World Cup 2026: Scotland’s totems must step up to thwart dynamic Morocco

Despite winning all these games, Scotland’s opponents tend not to score many goals, which is a surprise. In Diaz and Saibari and left-sided midfielder, Bilal El Khanos, they have huge dynamic attackers.

And, in Achraf Hakimi, they have one of the best right-backs in the world, if not the absolute best. Hakimi’s heart. Born in Spain to a street vendor father and a mother who was a cleaner, he has often spoken of how his upbringing shaped him.

Paris Saint-Germain defender in February Said he will face trial Later he was accused of rape. Hakimi has strongly denied all the allegations.

Hakimi is a great footballer, at his best going forward, an explosive force on the right for Morocco, a Serie A winner with Inter, a two-time Champions League winner with PSG, a World Cup semi-finalist with his country four years ago.

Morocco is a team that comes from the diaspora. In the starting line-up in the draw with Brazil, their goalkeeper was born in Canada, two of their defenders are from Spain, one from France and one from the Netherlands.

Neil El Aynaoui, midfielder, born in France, Boaddi in Spain and El Khanous in Sibery, Belgium. The rest of the squad consists of nine other players who were born in Spain, Belgium, France and the Netherlands. Obviously, though, they are Moroccan in their animal roots.

They represent a daunting test for Scotland – and an opportunity too. Few of Clarke’s teams produced their best stuff against Haiti, and none of them shied away from it.

Scott McTominay was one of them. Maybe still feel the effect of a stomach bug or, perhaps, weighed down a touch by the burden on his shoulders, the talisman that was not all talismanic.

He threw his heart out – all races played in one game, he finished sixth overall in terms of kilometers – but he wasn’t quite the impact he could have been. Despite his goals, John McGinn was not.

It won’t matter that day, but it will be important against Morocco. Scotland’s totems must rise.

Clarke could potentially drop a striker and bring in an extra midfielder to match Morocco’s strength and class, suffocating as well as retaining their own attacking ability. It can’t be back to the wall for 90 minutes.

Everything screams ‘biggest test of their international career’, but, also, everything we know about this Scotland team tells us they are up for the fight. They go again.