Scotland 1-3 Portugal

Sunday 14 October, 5pm kick-off

Hampden Park, Glasgow

International Friendly

Scotland: Steven Naismith  (93)
Portugal: Helder Costa (44) Eder (73), Bruma (83)


Portugal defeated Scotland 3-1 in an International Friendly after scoring one before the break and then hitting the net on another two occasions.

Steven Naismith grabbed a consolation on a night where Scotland were in the game for long periods but were unable to defeat a strong side.

Alex McLeish made a number of personnel changes to the 2-1 defeat against Israel along with a tactical alteration of playing with four at the back.

Jack Hendry made his Hampden debut with Oli McBurnie reintroduced into the starting line-up.

On the day where Craig Gordon became the second most capped Scotland goalkeeper in history, he was forced into a sharp stop from Sergio Oliveira in the opening 15 minutes.



Scotland looked compact from the outset and were close to taking the lead when Portuguese midfielder Danilo nodded a free-kick goalwards and Beto was forced to save his blushes and tip the ball over the bar.

With 26 minutes on the clock, Portugal could easily have taken the lead when Bruma rattled a drive inches by the post from inside the box.

Steven Naismith was a livewire for Scotland in his third consecutive start and he nearly gave Scotland the lead after 36 minutes when he nudged a header wide of the target.

As the half drew to a close Craig Gordon was forced into a sharp save when Eder smashed the ball down the Celtic goalkeeper’s throat.

Portugal did find a way to hit the net in the first period when Kevin Rodrigues found Helder Costa in the box who slid the ball beyond the diving Craig Gordon to give them the lead at the break.

At the start of the second half, Scotland were in the ascendancy and went close when McGregor fizzed a ball across the face of goal and McBurnie was close to poking home.

After 53 minutes Scott McKenna nearly scored a memorable goal when a John McGinn cross found the diving Aberdeen defender who watched his acrobatic header go wide of the upright.



Portugal made it two with 73 minutes played when Eder headed the ball beyond Craig Gordon from a free-kick.

Portugal then made it three when Bruma smashed the ball home from inside the box.

In stoppage time, Steven Naismith nabbed a consolation for Scotland.

What’s next?

Alex McLeish’s side will take on Albania away from home on Saturday, 17 November and Israel at Hampden on Tuesday, 20 November as they look to get their UEFA Nations League campaign back on track following the loss in Haifa.

Buy Israel tickets now

Match Reaction



Scotland: Craig Gordon, Stephen O’Donnell, Andy Robertson (Captain), Jack Hendry, Scott McKenna, John McGinn (Graeme Shinnie, 66), James Forrest, Stuart Armstrong (Kevin McDonald, 76), Oli McBurnie (Gary Mackay-Steven, 76), Steven Naismith, Callum McGregor

Unused substitutes: Allan McGregor, Jon McLaughlin, Johnny Russell, Michael Devlin, Ryan Christie

Portugal: Beto (Claudio Ramos, 86), Luis Neto, Rodrigues, Ruben Dias (Pedro Mendes, 56), Bruma (William Carvalho, 91), Eder, Helder Costa, Danilo (Rafa Silva, 91), Sergio Oliveira (Renato Sanches, 56), Bruno Fernandes (Gedson Fernandes, 66), Cedric

Unused substitutes: Joao Cancelo, Andre Silva, Ruben Neves, Mario Rui, Pizzi

Attendance: 19,684

Man of the Match: Andy Robertson