Scotland 2-1 Belarus
FIFA World Cup Qualifying
Sunday, 12th October 2025
Hampden Park, Glasgow

Scorers

Scotland 2 (Che Adams 15’, Scott McTominay 84’)

Belarus 1 (Hleb Kuchko 90+6’)

Team News

Steve Clarke made five changes to the side that started Thursday’s comeback victory over Greece – Anthony Ralston, Jack Hendry, Scott McKenna, Billy Gilmour and Kenny McLean all came in, replacing Aaron Hickey, John Souttar, Grant Hanley, Lewis Ferguson and Ryan Christie.

There were two late call ups to the squad on Saturday morning following Thursday’s victory. Hibernian’s Josh Mulligan was awarded his first senior call up alongside Rangers’ Connor Barron, replacing the injured Aaron Hickey and the suspended Ryan Christie and Lewis Ferguson.

It was a record-breaking night for manager Steve Clarke as he surpassed Craig Brown’s record of 71 games in charge of the national team, taking charge of Scotland for the 72nd time. In starting on Sunday evening, John McGinn moved into the top five most-capped Scotland Men’s National Team players of all time with 81 caps.  

As It Happened

Scotland would’ve been looking for a fast start to the match, though it was the visitors who looked the more promising early on – German Barkovski was played in behind the Scotland defence before firing across the face of goal, though, thankfully for Scotland, skipper Andy Roberston was there to clear the danger for a corner kick.

Belarus came close again in the 10th minute when an out-swinging corner from Valeri Gromyko was headed narrowly over the crossbar by Pavel Zabelin.

After a nervy opening ten minutes, Scotland created their first chance in the 11th minute when Billy Gilmour slipped Che Adams in on the left, with the striker’s effort deflecting off Aleksandr Martynovich for a corner kick.

Adams wouldn’t have to wait too much longer to get his goal, when, in the 15th minute, he fired past Fedor Lapoukhov on his left foot only for the offside flag to be raised. The goal was checked by VAR resulting in a short delay before referee Marian Barbu pointed to the centre circle awarding Scotland the opening goal.

Ben Gannon-Doak was causing problems down the right side from the beginning, and he bamboozled Zebelin in the 28th minute, getting to the byline before cutting back, though he failed to pick out anyone in a dark blue jersey.  

Scotland’s next opportunity fell to Adams in the 33rd minute, when he was picked out in the box by Robertson after a neat one-two between the skipper and Scott McTominay, though Belarussian defender Zebelin did enough to put the striker off. Cries for a penalty from Hampden Park were dismissed quickly following a short VAR check.

The next half chance for Belarus came in the 37th minute when Barkovski found himself in a bit of space before unleashing a long-range effort that flew over Angus Gunn’s crossbar.

On the stroke of half-time, Scotland had a chance to double their lead when McTominay flicked the ball through for Gannon-Doak who opted to fire at goal, though his effort was well saved by Lapoukhov.

Kenny McLean had the first half-chance of the second period in the 47th minute but the midfielder could only drag his effort wide from 20 yards.

Scotland were searching for a second goal to consolidate their position in the match and nearly got it in the 54th minute when Gannon-Doak picked out John McGinn who controlled on his left, before shifting the ball to his right for the shot, forcing a terrific save from Lapoukhov to keep the scoreline at one nil.

The Hampden Park crowd were screaming for a penalty four minutes later when Adams got the better of Parkhomenko who appeared to handle the ball in the eighteen-yard box before hauling the striker down. The on-field decision was no penalty before the referee was sent to the monitor, where the ball was deemed to have struck Adams’ arm first meaning the initial decision stood, denying the Scots a spot kick.

Belarus stunned the home crowd by drawing level in the 63rd minute. Claims for a foul by Yablonski on McTominay were waved away before Barkovski cut the ball back for Malashevich to slot home, only for the referee to rule it out moments later after being sent to the monitor once more.

Scotland had the ball in the net for a second time in the 70th minute when Adams chested home from a Gannon-Doak cross though the ball struck the striker’s arm before hitting the net, seeing the goal ruled out.

Scotland finally got their second goal in the 84th minute to settle the nerves of the home crowd, at least for a period. Robertson’s cross dropped kindly for McTominay who controled the ball before firing home on the swivel to double Scotland’s lead.

Billy Gilmour then looked to catch the goalkeeper off his line following a quick throw in from Andy Robertson though the midfielder could only fire over the crossbar.

Belarus squandered their best chance of the match just seconds later in the 87th minute when substitute Trofim Melnichenko scuffed his shot wide.

Kieron Bowie nearly added a third in stoppage time when he mistimed his header from a John McGinn cross on his Hampden debut.

Belarus made it a nervy last couple of minutes for the hosts when they pulled a goal back through Hleb Kuchko who turned excellently to get past Robertson before firing home. Despite a late flurry from the visitors, Steve Clarke’s side saw the game out to claim another three points as they made it back-to-back wins in FIFA World Cup Qualifying.

Next Up

Scotland face a trip to Athens in their next FIFA World Cup Qualifier before returning home to conclude the campaign on 18 November as they welcome Denmark to Hampden Park.

Teams

Scotland: Gunn, Ralston (Tierney 72’), Robertson, McTominay, McGinn, Gilmour (Miller 88’), Adams (Dykes 88’), Hendry (Souttar 72’), McKenna, Gannon-Doak (Bowie 90+1’), McLean

Unused Substitutes: Kelly, Gordon, Hanley, Barron, Hirst, Mulligan, Johnston

Belarus: Lapoukhov, Pechenin, Zabelin, Martyovich, Parkhomenko (Demchenko 90+1’), Ebonh, Malashevich (Kuchko 83’) Gromyko (Korzun 83’), Barkovski, Yablonski (Karpovich 90+1’), Pigas (Melnichenko 56’)

Unused Substitutes: Belov, Pavlyuchenko, Myakish, Kalinin, Lisakovich, Myalkovski, Kapilevich