Scotland must regroup quickly for Brazil test after Morocco defeat, says Clarke

A historic win over Haiti keeps Scotland's hopes alive heading into the final group match

FIFA World Cup 2026 - Group C - Scotland v Morocco - Boston Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts, U.S. - June 19, 2026 Scotland's Andy Robertson acknowledges fans after the match REUTERS/Peter Cziborra

Scotland manager Steve Clarke backed his players to recover quickly from their 1-0 defeat by Morocco at the World Cup on Friday and approach their final Group C match against five-times champions Brazil with confidence.

Scotland have three points from two games after beating Haiti 1-0 in their World Cup opener - their first World Cup victory in 36 years - before losing to Morocco in Massachusetts.

They face Brazil on the final matchday, with the top two teams in each group qualifying automatically for the round of 32, along with the eight best third-placed sides.

"First of all, you have to let the players suffer a little bit over the next 48 hours, because that's what they'll do. They don't like losing against anybody," Clarke told reporters.

"So we'll rest, recover and be ready to go again. The games don't get much easier."

Morocco seized control early, scoring the fastest goal at this year's tournament when Ismael Saibari struck after 71 seconds.

The North Africans, surprise semi-finalists four years ago, dominated the match despite the narrow scoreline.

"I thought we picked ourselves up in the first half, to be fair," Clarke said.

"Maybe it took us 10 minutes to get into the game, because obviously you've got a setback like that. It's really difficult to respond. Weaker teams would have crumbled, I think, against that quality of opposition, but we dug in.

"We got ourselves back in the game. We started moving the ball about a little bit better, and I thought the second period of the first half, after the hydration break, we were good. We had good momentum going into halftime, and we carried that into the second half, and we had a right go.

"Proud of the players, but obviously we're all devastated and disappointed that we didn't get the result that we wanted, so that we can carry on in this tournament as long as we can."

Scotland had two penalty appeals in the second half, with midfielders John McGinn and Scott McTominay going down in separate incidents, but Clarke had only seen one of them clearly.

"McGinn one is the 50-50. Some will give it, and I think if the referee gives it to VAR, it doesn't overturn it. So, I can only speak on that one...," he said.

"But listen, there's nothing we can do about that."