’s not able to find McTominay, who was up in support. The last few minutes of this match are almost certainly, one way or another, going to be wild. 9.21pm GMT 76 min: Greece respond by replacing the wonderkid Karetsas with Masouras. 9.20pm GMT 75 min: Scotland make a double change, replacing Hickey and Hanley with McKenna and Ralston. 9.20pm GMT 73 min: Scotland miss another huge chance! Gannon-Doak nicks the ball off a dozy Koulierakis and races clear into the box! He tees up Adams, who doesn’t shoot first time, perhaps thinking about that last chance. He instead attempts to round the keeper. He can’t. He lays off to Christie, who shoots towards the bottom right. Vlachodimos tips around the post, then the flag goes up for an offside, McTominay judged to have been in the keeper’s sightline. Scotland should be level. Adams has now missed two glorious opportunities. 9.17pm GMT 71 min: Now it’s Scotland with the wind in their sail. McTominay dribbles hard down the inside-left channel. He’s swarmed before he can shoot, but the Tartan Army are bouncing in beautiful bedlam. What a noise in Piraeus! 9.15pm GMT GOAL! Greece 3-2 Scotland (Christie 70) The last few minutes have been trippy enough … but now things have gotten positively lysergic. Robertson whips a cross in from the left, and Christie, eight yards out, rises to plant a header into the bottom left! The game’s certainly far from over now! Updated at 9.36pm GMT 9.13pm GMT 68 min: Oh my. Oh my goodness. Belarus are now leading 2-1 in Denmark! Nikita Demchenko on 65 minutes. Could they hang on and throw Scotland the mother of all lifelines? 9.12pm GMT 67 min: Nope, the goal stands. And here’s a twister: Belarus have equalised in Denmark, Valeri Gromyko levelling things up in Copenhagen on 62 minutes! So if both matches were to end now, Scotland would still be able to finish in top spot if they beat the Danes on Tuesday. 9.11pm GMT 66 min: There’s a VAR check. Did McGinn foul Vagiannidis? There was contact, but nothing worthy of overturning the goal, surely. While the decision is pending, Bakasetas is booked for having his say. 9.10pm GMT GOAL! Greece 3-1 Scotland (Gannon-Doak 65) Now then, this is getting silly. McGinn makes good down the left, swatting Vagiannidis out of the way and crossing low for Gannon-Doak, who absolutely roofs home from six yards. Game not quite over? Updated at 9.29pm GMT 9.09pm GMT GOAL! Greece 3-0 Scotland (Tzolis 63) Tzolis strides down the middle of the park. He takes a touch to the right, before lashing a rising drive towards the top left. There’s power behind it, but Gordon should stop it. Instead, he allows it through both hands. Game over. Updated at 9.30pm GMT 9.07pm GMT 62 min: The corner’s half cleared, but Mouzakitis pearls it back through a crowded area. A proper ripper. Fortunately for Scotland, it’s straight at Gordon, who snaffles. 9.07pm GMT 61 min: Greece are pushing for a third. Tetteh breaks clear of Hanley again and aims for the bottom left. Gordon blocks. From the resulting corner, Retsos bashes a header off the left-hand post. Another corner coming up. 9.06pm GMT 59 min: That huge blow came just four minutes after Christie and Adams combined to pass up Scotland’s glorious chance to equalise. Another bittersweet chapter. I should get round to updating this. Related: Self-sabotage and self-hate: Scotland's relationship with success 9.03pm GMT GOAL! Greece 2-0 Scotland (Karetsas 57) Tetteh barrels down the left flank, bursting past the static Hanley. He reaches the area, waits for the arrival of Karetsas, and cuts back. Karetsas meets the ball first time, passing with power into the left-hand side of the net, out of Gordon’s reach. Scotland’s hopes of automatic qualification look over. 9.01pm GMT 55 min: Christie’s slightly heavy touch as he tried to round the keeper did for Scotland there. He should have been slotting himself. Mind you, the same can subsequently be said for Adams. 