The long goodbye. Tartan Army foot soldiers begin journey home as team's hopes hang by a thread

Published: 19:54, 26 June 2026 | Updated: 19:55, 26 June 2026 Scotland's American dream looks to be all but over after the odds of Steve Clarke’s men scraping their way into the knockouts plummeted even further. Hopes were severely dented after the national side’s disastrous evening against Brazil, which saw the most successful country in World Cup history hammer them 3-0. Millions watched as Scotland’s dreams were dashed in Miami on Wednesday night, with an astonishing one in five Scots watching the action as it was beamed live from Florida. After that bad night in the Sunshine State, statisticians calculated there was still a decent chance that Scotland – who came third in Group C thanks to the opening game win over Haiti – could progress to the knockout stages for the first time. But Germany’s surprise defeat at the hands of Ecuador on Thursday night, along with the subsequent draws between Paraguay and Australia as well as Japan and Sweden, all but ended the dream. Within the course of just a few hours the team’s qualification chances plummeted from 42 per cent to a mere 5.26 per cent chance. Cheerful to the end, the Tartan Army headed for Miami airport after Scotland's 3-0 defeat to Brazil - with the team's fate still hanging in the balance Trainspotting author and football fan Irvine Welsh, 67, had bagged tickets for the match at Miami Stadium and said afterwards: ‘Well, it was fun. Scotland showed its predictable footballing limitations on the pitch, but its boundless humanity off it.’ Millions tuned into BBC One and iPlayer to watch the national side’s final group match on Wednesday night, with a peak viewing figure of 6.3million across the UK.  In Scotland alone there was a peak audience of 1.07million at the time of the first goal, making up 77 per cent of all television watchers north of the Border. Now only the most bullish members of the Tartan Army dare to dream for a miracle and further World Cup games for the Scotland team with most already making their way home from Stateside. In this year’s 48-nation tournament the best two teams from each group progress to the knockout stages with the eight best-ranked teams in third place also going through. Ahead of last night’s Senegal v Iraq Group I game, Scotland were sitting in eighth place. But the team would need a lot of luck from the remaining group games to yield the right kind of results for its first World Cup journey in almost three decades to continue. Should it go right down to the wire, the Tartan Army will be praying for a three-goal win for Ghana in their match against Croatia tonight. Many The Tartan Army foot soldiers decided to pack their bags and head home after charming their host cities of Boston and Miami during Scotland's World Cup campaign Despite a disappointing campaign, and with the possibility Scotland could yet qualify for the last 32, fans remained philosophical as Scotland's hopes of staying in the tournament grew slim  Fans remained philosophical with one telling the BBC: ‘We tried so hard but we’re not good enough. ‘It does my head in. I’m gutted. But hey, we’re Scotland. No Scotland, no party.’ Another one said the team – and the Tartan Army – will ‘take it on the chin and move on’, adding: ‘We’re here for the party.’ A female footsoldier said she was still proud of the national side and especially proud of the Tartan Army. She added: ‘Scotland’s reputation across the world has surpassed itself.’ No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.