Scotland stay on course for World Cup after beating Belarus behind closed doors | OneFootball

Scotland kept on a steady course for the 2026 World Cup with a solid 2-0 win over Belarus on a surreal evening in Zalaegerszeg, Hungary.

After an encouraging 0-0 draw for Steve Clarke’s side in their opening qualifier in Group C against Denmark on Friday night, the closed-doors match in the ZTE Arena was an unwelcome throwback to the Covid-19 era of football.

Players and management shouts echoed around the ground with loud Scottish celebrations heard when striker Che Adams scored from close range two minutes before the break.

Belarus threatened at points but had the wind taken out of their sails when defender Zakhar Volkov headed into his own goal in the 65th minute to seal a crucial win for the Scots.

Scotland go into the home double-header against Greece and Belarus at a packed Hampden Park next month with four points from six on the road, two clean sheets and the chance to build on a strong start, while Denmark’s 3-0 win in Greece also takes them on to four points but with a slightly better goal difference.

After a demanding evening in Copenhagen, Clarke freshened his side up and, as the Tartan Army hoped, winger Ben Gannon Doak came in. There were also places for Max Johnston, Scott McKenna and Billy Gilmour, with Aaron Hickey, Grant Hanley, Lyndon Dykes and Ryan Christie dropping out.

As a UEFA sanction for the support shown by Belarus to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, their games have to take place in a neutral stadium with no supporters inside. There were a couple of dozen Tartan Army outside when Clarke and his squad arrived, but the travelling fans had to make do with watching on TV screens elsewhere.

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Spectators in the stands at the ZTE Arena in Zalaegerszeg, Hungary (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Scotland had a penalty shout 15 minutes in when Gilmour went to ground inside the Belarus box under a challenge from Kiryl Pechenin but Montenegrin referee Nikola Dabanovic was not interested.

At the other end, a header from Pechenin required a save from Scotland keeper Angus Gunn.

The match was warming up and Gilmour, defender John Souttar and midfielder Scott McTominay all had various efforts on the Belarusians’ goal – and the Napoli midfielder claimed unconvincingly for a penalty when he clashed with Yegor Parkhomenko inside the Belarus box – but the opener would not come.

In the 39th minute Belarus skipper Maks Ebong raced away from Johnston down the left but took a touch too many and his angled drive was blocked by Gunn.

Three minutes later Gannon Doak set up Gilmour and his powerful drive from 20 yards was tipped on to the post and away by Fyodor Lapoukhov.

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Zakhar Volkov scores an own goal in the second half against Scotland (Andrew Milligan/PA)

The Belarus keeper was eventually beaten when John McGinn’s searching delivery to the back post was headed back by McTominay with Adams bundling the ball in from a yard out, his first goal since scoring a hat-trick against Liechtenstein in the June friendly.

McTominay had a header saved by Lapoukhov soon after the restart and then fired a drive high over the bar.

A second goal was needed to ease the nerves which surfaced with sporadic Belarus attacks and it came when the luckless Volkov redirected a header from Gilmour’s cross into his own net.

If not resigning themselves to defeat, Belarus did little to suggest there would be a comeback.

In the 80th minute Lapoukhov made a brave save from McGinn after the Scots had sliced through the Belarus defence and Adams then had a shot from a tight angle cleared off the line by Pavel Zabelin.

But it was enough to seal a valuable three points, leaving Scotland second in the group and level on points with leader’s Denmark, and in a promising position to book their first appearance in a World Cup since 1998.