Steve Clarke hailed Scotland’s heroes as they swept the nation to the World Cup for the first time since 1998 following one of the craziest and most dramatic matches in Hampden’s history.
Stoppage-time goals from substitutes Kieran Tierney and Kenny McLean — the latter a wonder lob over Kasper Schmeichel — secured a heart-stopping 4-2 victory after ten-man Denmark thought they had booked their place in the finals with an 82nd-minute equaliser.
Scott McTominay gave the Scots the perfect start with an outrageous overhead kick in the third minute, only for Rasmus Hojlund to pull one back with a contentious penalty in the 57th minute.
After Rasmus Kristensen was sent off on the hour mark with a second yellow card, sub Lawrence Shankland had the Scots in dreamland as he put them 2-1 up in the 78th minute.
Patrick Dorgu sickened the hosts with a leveller four minutes later, which looked set to book the Danes’ place in North America, before Tierney and McLean sent Hampden wild.
‘What a fantastic group of players …unbelievable,’ said Clarke. ‘When you come to a night like this, when you’re behind and struggling, and not sure it’s going to happen, I trust my players. I’ve told them so many times, I trust them implicitly.
Steve Clarke and John McGinn embraced as Scotland booked their ticket to the World Cup
Midfielder Scott McTominay scored one of the greatest goals Hampden Park has ever seen
Kenny McLean came off the bench to net the fourth goal late on and spark wild celebrations
‘Normally when you wake up on the morning of a match like this you have that tight feeling in your stomach. I never had it this morning and I thought: “Wow, that’s strange”. I thought there was something wrong with me, but it’s because I trust my players so much.
‘We have been on a journey. I spoke to them about it pre-match, about how this is the opportunity we have waited for. What a night, eh?
‘We’ve been close before in the World Cup, against Ukraine, and we probably froze on the day. We didn’t play with that freedom.
‘We qualified for the Euros, got to a play-off, qualified for a Euros. This was the chance. One game. This was like a play-off final. We put everything on the line.
‘There’s always one last step, and it’s always the hardest. We had to put their mind at ease, make them comfortable, make them know they could handle the occasion.
‘Scott McTominay scored the best overhead goal I have ever seen. Some moments in the game went in our favour. We went 2-1 up against 10 men, but conceded and we thought: “What are we doing?”.
‘But that’s the Scotland way. There were a lot of emotions, at times you were looking for solutions and I knew we would have to go with two up front at one stage. I felt the Danes were dominating us a little bit. It seemed a good time to do it.’
Skipper Andy Robertson was emotional as he described qualifying for the World Cup as one of the greatest nights of his life.
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Captain Andy Robertson admitted it was ‘one of the craziest games’ he’d ever played in
He also dedicated a very special victory to his former Liverpool team-mate, the Portuguese striker Diogo Jota, who died earlier this year in a car crash.
‘That just sums up this squad,’ said the 31-year-old full-back. ‘We just keep going right to the end and (it was) one of the craziest games I’ve ever been involved in.
‘We put the country through it, but I’m sure it’s worth it. We’re going to the World Cup.
‘I’ve hidden it well, but today I’ve been in bits. I know the age I’m at, this could be my last chance to go to the World Cup.
‘I couldn’t get my mate Diogo Jota out of my head today. We spoke so much about going to the World Cup. I know he’ll be smiling over me today. I’m so glad it’s ended up this way.
‘This group of boys, this group of staff — it’s the best group I’ve been involved in.
‘The manager’s speech before the game was unbelievable. He went through the big moments we’ve had. Qualifying for the Euros. He said: “Let’s make it another one”.
‘We were quite emotional. To do it for him, the staff and all our families, it’ll go down as one of the greatest nights of my life.’
Clarke, who became the first Scotland manager to qualify for three major finals, will now find out who his team will face in North America when the World Cup draw is made on December 5.
