Scotland will look to make a winning start in Group C as they take on Haiti at the Boston Stadium in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Scotland finally put an end to their 28-year hiatus from the World Cup finals, as they finished above Denmark and Greece in their World Cup qualifying group.
Steve Clarke’s men then lost friendlies against Japan and the Ivory Coast by a 1-0 scoreline at the end of March, but come into the tournament off the back of a pair of high-scoring victories over Curacao and Bolivia.
The Scots were particularly impressive in thrashing poor-travelling Bolivia 4-0 in New Jersey last Saturday, on an evening in which two of my selections landed.
Haiti’s wait for a return to the World Cup finals was even greater than Scotland's, as their only previous appearance came in West Germany 52 years ago.
Sebastien Migne’s underdogs topped their World Cup qualifying group by taking 11 points from their six qualifiers (W3-D2-L1), finishing two points clear of nearest challengers Honduras and four clear of fallen Central American giants Costa Rica.
How the bookies view it: Scotland favourites
Scotland are favourites to make a winning start in Group C in Boston, with bet365 pricing a Scottish success at 11/20.
Haiti are 9/2 underdogs to claim their first-ever victory at the World Cup finals, whilst the draw is 10/3.
Head to head: First-ever meeting
The Boston Stadium will be the venue of the first-ever meeting between these two nations.
Players to watch: Shankland to strike again?
Following a terrific season for Hearts, Lawrence Shankland looks to have finally played himself into the Scotland starting 11 after his form in the last two matches.
A brace against Curacao at Hampden a fortnight ago was followed up by scoring the opener and assisting the second against Bolivia last weekend, and the 4/5 on offer for the Rangers-bound striker to Score or Assist in the early hours of Sunday morning appeals to me.
Backed a player to find the net? Check our Goalscorer Betting guide to see how the markets work and where to find value.
Predicted line-ups:
Scotland will be without Billy Gilmour for the whole competition due to injury, whilst Wolves midfielder Jean-Ricner Bellegarde is a doubt for the Haitians.
Haiti: Placide, Arcus, Ade, Delcroix, Experience, Don Deedson, Bellegarde, Jacques, Providence, Pierrot, Isidor
Scotland: Gunn, Hickey, Hendry, McKenna, Robertson, Gannon-Doak, McTominay, McLean, McGinn, Adams, Shankland
Anything else catch the eye?
This match will be pivotal to Scotland’s hopes of reaching the knockout stages for the very first time in World Cup history, after exiting in the group stages in each of their opening eight World Cup campaigns.
With matches against record champions Brazil and 2022 semi-finalists Morocco to come, this will clearly be their best chance to grab all three points, but they are priced at just 11/20 to do so.
Steve Clarke’s men scored four goals in both of their recent friendly successes over Curacao and Bolivia, and combining a Scotland Win & Over 1.5 Goals pays a far more appealing 20/23 at bet365.
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