Steve Clarke’s men put themselves in a strong position ahead of their final two World Cup qualifiers next month
‘Injustice’ was the buzzword in Greece after Scotland dug in to pick up a huge result for their World Cup qualification chances.
It was by no means vintage from Steve Clarke‘s team and Hampden was fearing the worst when Kostas Tsimikas eventually put the Greeks in front on 62 minutes.
But the Scots instantly responded through Ryan Christie and Lewis Ferguson put them in front before Lyndon Dykes punished a goalkeeping howler to put the cherry on the cake.
It means that a victory over Belarus on Sunday would set up a massive double header with Greece in Athens before Denmark come to Hampden next month – with qualification for the World Cup in North America on the brink.
As for Greece? They’re now praying for what is being described as a ‘miracle’ win in Copenhagen to keep their qualifying chances alive.
Here’s what the world media are saying to it on the morning after.
D News (Greece)
Our national team deserved a triumphant victory over Scotland in the World Cup qualifiers.
In no way does Scotland’s 3-1 win over Greece reflect what happened inside Hampden Park. Our national team was superior at all levels, at least until the 64th minute, they had many opportunities to score, but in two static phases the defence faltered and conceded two goals.
In fact, the National Team came close to equalising in the 90+1 minute, with Karetsa making a great individual effort and an excellent left-footed shot and Gan making a stunning save for a corner.
However, a short time later, a huge mistake by Tzolakis brought the final score to 3-1.
Newsit (Greece)
They did themselves an injustice and qualifying for the World Cup is becoming more difficult.
Greece failed to leave Glasgow with anything positive. They took the lead, but Scotland responded immediately and scored in the 80th minute to take the victory in the match for the 3rd round of World Cup qualifiers .
The first two goals conceded by Greece came from the defense’s inability to clear after static phases by the Scottish National Team, while the third came from a serious mistake by Tzolakis, who failed to block the ball. Christie, Ferguson and Dykes were the scorers for the Scottish National Football Team.
Now, Greece will have to look for a miracle to qualify for the World Cup. They are called upon to win in Copenhagen to have any hope of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
Newsbomb (Greece)
Greece, in essence, did itself an injustice, as until the 64th minute it was the absolute dominant force in the match, for the 3rd round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
Ivan Jovanovic’s team, in fact, got what it deserved, as it took the lead with Kostas Tsimikas’ first goal for the blue and white team, in the 62nd minute.
Two set pieces and a mistake by Tzolakis, however, turned an ‘easy’ double into a nightmare, as Christie (64′), Ferguson (80′) and Dykes (90+3′) gave Scotland a great victory out of nowhere.
Avisen Danmark (Denmark)
Everything indicates that the battle for first place in Denmark’s qualification pool for the World Cup will be exclusively a matter between Denmark and Scotland.
Despite major problems along the way, Scotland managed to pull off a very important 3-1 victory over Greece in Glasgow on Thursday evening.
This means the Greeks are four points behind the leading duo before the last three rounds of play.
The Scots otherwise appeared far down in the bag, but managed to dig themselves free through sheer will, fighting spirit and set-piece strength.
Lewis Ferguson put the team on course for victory ten minutes from time when he was first to catch a loose ball and sent it into the roof of the net from close range. A quarter of an hour earlier, Ryan Christie had equalised from a similar situation.
Lyndon Dykes’ final goal came deep into overtime and was the result of a roar by Greek goalkeeper Kostas Tzolakis.
He tried to prevent the ball from going out for a corner kick, but instead served it right at the feet of the substituted striker, who could easily decide the match.
The crowd at Hampden Park could finally let loose their cheers in a match where their heroes had not given them much to be happy about for a long time.
Zero Cinquantuno (Italy)
This evening at Hampden Park in Glasgow, on Matchday 7 of Group C of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, Scotland defeated Greece 3-1 to move level with Denmark at the top of the table with seven points. Lewis Ferguson scored the decisive goal in the 2-1 victory in the 80th minute.
The Bologna midfielder and captain, deployed as a starter in midfield by manager Clarke, won a free kick on the right edge of the penalty area and then pounced on Robertson’s free kick, blasting the ball under the crossbar with a left-footed strike in the scramble. This was the 19th-born player’s first goal for the senior national team, which came on his 19th cap (like his jersey).
RTE (Republic of Ireland)
Lewis Ferguson netted his first Scotland goal as Steve Clarke’s side came from behind to beat Greece 3-1 and maintain their promising start to their World Cup qualifying campaign.
Scotland were outplayed before Kostas Tsimikas fired the visitors into a 62nd-minute lead at Hampden.
But Ryan Christie levelled within two minutes following his own corner and Ferguson marked his 19th cap with a goal 10 minutes from time as Scotland capitalised on another set-piece.
Substitute Lyndon Dykes capped the comeback in stoppage time as he pounced on a goalkeeping blunder as Scotland kept pace with Group C leaders Denmark and moved four points ahead of their opponents.
Scotland could move out of sight of Greece on Sunday when they host Belarus and their opponents travel to Denmark.
