Scotland v Belarus: 5 talking points as hosts look to boost World Cup hopes

Scotland host Belarus on Sunday with the chance to set themselves up for a genuine push for World Cup qualification next month.

A 3-1 Hampden victory over Greece on Thursday saw the Scots keep pace with Group C leaders Denmark, with both teams on seven points midway through the campaign.

Here, the PA news agency looks at 5 talking points ahead of the 5pm kick-off.

Record-breaker

Steve Clarke will break the record for most games as Scotland manager when he takes charge of his 72nd international match, one more than Craig Brown. Clarke will be more concerned with replacing his former boss as the last man to lead Scotland to a World Cup, though.

Top two in sight

Scotland would take a big step towards that goal by beating Belarus. They could even seal a top-two place in Group C by the end of the night, should Denmark beat Greece. That would open up a seven-point gap on the Greeks with two games left and assure Scotland of a play-off place at least. Any other result in Copenhagen would potentially boost Scotland’s chances of winning the group but also leave them vulnerable to dropping out of the top two, with a trip to Greece to come next month.

Building momentum

Scotland can take encouragement from their recent record in World Cup qualifying group games, even if it has not yet resulted in a place on the big stage. Scotland have only suffered one defeat in their past 19 group games – against Denmark in 2021 – and not suffered a home defeat since losing to Belgium in September 2013. They did lose to Ukraine in a play-off tie at Hampden in 2022, though.

Changes afoot

There will definitely be changes to Clarke’s side, with Aaron Hickey dropping out through injury plus Ryan Christie and Lewis Ferguson both picking up suspensions after starting in central midfield and scoring against Greece. Anthony Ralston looks sure to continue at right-back after coming on for Hickey, while Billy Gilmour is likely to come into the middle of the park. Kenny McLean and Lennon Miller are options in there, but Clarke could also bring in Lyndon Dykes to join Che Adams up front and leave Scott McTominay to partner his Napoli team-mate Gilmour while continuing to get forward. Scott McKenna is also a contender to come in after starting last month against Belarus ahead of Grant Hanley, which would give Scotland a natural left-footed player in central defence to help them build possession. Connor Barron of Rangers and Hibernian’s Josh Mulligan were called up on Saturday to add cover.

Belarus fighting fires

The visitors have promoted several players from their under-21 squad after visa issues meant they had to name their pool of players well in advance and were unable to replace injured players. The Group C outsiders have scored once and conceded 13 goals in their three games and lost 6-0 to Denmark on Thursday. That scoreline has put goal difference in the mind of Scotland fans, but Clarke’s side will need to get themselves into a comfortable winning position before concerning themselves with those considerations.