McLean goal and a refereeing storm as Scotland open with 1–0 win

Scotland scrape past Haiti 1–0, but the controversy is deafening

Your team won their first World Cup match since 1998. Scotland 1–0 Haiti in Boston on Sunday, and the result is almost the quietest part of the story (1). Kenny McLean scored the only goal, but two refereeing calls have drowned everything else out.

Former Premier League referee Keith Hackett did not hold back. He said McLean was "very fortunate" to stay on the pitch after a challenge where his boot was above waist height: "He's using excessive force and it's endangered the safety of the opponent by the very nature of the landing area" (1). Hackett believes VAR should have intervened for a red card.

Grant Hanley was also lucky. Haiti saw a penalty shout waved away after a Hanley challenge on Josue Casimir, and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde went close for Haiti late on (3). Hackett called it plainly: "Haiti have been on the wrong end of a couple of calls that could easily have gone their way but didn't" (3).

The points are yours. The performance will need to be better.

Morocco on Friday, and they just held Brazil

No time to linger. Morocco drew 1–1 with Brazil in their Group C opener and look sharp (2). Your next match is Friday against a Morocco side that outplayed the tournament favourites for long stretches. The group is wide open, but this Scotland team cannot rely on fortune a second time.

The Tartan Army turned Fenway Park into Hampden

If you watched from home, you heard it. Scotland fans belted out Runrig's "Loch Lomond" in Boston and it carried through the stadium (4). The Tartan Army took over Fenway Park, the iconic baseball ground, and made a World Cup opener feel like a home fixture (5). You do not need a match report to know the atmosphere was the best thing on the pitch.

Fan-reaktioner

The mood online is split straight down the middle. Half the support is euphoric, first World Cup win in 28 years, no caveats needed. The other half cannot stop talking about the McLean tackle and the Hanley incident, with many fans admitting Haiti were hard done by. One thread title captured it: "Greatest day of my life, and we did not deserve it." See the full discussion here.