By Ian KingWill it be eighth time lucky for Scotland in North America this summer?It’s been 28 years since Scotland last played in a World Cup finals, and they return to the competition seeking to end a record of having never got through the group stage in their last seven attempts. Their previous tries have seen them come close a couple of times, and it’s been 36 years since they won a game once there, a 2-1 win against Sweden in 1990. They qualified without the need for play-offs, but they left it late, with two dramatic stoppage-time goals edging them above Denmark with a 4-2 win and through to these finals. Haiti are among the rank outsiders in this summer’s World Cup. They’ve only qualified once before. But like Scotland, they avoided play-offs, finishing as runners-up to Curaçao in their First Round CONCACAF group and then impressively winning their Second Round group, which also contained Honduras and Costa Rica.Haiti’s qualifying groupScotland will need to avoid echoes of their own past to proceed through the group stageThe concern for Scotland supporters as they head for North America will be the sheer variety of ways they’ve contrived to fail in the group stage in the past. The big echo from the past may be 1978, when one point from their opening two matches against what should have been modest opposition in the form of Peru and Iran left them with an insurmountable challenge in their final game against the Netherlands. Needing a three-goal win, they won 3-2, but failed to proceed. Four years earlier, both Haiti and Scotland were in West Germany. Scotland were again undone by goal difference in a group which ended up with three unbeaten teams. Haiti, meanwhile, looked as though they might be on for what would have been one of the biggest shocks in the entire history of the World Cup when they took the lead in the first minute of the second half of their game against Italy. But Italy came back to win 3-1, Haiti lost their other two games, 7-0 against Poland and 4-1 against Argentina, and they haven’t been back since.2025/26 was a difficult season for Andy RobertsonThe Scotland captain Andy Robertson has now left Liverpool for Tottenham Hotspur, and his final season at Anfield was a difficult one, with the team falling short on the pitch and the personal tragedy of having lost team-mate and friend Diogo Jota in a car crash last summer. But Robertson came through it with admirable dignity, and he deserves a few weeks in the sun. He departed his former club with praise from fans for his service ringing in his ears, and he’s worked hard for this opportunity.Robertson’s final Premier League season with LiverpoolMidfielder Jean-Ricner Bellegarde may have had a disappointing season with Wolves, but he’s transformed Haiti since making his debut for them last year, with a particularly strong performance in their 3-0 win in Nicaragua in October. He’s one of two English-based players in their squad, alongside the Sunderland striker Wilson Isidor, who scored their goal in their last pre-tournament friendly match, a 2-1 defeat against Peru. The other key players to look out for are goalkeeper and captain Johnny Placide of Bastia, who’s made 81 appearances for his country, and striker Duckens Nazon, who is currently playing his club football in Iran with Esteghlal. He’s Haiti’s all-time record goalscorer, with 44 goals, although he hasn’t scored a goal for club or country yet in 2026. With goal difference potentially crucial, Scotland may need to go on the attack in this fixtureHaiti’s French head coach Sébastien Migné has, with the team unable to play matches in their home country due to an apparently perpetual security crisis, done an incredible job by getting his team here in the first place. He plays a 4-4-2 with attacking full-backs for width, which drops back to a 4-2-3-1 in defensive situations. They can be left a little short defensively at times, but have strong attacking options. The Scotland manager Steve Clarke has an aging team, but the upside of this is that they have plenty of experience. Goal difference is always of exaggerated importance in the group stage of a World Cup, as Scotland have found to their cost before, and with their opponents’ biggest weakness being defensive and Scotland’s greatest strength being their midfield, Clarke is likely to go for a straight 4-4-2, with new Rangers striker Lawrence Shankland and Torino’s Ché Adams up front. The Group C line upScotland need a positive result from this match, with tougher challenges to comeThere is a definite opportunity for Scotland to build up a little confidence ahead of far trickier-looking games to come against Morocco and Brazil. Haiti have only ever qualified once before, and are among the outsiders to win the tournament. A positive result and performance from Scotland looks pretty essential from a match they really should win, which is particularly important this time around, given that the top eight third-placed teams will also be getting through to the round of 32. But the warnings from history are right there, staring them in the face. In 1974, 1978 and 1982, they were eliminated on goal difference after failing to run up as many goals against their group’s minnows as their opponents. Brazil are among the favourites to win the entire competition and Morocco reached the semi-finals four years ago, so there’ll be far tougher tests to come than this, but a 3-0 win from this fixture would stand Scotland in a decent stead for the challenges ahead. (Cover image from IMAGO)You can follow every game at the World Cup with FotMob this summer – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.Add FotMob as a preferred news source on Google by clicking – here.