Morocco achieve unique World Cup record with victory over Scotland

Morocco achieved a 1-0 victory over Scotland in their Group C fixture of the World Cup and in the process achieved World Cup history.

Ismael Saibari struck early in the match as he scored in the second minute, and they would control proceedings for the majority of the fixture before holding out in the final few minutes as Scotland applied pressure to attempt to find an equaliser.

The African nation would have been confident entering this game against Scotland due to their fine record against European sides in the group stage at the World Cup, having only lost one of their previous six, this defeat coming in 2018 when they faced Portugal.

Morocco will now turn their attention to securing top spot in the group as they face Haiti in the final game of the group, confident they should be able to beat the Caribbean side.

While this will be what Morocco will be focusing on, and gaining three points from the Scotland game was the most important thing, the nation made history with this victory.

Captains Andy Robertson #3 of Scotland and Achraf Hakimi #2 of Morocco attend the coin toss before the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group C match between Scotland and Morocco (Getty Images)

Morocco are now unbeaten in their last six group stage matches at the World Cup, the best run ever by an African nation, beating the record held by Cameroon, who were unbeaten in five between 1982 and 1990, and Senegal, who also had five unbeaten group games between 2002 and 2018.

This victory maintains Morocco’s 100% record against Scotland, albeit this being only their second ever clash, as the African nation previously won 3-0 at the 1998 World Cup against the European nation.

Scotland will now turn their attention to their final fixture with Brazil, aiming to secure progression from the group, knowing any result will likely see them achieve this ambition.

Should Clarke manage to guide Scotland to a famous result against Brazil, he would be the first manager to guide the nation to the knockout stage of the World Cup.