Scotland beat North Macedonia 2-1 at Hampden as Andy Robertson equals Dalglish's caps record

The winning goals

Scotland beat North Macedonia 2-1 at Hampden Park in Glasgow on Friday, 13 November, in their Nations League B1 match, the first home win of Sébastien Pocognoli's reign as head coach. John McGinn put Scotland ahead in the 54th minute. North Macedonia equalised in the 58th minute, when striker Elmin Rastoder glanced a header home from a corner kick. McGinn restored the lead from the penalty spot in the 73rd minute, according to Irish Examiner, and Scotland held on. Goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski had denied the hosts three times in a goalless first half, and Billy Gilmour had missed an open goal from eight yards before McGinn's opener.

Robertson's 102nd cap

Andy Robertson made his 102nd appearance for Scotland, drawing level with Dalglish, who had held the national record for 40 years. Robertson can overtake Dalglish on his own if he features against Switzerland on Monday, 16 November. He debuted in March 2014 against Poland, coming off the bench as a 19-year-old, and scored his first international goal in his fourth appearance, against England. The North Macedonia match was his 80th as captain, well ahead of George Young, the previous record-holder with 48 caps as captain. Before the game Robertson turned the attention towards Dalglish.

“There are normal seats but there's one throne and Kenny Dalglish should be sat on it.”

Standings and the next match

Scotland have seven points from five fixtures and sit third in Group B1, one point behind second-placed Slovenia, who drew 0-0 at home to group leaders Switzerland. To overtake Slovenia in the final game-week, Scotland need to beat Switzerland in St Gallen on Monday, 16 November, because of the head-to-head record. The runners-up place brings a promotion play-off spot and a more favourable seeding for the 2028 European Championship qualifiers. North Macedonia have no points from five games and will finish bottom of the table. McGinn's double took his international tally to 24, joint-third on Scotland's all-time list with Hughie Gallacher.

Questions for the new coach

Pocognoli, the Belgian coach, took charge after Steve Clarke, who led Scotland to three major tournaments in five years. Scotland lost to Slovenia in October 2026 during Pocognoli's first international window as manager. For this match he picked Kieran Tierney, Scott McTominay and Ché Adams for the first time and started all three, using a back three with Ben Gannon-Doak at right wingback. McTominay came close with a shot that Dimitrievski saved, while a referee's decision to bring play back for a free kick denied Robertson a chance to collect a Billy Gilmour pass in a scoring position. Questions remain about whether Pocognoli can build on Clarke's work, and the next test is in St Gallen on Monday, 16 November.