8.59pm GMT 53 min: Karetsas plays an awful square ball in from the Greek right. Christie intercepts and he’s suddenly one on one with Vlachodimos! He rounds the keeper and lays off for Adams, who shoots goalwards … only for Karetsas, who has made it all the way back, to block! What heroics! Adams has another whack, and the keeper’s back in position. Brilliant defending after an awful mistake, but Scotland should be level. Updated at 9.02pm GMT 8.57pm GMT 52 min: Ferguson has a nibble at Bakasetas. He wants to watch himself. 8.56pm GMT 50 min: Gannon-Doak is seeing a lot of the ball. He dribbles again down the right, and nearly gets past Tsimikas, whose lunge is enough to put his opponent off. Gannon-Doak’s cross sails out for a goal kick. But he comes at Tsimikas again, winning a corner that leads to some head tennis. Greece eventually clear, but this is much, much better from the Scots. 8.53pm GMT 48 min: Karetsas advances dangerously down the right but hits a cross-cum-shot into the side netting. 8.53pm GMT 47 min: McGinn finds Gannon-Doak on the right with a sensational long-range diagonal pass. Gannon-Doak dribbles into the box but his cross is blocked. He gesticulates towards the away fans; every little helps. 8.50pm GMT Scotland get the second half started. No changes. 8.50pm GMT Half-time postbag. “I haven’t watched Scotland in a while, and I’ve been wondering why all the belly aching? Now I get it. Holy Crapdoodle! I can’t even tell what formation they are playing in. The keeper just lumps the ball downfield 20 yards past the lone forward. The defensive “line” is more like a collection of electrons winking in and out of existence. I used to think Clarke was doing a decent job with limited resources. Either he’s lost the room, the room has lost him, or they’ve all lost their marbles. And in the shadow of the Parthenon no less. At this rate, the least embarrassing outcome for Scotland is to not go to the World Cup” – Ben Barclay “Tsimikas v Robertson is an intriguing battle of Liverpool left backs. It’s a shame that - at best - only one of these two brilliant characters will grace the Geopolitics World Cup, while the other is, well, left back” – Peter Oh “Here’s an interesting article on Andreas Tetteh for you. He’s had all sorts of struggles over the years. I’m delighted that he’s finally earned a first cap for Greece, and wish him all the best, but not tonight! Sorry, Mum!” – Stelios Jackson 8.38pm GMT Apposite half-time entertainment. 8.37pm GMT HALF TIME: Greece 1-0 Scotland Greece could easily be out of sight. But Scotland’s hopes of first place aren’t done just yet: they somehow hung on by their fingernails, finally woke up, and carved out a couple of good opportunities towards the end of the half. They’ve hit the bar and missed a one-on-one. More of that, and you never know! 8.35pm GMT 45 min +4: McTominay, quarterbacking just to the left of the centre circle, rolls a pass down the middle to release Gannon-Doak. He’s clear! He enters the box, opens his body, and attempts to sidefoot across Vlachodimos and into the bottom right. But the keeper stays big to block. Nothing comes of the resulting corner. A huge chance! 8.34pm GMT 45 min +3: … and now Adams misses a header from a couple of yards! Gannon-Doak probes down the right and pulls back for Hickey, who crosses. McTominay flicks on, and Adams flashes his header into the side netting! To be fair, that came at him super-quickly, and he was coming in from a tight angle. It wasn’t as easy a chance as “two yards out” makes it sound. 8.32pm GMT 45 min +1: In the first of four additional first-half minutes, McTominay hits the crossbar! A ball rolled in from the left. Adams dummies, and McTominay sends a power-curler towards the top left. Just that little bit too high. Vlachodimos, rooted to the spot, wasn’t getting there. 8.31pm GMT 45 min: Gannon-Doak one-twos with McTominay down the inside-right channel. He looks to pick up the return and enter the box, only to be brazenly checked by his former Liverpool team-mate Tsimikas. Greece clear their lines. 