Greece v Scotland: World Cup 2026 qualifier – live

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. 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, and that screams a 1-0 victory for the Scots at Hampden followed by goals for the Azzurri in the 89th and 90th minutes of the second leg. 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!