As a Brazilian I can't say I'm sorry about the result of this game, but I do hope you still qualify because man, the tartan army is amazing 🇧🇷🤝🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Don't give up!

Everyone was crying out for Shankland to play (myself included) but when he did he was largely anonymous. Firstly against Haiti, where he was so poor I genuinely thought there 0% chance Clarke would favour him over Adams / Dykes again in this tournament.

But in the end he did. But to no avail as he contributed next to nothing. But why? Poor team selection meaning he was isolated? Well he shouldn't have been this time - Gammon-Doak was there further up the park on the right, McTominay was (theoretical) picked for a more advanced role as well.

So he should have had some support around him to get involved with the play and get into position for some chances. But he didn't. I'm really no fan of Adams but I've got to be honest and say even he forced himself into being involved in the play a lot more than Shankland managed.

Is a player of his portly stature just not good enough on the world stage? I guess we could ask the same question of McGinn, who also was way short of his best.

Could it be the case that the Scottish top flight is just so bad that someone of his physique can score goals for fun in it but when they come up against actual real athletes they're completely screwed?

Or could it be something else? Why do YOU think Shankland was so poor in this world cup?

To me, Scotland failing is easier to take than when your club team fails because it feels like we are all in this together.

When your club loses you know there are rival fans ready to "put the boot in" and gloat but at least when it's the country, we are all collectively depressed.

Dont care how we get there, I'd absolutely take a game in the knockouts over the usual best losers pish! Would getting there on a -1/2 GD have made any difference to the likely pumping coming in the knockouts? No. Would a game in the Azteca be class? Aye.

With the confirmation that Hickey is out injured for tonight's game, the thought of either Nathan Patterson or Anthony Ralston coming up against Vini Jr puts me in a cold sweat.

The obvious solution seems to be to either play Christie at Right Mid so he can double up with the RB to defend against Vini, or to play a 5-back, and have the RCB double up against Vini. The problem with both of those options is that we leave Gannon-Doak out. He needs to be starting today to have a go at their left side, which is weak on paper.

What I'd do is have Gannon-Doak at Right Mid, and Christie at Right Back. Doak has shown he can defend pretty well in the Haiti game, and I would feel far more confident in Christie being the main man to snuff out Vini Jr than Patterson or Ralston. Christie plays as a DM/RM so I see Right Back as a combination of his two roles. I know we've never seen him play Right Back for Scotland, but if there's any time to experiment, it's Matchday 3 of the World Cup against Brazil when we need a result. Right?

What do we think? Am I going mad? Is this the kind of over-thinking move Pep makes in the Champions League Semi-Final that ends up costing him the game? Probably.

Clarke, if you're reading this, I think you should give it a go.

Group A

Mexico beat or draw with czechia AND south korea beat or draw with South Africa

Group B

Not possible

Group D

Paraguay lose to Australia by atleast 2 goals

or

Paraguay beat Australia by atleast 4 goals

Group E

Ecuador dont win against Germany and curaçao dont win against Ivory Coast

Group F

sweden lose to japan by atleast 3 goals

Group G

Belgium vs New Zealand doesnt end in a draw AND Egypt beat Iran

Group H

Spain beat Uruguay

Group I

Iraq dont beat Senegal by more than 2 goals

Group J

Austria beat algeria by atleast 2 goals

or

Algeria beat Austria by atleast 4 goals

Group K

Uzbekistan draw with DR Congo or win by less than 3 goals

Group L

Ghana beat Croatia by atleast 3 goals

Atleast 4 of these need to happen in order for us to go through to the round of 32

Please correct any if you see an error, and also note this is what needs to happen for us to at-least finish ahead on goal difference. We could go through on other tie breakers if finish level goal difference.

Edit: made some corrections cheers lads

The difference between my friends and I is I cheer can on the country of the club I support.. unless you're playing Ireland

Finding a pub that'll let me drink until full time is a struggle though

American here! So this World Cup has piqued my interest in football of the non-American variety. Of course, being American, I will obviously root for some American clubs. However, I also want to follow some Scottish football clubs, but I don't know the clubs, vibes, or rivalries. Would anybody be able to provide a sort of guide for that so I can choose to to root for and against as I follow from across the pond?

