Scotland will be looking to build on their winning start to the World Cup when they take on Morocco in Boston. The North Africans secured a point against Brazil in their first game and were certainly the better side in the opening 45 minutes.
These two nations have only met once before, at the 1998 World Cup group stage, where Morocco dominated, scoring three goals without reply.
The Atlas Lions are the form favourite heading into this game, having gone unbeaten since the World Cup qualifiers began back in November 2023. Morocco won all eight qualifying matches and picked up two wins and two draws in their following friendlies against Ecuador, Paraguay, Madagascar and Norway, before drawing with Brazil in their opening match at the 2026 World Cup.
Scotland do head into their second group game on the back of three straight wins against Curacao, Bolivia and Haiti, but The Tartan Army have lost three of their last seven matches, going down 3-2 in the qualifiers against Greece, and losing 1-0 in friendlies against Japan and the Ivory Coast. The reason why these two defeats, despite being friendlies, are concerning is that Morocco are a similar level to these nations, possibly better, and Scotland struggled at times against Haiti.
We are backing Morocco to win against the Scots, but we don't expect there to be much between the two teams on the scoreboard.
The three defeats Scotland have suffered in their last seven matches have all been via a one-goal margin. Steve Clarke's side lost 3-2 at home to Greece and 1-0 against both Japan and the Ivory Coast. Scotland have only failed to score in three of their last 11 matches across all competitions and during the World Cup qualifiers, with both teams scoring in four of the Scots' six outings.
Morocco have seen both teams score in four of their last five matches against Brazil, Norway, Paraguay and Ecuador, so there is a very good chance the North African's won't keep a clean sheet against Scotland either. However, Morocco scored at least two goals in all but one of their qualifying matches and their added firepower and creativity in midfield could be the thing that leads them to glory in a tough test against Scotland.
From what we saw in their opening group game, you'd have to fancy Morocco to secure all three points in this match.
Scotland 1-2 Morocco