8.29pm GMT 43 min: Pavlidis goes down again. He performs the sub-me hand-jive to his bench. Tetteh replaces him, coming on for his first cap. 8.26pm GMT 41 min: Pavlidis, who had been clipped by Souttar and isn’t too happy about it, gets back up. The Tartan Army also continue to fume. 8.25pm GMT 40 min: Pavlidis goes down off the ball. He wants treatment. Meanwhile the Scotland fans are booing loudly, the result of Greece having been given the ball back after a previous stoppage, when it should have been Scotland’s throw. 8.23pm GMT 38 min: … so it turns out it was McGinn who was booked earlier, something neither the TV director nor Opta realised at the time. Or me, to be fair. Hands up! 8.22pm GMT 36 min: … nothing happens for Scotland. If we’re being honest with ourselves, a 1-1 scoreline would have been utterly absurd. But that’s football, and for the first time Greece have been given something to think about. Small acorns. 8.21pm GMT 35 min: Robertson powers down the left and fires a low cross towards the near post, where Adams waits to tap home. Retsos gets back in time to turn the ball around for a corner. McGinn sends it low to the near stick, where Retsos again denies Adams. Corner two … and Ferguson sends this one long. Souttar’s presence at the far stick leads to corner number three of the sequence. From which … 8.19pm GMT 33 min: Pavlidis in the action again, stretching to meet Tzolis’s cross from the left and guiding the ball into the side netting. In a parallel universe somewhere, Scotland are four down and playing with ten men. 8.18pm GMT 31 min: Ferguson flaps his fingers in the face of Pavlidis. He’s shown a yellow card … but doesn’t walk, which suggests he wasn’t booked earlier. Strange, because that’s how the TV captions had it back then. Anyway, he’s certainly on a yellow now. 8.16pm GMT 30 min: Incidentally, Denmark are leading Belarus, much as expected, thanks to an early Mikkel Damsgaard goal. As things stand, Denmark will book their ticket for the finals tonight, while Scotland will be consigned to the play-offs. 8.14pm GMT 28 min: Tzolis bombs down the right and loops a long cross to Karetsas, who can’t quite shape like Zizou in the 2002 Champions League final, but does his best to guide a volley goalwards. The ball bounces harmlessly to Gordon, but that’s Greece’s sixth attempt on target. Scotland are on nil. 8.13pm GMT 27 min: Vagiannidis strides down the right and crosses hard and low. Robertson flips out for a corner. From the set piece, Retsos rises on the right-hand edge of the six-yard box and plants a header towards the bottom right. Gordon the hero again, as he tips around the post, and the whistle goes to release the pressure at the next corner. A second Greek goal seems only a matter of time. 8.12pm GMT 25 min: Robertson chases after a long ball down the left in the eager-puppy style. Goal kick. Not really worthy of mention in and of itself, but that’s perhaps just the third time Scotland have reached Greece’s final third, so. 8.10pm GMT 24 min: On the bright side … “The new Scotland kit is a beezer though,” suggests Simon McMahon. “Proper Scotland blue, and the three shoulder stripes reminiscent of the iconic 1970’s Holland teams. That it’s come to this already, eh?” The adidas logo is too big, though. It looks like the crest is wearing one of Devo’s hats. 8.08pm GMT 22 min: Greece have played some lovely stuff. Scotland have been abject, though. The defence is getting pulled all over the shop. Without Gordon, Greece would already be out of sight. 