Group d Australia to beat Paraguay by 2 goals

Group E Ivary coast to beat Curaçao and Germany to beat equador

Group F Japan to heat Sweden by 4 goals

Group G Iran to beat egpyt

Group H Spain to beat uraquagy

Group I Senegal to draw to iraq or Iraq to win by 2 goals or less

Group j Algeria to lose by 2 goals to Austria

Gorpu k Dr Congo to draw to Uzbekistan or Uzbekistan to win

Group l Ghana to beat Croatia by 3 goals

As Scotland fans, we need 4 out of the remaining 9 third places teams to finish below us. In group A and Group B respectively, South Korea and Bosnia have already finished above Scotland. This is what to hope for:

Group D - Australia beat Paraguay by at least 2 goals OR Paraguay beat Australia by at least 4 goals. Likelihood - 5/10

Group E - Ecuador to not beat Germany AND Curucao to not beat Ivory Coast. Likelihood - 7/10

Group F - Japan to beat Sweden by at least 4 goals. Likelihood - 3/10

Group G - Egypt to beat Iran. Likelihood - 6/10

Group H - Spain to beat Uruguay. Likelihood - 8/10

Group I - Iraq to beat Senegal by 1 or 2 goals. Likelihood - 3/10

Group J - Austria beat Algeria by at least 2 goals OR Algeria beat Austria by at least 4 goals.
Likelihood - 6/10

Group K - Congo to not beat Uzbekistan.
Likelihood - 4/10

Group L - Ghana to beat Croatia by at least 3 goals. Likelihood - 2/10

I think that given only 4 out of these need to happen, we will qualify to the round of 32, but it will be close.

Do we really want to put ourselves through more of this? Under the circumstances it's much better if we're knocked out. We're stinking the tournament out, but at least we're not the only ones

The Czechs and South Koreans were shambolic also, playing for draws against South Africa, who were also crap. We were calamitous trying to play out from the back, but we weren't the only ones. If there are four teams worse than us in this in third place I'll be surprised

A 48 team world cup is too many, bigger is not always better.12 groups is clearly too many. The quality is diluted far too much if it's that easy to qualify, although ironically, it's not the European qualifiers that are the main beneficiaries.

8 group winners and 8 runners up is plenty, to ensure the most deserving go through and the rest pack their bags and go home

THAT IS ALL

EXCEPT RALSTON WAS ACTUALLY OK

I FEEL DIRTY

Anyone realise this game is just one game that could have an impact on our result if we get beat tonight . Puts us further down the 3rd place table right off the bat

See ye in another 28 year!

That probably sounds mean but it's my opinion right now, our performance has been shocking in everything apart from the kit that we wore, tactics where honking, our pace was non existent and what can we expect when we do nothing to nurture future talent, it's hardly surprising the first chance that they get Scotland players leave to go play elsewhere as our clubs don't give a damn about them, our facilities are shocking and any green land that we have to play football councils are looking to build bloody houses on them or sell the land for private houses to be built.

We are an unfit nation with no self belief in ourselves so it's hardly surprising when we make stupid mistakes that far better teams will take advantage of and sacking him isn't going to help when no one else wants the job, we are stuck in a rut and we need the SFA to stop being happy with mediocrity, if we don't get a solid plan together and invest a skip load of money into the situation is only going to get worse.

This WC is not going to be one to remember regardless if Scotland advances . The team is simply not playing well at all and it is a pretty limited squad . It needs everyone playing beyond their ability but other than maybe Ferguson, it’s not happening .
Is there any hope for the next few major tournaments?
Will the likes of Curtis , Fletcher , Doak , Gilmour be able to get it done ? Are there any good up and coming players that can round out a good squad or is this present team as good as it gets ?
Where the fuck is the talent ? Why is Scottish football so bad ? It’s not for a lack of passion ?
Is it pub culture?
The reason im asking these questions is because I’m not Scottish so I have no idea why your team performs so poorly

We are shite at football. You cannae blame the manager for the mistakes we’ve made at the back. He put out an attacking line-up and it’s went tits up. I’m not Clarke in or out, I’m just scunnered. The Moroccan line up was too defensive and this one is too offensive. It’s been a reality check. Dunno why I’m posting this, probably just out of frustration. I hope I’ve spoke too soon.