Scotland vs Denmark live: Result and reaction from World Cup 2026 qualifier

Wow, what a night. Scotland are going to their first World Cup since 1998. The play-off draw takes place on Thursday, but it’s the one in December that will be the concern of the Tartan Army. Goodnight!

“I thought we were pretty rubbish to be honest, but who cares?” McGinn told BBC Scotland. “To get over the line was such an amazing feeling. The gaffer’s team talk was exceptional.

“Denmark looked more assured but we’ve had a lot of trauma as a Scotland team and a lot of hits. To get over the line tonight was an amazing feeling.

“It was absolutely horrible. You think that’s it, glorious failure, another blow. I was thinking about the playoffs in the 91st minute. What a hit from KT – I will never feel like that in a football stadium ever again.”

“It sums up this squad, never say die, we just keep going to the end, one of the craziest games of football, we put the country through it, but it’s worth it, we’re going to the World Cup, I can’t believe it,” Robertson told BBC Sport.

“It’s different [to achievements with Liverpool], today I’m in bits, the age I’m at, this is my last chance of a World Cup, I couldn’t get my mate, Diogo Jota, out of my head today, we spoke so much about the World Cup.

“When he missed out in Qatar due to injury, I missed out, because Scotland never went, we always discussed what it would be like to go to this World Cup, I know he’ll be somewhere smiling over me tonight, I couldn’t get him out of my head all day. I was in a bit of trouble in my room earlier, and I hid it well from the boys.”

“Scott McTominay scored the best overhead kick I’ve ever seen and it might not have been the best goal of the night!” Clarke told BBC Scotland.

“It was a lot of emotions. High and low. At times, you’re looking for solutions and thinking how to change it. I knew at some stage we’d have to go two up front.

“I felt the Danes were dominating us a little. It seemed like a good time [to make the changes]. Whether they were 10 or 11 [men], we were going to do that.

“I spoke to Kieran before the first game. He’s a key player for me, one of my men. I’ve got loads of them. Fourteen were involved in the play-off game.

“I said ‘listen, Aaron Hickey can’t do back-to-back games, I can see you coming on at right-back and doing very well for us’.

“I’m not sure I envisioned the goal… but when it was rolling back to him on his left foot, I knew he would score.

“When Kenny hit it, I thought ‘what are you doing?!’ but when I saw it in flight, I thought ‘that’s going to go in!’”

“It’s emotional,” Gordon told BBC Scotland after the dramatic 4-2 win over the Danes.

“It’s been an awful long time coming, 20-odd years in this camp, trying to get there, some failures along the way, some bad nights out there, but I don’t think I’ll ever get one as good as that to be a part of.

“Incredible to be part of that. It’s going to take a while to sink in before I can really think about the next step. I nearly retired in the summer.

“Steve Clarke was the one that told me to give it one more year, he might need me. I could have given all that up. That one moment there tonight, that is worth everything, all the disappointments, all the hard work, all the years that I’ve been trying.

“Seven hundred, 800 games, whatever I’ve played, for that one moment.”

The Uefa play-off draw will take place on Thursday 20 November at 12pm GMT.

The matches will be held in March 2026, with the semi-finals on 26 March and the finals on 31 March.

Everything you need to know:

Scotland aren’t the only team to have secured their place at next summer’s finals.

See who has come out of a thrilling week of international football smiling – and which nations still have something to play for:

Scotland have secured their place at the World Cup finals for the first time since 1998 after a dramatic 4-2 victory over Denmark, sealed by stunning second-half stoppage-time goals from substitutes Kieran Tierney and Kenny McLean.

Scott McTominay opened proceedings in the third minute with a glorious 12-yard overhead kick, but Steve Clarke’s side then faced intense pressure from the visitors in a fiercely contested encounter marked by numerous challenges.

Scotland centre-back John Souttar came off with a warm-up injury, and Ben Gannon-Doak was stretchered off after 21 minutes. Rasmus Hojlund then equalised from the spot in the 57th minute, momentarily quieting the Tartan Army.

His team-mate Rasmus Kristensen was sent packing in the 61st minute for picking up the second of two yellow cards and as the game took yet another twist, substitute Lawrence Shankland restored Scotland’s lead in the 78th minute only for Patrick Dorgu to level three minutes later.

However, in six minutes of added time, Tierney fired in from 25 yards with McLean scoring from the halfway line to top Group C in one of the great nights in Scotland’s history.

Scotland’s name is in the World Cup draw.

The draw for the 2026 World Cup will take place at 5pm GMT/12pm EST on Friday 5 December, at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. The US president Donald Trump is expected to be in attendance.

The 48 nations will be divided into 12 groups containing four teams each, one from each of four draw pots.

Pot one will contain the three host nations – USA, Canada and Mexico – plus the nine top countries in the Fifa world rankings who have qualified for the tournament. Already, Mexico have been assigned Group A, Canada to Group B and the USA to Group C.

Pots two, three and four will contain the next 12 best-ranked sides in order so that, theoretically, the groups will be balanced and the best teams will be kept separate until the knockout rounds.

Teams from the same confederation will be kept apart in the group stage, except for Europe where there are more teams (16) than groups. No group will have more than two European nations.