John McGinn admitted it is "unlikely" that Scotland will progress at the World Cup following their crushing 3-0 defeat to Brazil, which dealt a severe blow to their hopes of advancing in the tournament. The Scots headed into Wednesday night's fixture as heavy underdogs, yet a narrow defeat would in all likelihood have kept their qualification hopes alive heading into the round of 32.
Scotland's World Cup campaign in jeopardy
Scotland had beaten Haiti in their opening World Cup fixture before falling to Morocco, but three points always offered a fighting chance — provided their goal difference remained respectable. That prospect was dealt a hammer blow by the heavy loss to the South Americans. Scotland were thoroughly outplayed throughout in Miami, conceding inside ten minutes as Vinicius Jnr capitalised on a defensive error to hand Brazil the lead. The Real Madrid forward then doubled the advantage just before the interval — and only after VAR had ruled out another of his efforts.
Matheus Cunha added a third for Brazil, further denting Scotland's goal difference at a critical moment, as they still harbour hopes of progressing as one of the best third-placed sides. However, McGinn fears the damage may prove irreparable.
McGinn's honest assessment
He told the BBC: "Gutted obviously. We lose poor goals at poor times against a team that can punish you with quality. We had a few chances but we've got to wait now. The lads are gutted, we fell short on quality tonight but we gave it absolutely everything. The lads are empty now. It's unlikely [we'll qualify] but we'll wait and see."
The Aston Villa star did acknowledge that Vinicius' disallowed goal — ruled out after VAR intervened and drew the referee's attention to a foul on defender Jack Hendry — could prove pivotal in the broader context.
Clarke and Robertson react
Scotland boss Steve Clarke was less upbeat and bemoaned the self-inflicted nature of the defeat. "We gave them the goals, we gave them the game they wanted, disappointing," he said. Andy Robertson, meanwhile, also delivered his verdict on the game and believes the next couple of days are going to be "horrible" as Scotland wait to discover their fate. "Time will tell," Robertson said. "As a collective we didn't want to put ourselves in a position where we have to watch every team and hope this team score or that team score. Time will tell, maybe we'll get another shot at it. The next couple of days are going to be long and horrible, but we put ourselves in this position."
