John McGinn's second goal, a penalty, sealed a 2-1 win over North Macedonia that keeps Scotland's Nations League hopes alive.
Scotland captain Andy Robertson moved level with Sir Kenny Dalglish on 102 appearances for his country on Friday night, as Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn scored twice in a 2-1 win over North Macedonia at Hampden Park in Glasgow. It was Robertson's 48th win for Scotland, which extends his record as the player with the most wins.
Scotland were goalless at half-time and were booed off by the home crowd. McGinn broke the deadlock on 54 minutes, curling in after Che Adams outmuscled a defender and set him away. Less than three minutes later, North Macedonia's Elmin Rastoder glanced a header in from a corner to level the game.
The winner came from the penalty spot on 75 minutes. Goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski brought down winger Ben Gannon-Doak when the winger seemed to be running the ball out of play, and after a VAR review McGinn stepped up to make it 2-1.
On matching Dalglish's record, Robertson said: "It feels amazing for me and my family, it's an amazing achievement."
He also looked back on the years it took to get there:
"I've been around here for a long time. I've had highs, I've had lows, I've sometimes had praise and had criticism."
McGinn told Sky Sports: "Amazing - he deserves everything that is coming his way." He added: "The biggest credit I can give him is that he is always available, always willing to help his country."
Robertson has worn the armband 80 times. Alex McLeish, who gave him the captaincy in 2018, said: "He was a natural captain."
Scotland manager Sebastien Pocognoli recorded his second victory in charge, in his fifth match, becoming the first Scotland manager since Gordon Strachan in 2013 to win more than one of his first five. Pocognoli said: "I'm happy to get the first win at home. It's important and we knew before the game that it will help to build a winning culture." He was quite satisfied with some moments of the game, but said of the spell after Scotland's first goal: "After the first goal, I think we need to learn to not drop the intensity."
Robertson accepted the team is still adapting to the new approach: "It's a different way of playing and that's what we are working on in the training ground." He added that "we have to be patient with that."
The win keeps Scotland in the race for second place in Group B1, after Slovenia were held by Switzerland. Scotland must win away to Switzerland in St Gallen and hope North Macedonia do them a favour in their final game. Sky Sports says Robertson should play, and a 103rd cap would make him Scotland's most-capped player outright.
Scotland have also scored all of their last six penalties in all competitions, not counting shootouts. Lyndon Dykes' penalty against Israel in October 2021 was the last one they failed to convert.
The kick-off for Scotland's match in St Gallen is at 7.45pm on Monday.
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