Scotland vs Morocco live: Scots eye historic World Cup knockout berth against Atlas Lions

Morocco’s Hakimi plays despite being sent for rape trial

Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi is in the starting XI, just hours after an appeals court in France confirmed he must stand trial on rape charges.

The Paris Saint-Germain defender is facing allegations that he raped a 24-year-old woman in the Paris region in 2023, which he denies.

Scotland fans strike it rich with big baseball raffle win

Football ⁠fans are paying thousands of dollars for tickets to World Cup games this year but four Scotland supporters have been given a big help with their ‌expenses after they won ⁠more than $10,000 in a raffle at a baseball game ‌in Boston.

The four – two father-and-son duos – bought ⁠the winning numbers on Sunday at the Boston Red Sox stadium which was packed with members of the ‌Tartan Army, a day after Scotland marked their first match at the World Cup ‌in 28 years with a 1-0 win over Haiti, the BBC reports.

“We checked in the ninth inning. We had to do a double take,” one of the sons, Paul Innes, said after receiving the prize of $10,677. “The numbers matched. I think we checked three or four times. It’s just surreal. It’s not really sunk in.”

Tartan Army steals the show

Scotland are among the few teams at the World Cup without a nickname, perhaps because their fans tend to steal the show.

FRANCE 24’s Selina Sykes went to meet the Tartan Army in the streets of Boston.

The starting XIs

Scotland start with five defenders, compared ​to four in their opening Group C win against Haiti, with Nathan Patterson and ​Kieran ‌Tierney being brought into ⁠the side as coach Steve Clarke bolstered his backline.

The Moroccans are unchanged from their opening match, with ​a four-man defence and striker Brahim ​Diaz up front.

Scotland: Angus ​Gunn; Kieran Tierney, Andy Robertson, Grant Hanley, Jack Hendry, ​Nathan Patterson; Scott McTominay, John McGinn, Ryan Christie, Lewis Ferguson; Che Adams

Morocco: Yassine Bounou; Achraf Hakimi, Issa Diop, Chadi Riad, ⁠Noussair Mazraoui; Ayyoub Bouaddi, Azzedine Ounahi, Ismael Saibari, Bilal ⁠El ​Khannouss, Neil El Aynaoui, Brahim Diaz.

…and when Morocco dumped the Scots out of France 98

But the Morocco game also brings back painful memories of Scotland’s last World Cup campaign in 1998 in France, when they played the North African nation in their final group game and were eliminated after a comprehensive 3-0 defeat.

When Scotland beat Cruyff

Scotland’s win over Haiti last weekend was their first World Cup game since 1998 and their first win at the tournament since 1990, as well as only their fifth ever at the finals.

Memorable Scottish performances against higher-ranked opponents include a 3-2 win over eventual finalists the Netherlands in 1978, which ‌was agonisingly too little to keep Scotland in the tournament.

Welcome to our liveblog

Scotland will relish ⁠their role as underdogs in today’s World Cup group game against Morocco, who look even better now than the side that famously reached the semi-finals four years ago in Qatar.

After a nervy 1-0 win against minnows Haiti in their opener, Scotland know a draw could clinch a place in the knockout rounds of a major tournament ‌for the first time ever.

Morocco, meawhile, will be keen to register their first win of the tournament after they were denied victory by Brazil despite dominating much of their opening game.