Scotland picked up their first win under new head coach Sebastien Pocognoli with a hugely merited 2-0 triumph over North Macedonia in Skopje.
The Scots were dominant from the off at the National Arena Toshe Proeski and now have four points after three matches in Nations League B1. But most importantly, they earned a victory for their new boss and ended a four-match goal drought stretching back to last summer’s World Cup.
It was a milestone night for Scotland captain Andy Robertson, who earned his 100th cap and is now just two away from Sir Kenny Dalglish’s all-time record.
Striker Kieron Bowie scored his first goal for Scotland with an excellent strike from 20 yards on seven minutes and while Scotland were vastly superior for the rest of the first half, they passed up opportunities to double their lead.
The all-important second goal came on 68 minutes when John McGinn converted from the penalty spot after a VAR review deemed that Bowie’s close-range effort had been blocked by Bojan Miovski’s hand. The incident happened not long after Scotland had a penalty taken away by VAR after a challenge on Ben Gannon-Doak.
Scotland had to see out the match with ten men after Scott McKenna was sent off on 83 minutes for denying North Macedonian midfielder Agon Elezi a clear goalscoring opportunity following a short pass by Robertson. However, the hosts could not capitalise.
This was a strong display by Scotland and the scoreline could have been more emphatic had it not been for some wasteful finishing and excellent goalkeeping from North Macedonia’s Stole Dimitrievski.
Scotland complete this four-game international window on Tuesday when they welcome Slovenia to Hampden.
We give the players a mark out of ten for their performances in Skopje.
9. John McGinn
Recent performances had led to scrutiny for the Aston Villa captain, but Pocognoli kept faith with the midfielder and he delivered. The 31-year-old bossed the midfield and a neat cushion header teed up the move for Bowie's opener. Scored his 22nd goal for Scotland from the penalty spot midway through the second half, reaching the total of Lawrie Reilly. A fine night's work. 9 | Andrew Milligan/PA Wire
10. GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - OCTOBER 02: Kieron Bowie during a Scotland MD-1 training session at Barclays Hampden, on October 02, 2026, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group)
Scored his first goal for Scotland on seven minutes with a tremendous finish from 20 yards, arrowing the ball into the far corner of the net. He also won the penalty when his close-range effort struck Miovski's hand. Should have scored more than one, letting another couple of chances go by, but his physicality and directness gave the Scots a real threat all evening. Replaced by Ure. 8 | SNS Group
11. Oli McBurnie
A largely frustrating evening for the striker, who is still searching for his first Scotland goal after 19 appearances. Never got a proper chance to score in the first half despite Scotland being in the ascendancy. Was also booked six minutes in for a late challenge and that may be the reason why he was replaced by Christie at the break. 5 | SNS Group
12. Ryan Christie
Introduced at the break for McBurnie and made sure Scotland stayed in control of the match. A great option for Pocognoli to bring on off the bench. 7 | SNS Group