Scotland, back at a men's World Cup for the first time since 1998, ground out a 1–0 win over Haiti to announce their return. Not pretty, but the Tartan Army had waited 28 years — they were not complaining.

This was a classic case of the better chances not matching the run of play: Haiti edged possession (54%) and out-shot Scotland 15-9 with marginally higher xG (1.06 to 1.05), yet both sides managed only 2 shots on target and Haiti could not convert their late pressure into a goal. The xG near-parity despite Haiti's shot volume shows most of their 15 attempts were low-quality, while Scotland's 1.05 was inflated by McGinn's decisive 28th-minute deflected strike. Angus Gunn comfortably handled Haiti's two shots on target, and Frantzdy Pierrot's late header flashing wide epitomised Haiti finishing well below the chances their territorial edge promised. The disciplinary count (Haiti 23 fouls/1 booking, Scotland 21 fouls/3 bookings) underlines how Scotland resorted to game-management to protect a slender lead that earned their first World Cup win since 1990.