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Scotland captain Andy Robertson says his squad is fully focused on making World Cup history by securing at least a draw against Morocco in Boston on Friday night.
Steve Clarke’s side knows that a single point against the African champions would virtually guarantee their place in the last 32 of the tournament.
Scotland arrived at this position after a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Haiti in their opening Group C fixture, their first World Cup win since 1990.
John McGinn’s winner against Haiti proved the decisive moment, sending Clarke’s men into their second group game with confidence and momentum.
Robertson, the Spurs full-back and national team skipper, says the squad is brimming with belief ahead of what promises to be a stern test.
He said: “We know how difficult it’s going to be. We’re now playing against one of the best teams in the world but we believe we can make any game difficult.”
Morocco currently sit sixth in the FIFA world rankings under Mohamed Ouahbi, underlining just how formidable a challenge awaits Scotland in Boston.
Should Scotland progress from the group stage, they would become the first Scottish side in history to advance beyond the group stages of a major international tournament.
Robertson acknowledged the magnitude of that potential achievement while urging his players not to get too far ahead of themselves before the crucial match.
He said: “You try not to think too much about it because we’ve got such tough tasks ahead of us, but I don’t think any of the lads or coaching staff have shied away from it.”
The captain pointed to Scotland’s qualifying campaign as evidence that this group of players has repeatedly shown the mental fortitude to deliver under pressure.
He said: “Just take the Denmark game, they equalised twice but we just kept believing. So this squad’s full of belief.”
Robertson was clear that self-belief has been the foundation of Scotland’s tournament journey, and he expects nothing less against Morocco on Friday.
He said: “We believe in ourselves. I don’t think we would be here if we didn’t. We’ve had to believe many times in the qualifying campaign that we could do it when maybe people didn’t think we could.”
With a potentially difficult final group game against Brazil still to come, Clarke’s squad knows the importance of banking points now against Morocco.
Robertson remained measured but ambitious in his assessment of what Scotland are capable of producing against one of the tournament’s strongest sides.
He said: “It’s up to us to be at our best. It’s up to us to execute the game plan. Hopefully if we can do that, we can get the point or the three points that we need to make it.”
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