8.06pm GMT 20 min: Pavlidis spins his way down the inside-right channel. He falls over, but Tzolis picks up possession and batters again towards the top right. Gordon saves again. Tzolis gets to the rebound, sends Hanley off to the shops, then whips an effort across Gordon and wide left. Scotland are desperately hanging on. 8.05pm GMT 19 min: Tzolis one-twos his way down the inside-right channel and pings a rising shot towards the top right. Gordon sticks out a strong arm to keep Scotland in this. 8.03pm GMT 17 min: Hanley, presumably still running hot for some reason or another, batters a backpass out for a corner. Gordon had no chance of stopping that. He deals with the resulting set piece, though, punching clear. Hanley owes his keeper a cold one. 8.01pm GMT 15 min: McGinn probes down the left and stubbornly refuses to ship possession. He’s eventually bowled over. The resulting free kick is looped long into the box by Robertson … but it’s so easy for Vlachodimos, who plucks from the sky with ease. The keeper’s then needlessly nudged in the back by an irate Hanley, who is fortunate to escape the referee’s censure. Scotland need cool heads. 7.59pm GMT 13 min: Gannon-Doak suddenly bursts down the right and for a second looks like making it all the way into the box for a shot. But he hesitates upon reaching the edge, and there goes that momentum. A brief flicker of promise, though; Scotland need to take that and build on it. 7.58pm GMT 12 min: Scotland try to get a grip on the situation by passing the ball patiently around the back. In truth, they’ve little option, because the Greek press pins them back. No way out. 7.57pm GMT 10 min: Ferguson is booked for a late clip on Kourbelis. This is far from an ideal start. 7.56pm GMT 9 min: That was really poor defending by Souttar. One long hoick down the field by Vlachodimos, and Scotland were torn apart far too easily. Greece are looking for another, too, Bakasetas winning a free kick out on the left. It’s sent into the mixer. Adams heads clear. Scotland need to gather themselves quickly. 7.53pm GMT GOAL! Greece 1-0 Scotland (Bakasetas 7) Souttar misjudges a simple long punt down the middle, letting the ball bounce over his head, and allowing Pavlidis to tear clear. He pings a shot towards the bottom right. Gordon does very well to parry, but the rebound drops to Bakasetas, who takes a touch infield from the right before swivelling and lashing a low drive into the bottom right. Gordon no chance. A nightmare start for Scotland. Updated at 7.59pm GMT 7.51pm GMT 5 min: Tzolis flings a couple of crosses in from the left in short order. Gordon, playing his first football for six months, claims both confidently. 7.51pm GMT 4 min: Adams chases after a long ball down the middle. He nudges Koulierakis out of the road, and he’s clear! But the referee blows for a soft foul. There was contact … but not that much. Koulierakis gets away with one there. 7.49pm GMT 3 min: Now a bit of time and space for Tsimikas down the left. The early signs suggest Greece are in the mood to reclaim a bit of pride. 7.48pm GMT 2 min: Karetsas, who gave Scotland the runaround on his international debut at Hampden earlier this year, drives at Robertson down the right and enters the box, but can’t make enough space to get a proper shot away. This lad’s going to be a superstar. 7.45pm GMT Greece get the ball rolling. It’s far from a full house at the Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis in Piraeus, home of Olympiacos. But it’s still noisy. 7.41pm GMT The teams are out! Greece in white with blue stripes, Scotland in blue with white stripes. Everyone looking real fine. We’ll be off once a Hymn to Liberty and a paean to a Flower have been sung. 7.36pm GMT Scotland boss Steve Clarke talks to the BBC. “It’s always difficult when you’ve got three good goalkeepers … Craig [Gordon] has experience … he’s been here before … a clean sheet in March … hopefully another one tonight … we have to be better on the ball [than Scotland were against Greece at Hampden last month] … more threatening going forward … they’re a very good side … you don’t start looking for a draw … you try to win every game … we’ll see what happens.” 7.30pm GMT Pre-Match Postbag: Optimism Special! “Been giving some thought to this, and have narrowed the likely sequence down according to the patented Heartbreakometer: Option 1 - the last-minute heartbreaker. Win tonight then blow it at Hampden, presumably with a last-minute own goal. Option 2 - the what-could’ve-been. Blow it tonight then put in a brilliant performance on Tuesday. I lean towards 2, since we’ve used about three years’ worth of luck against Greece recently, but other opinions/results of decades of football trauma are available” – James Humphries “Just because it’s a cliche doesn’t mean it’s not true” – Simon McMahon 7.26pm GMT Scotland and Bologna midfielder Lewis Ferguson speaks to the BBC. “Really positive … been a good week’s training camp … we’re well-prepared and ready to go … we’ve stayed on UK time so it’s been the normal routine for a night-time game … we know we need to perform better … we know Greece are really good … we know what to expect … we’re looking forward to the game.” 7.23pm GMT Scotland have three players tiptoeing along the disciplinary tightrope. Aaron Hickey, Ché Adams and Ben Gannon-Doak are all one booking away from missing Tuesday’s game against Denmark. Any one of them would be a huge miss. 6.50pm GMT Optimism! Agitation! Anticipation! Panic! As a world of possibility opens up in front of Scotland, Ewan Murray takes a cross section of the squad’s mindset. Related: Steve Clarke takes Scotland to Greece against backdrop of hope and unease 6.40pm GMT Scotland make six changes to the side that scraped past Belarus at Hampden last month. Craig Gordon, 42, who hasn’t played competitive football since May, replaces the absent Angus Gunn in goal. Grant Hanley, John Souttar and Aaron Hickey come into the defence, while Ryan Christie and Lewis Ferguson go into the midfield. Anthony Ralston, Kenny McLean, Jack Hendry and Scott McKenna drop to the bench, while Billy Gilmour is injured. 6.33pm GMT The teams Greece: Vlachodimos, Vagiannidis, Retsos, Koulierakis, Tsimikas, Kourbelis, Mouzakitis, Karetsas, Bakasetas, Tzolis, Pavlidis.Subs: Tzolakis, Mandas, Michailidis, Masouras, Kostoulas, Rota, Triantis, Hatzidiakos, Tetteh, Mantalos, Siopis. Scotland: Gordon, Hickey, Souttar, Hanley, Robertson, Ferguson, McGinn, Christie, McTominay, Gannon-Doak, Adams.Subs: Kelly, Bain, Tierney, Irving, Dykes, Hendry, Barron, McKenna, Hirst, Shankland, Ralston, McLean. Referee: Jesus Gil Manzano (Spain). Updated at 7.07pm GMT 6.30pm GMT Preamble It feels strange, but Scotland find themselves in a reasonably comfortable position. They’re already guaranteed at least a place in the play-offs to qualify for next year’s World Cup, so they’re now able to have a proper, relatively stress-free, lunge at the big prize: first spot, automatic qualification, a ticket to the finals for the first time since 1998. All (ahem) they need to do, assuming Denmark see off Belarus tonight, is come away from Greece with at least a point, then beat the Danes at Hampden on Tuesday. A tough ask, but far from a pipe dream. 1. Denmark P4 W3 D1 L0 F12 A1 Pts102. Scotland P4 W1 D1 L0 F7 A2 Pts103. Greece P4 W1 D0 L3 F7 A10 Pts34. Belarus P4 W0 D0 L4 F2 A15 Pts0 The Greeks are already out, so they’ll either be disinterested or freewheeling, stroking it around without a care in the world. Seasoned followers of Scotland will have half an idea about which is the likelier, but it’s not all bad news: although Greece handed the Scots their trousers, freshly laundered, at Hampden in the second leg of the Nations League play-offs earlier this year, Steve Clarke’s side won the first leg of that tie in Piraeus, and also came from behind to win at Hampden last month in these qualifiers. And two out of three ain’t bad. Of course, whether or not the play-offs represent much of a safety net is a moot point. Italy will be in those, for a start. But let’s cross that bridge if and when it comes. For now, automatic qualification is still in Scotland’s sight, and here’s the first hurdle. Kick-off is at 7.45pm GMT. It’s on! Updated at 10.06pm GMT