Scotland vs North Macedonia: Robertson Eyes All-Time Record Against Goalless Macedonia
by Geoffrey Ejiga | by Geoffrey Ejiga
Robertson Can Equal Dalglish Tonight
Andy Robertson won his 100th Scotland cap in Skopje on October 3, the night Kieron Bowie's 25-yard strike and a John McGinn penalty gave Sébastien Pocognoli his first win as Scotland manager.
"It means everything to me, and it means everything to my family," Robertson told BBC Scotland afterwards. "I've been away now 100 times. I've got to feel sorry for my wife."
Three days later he played again in the 1-2 home defeat to Slovenia, earning cap 101. Tonight in the Nations League, he will win cap 102, the number that sits next to Sir Kenny Dalglish at the top of Scotland's all-time list.
If he plays in both November matches, Robertson will become his country's most-capped player in history.
Dalglish's 102 has stood since 1986. Robertson, 32, has been chasing it since he reached 80 caps in November 2024, when he scored a stoppage-time winner in Poland.
"I actually said to Kenny the other week, 'I'm coming for you,'" he said before the Greece play-off in March 2025. Dalglish replied that plenty of players had said that before and that he was still the main man.
But the contrast between that landmark and the team around it is stark:
- Scotland went to their first World Cup in 28 years last summer, beat Haiti 1-0 through a McGinn goal, then lost to Morocco and Brazil and came home at the group stage.
- Steve Clarke resigned after seven years, and
- The Scottish FA turned to Pocognoli, a 39-year-old Belgian who had guided Union Saint-Gilloise to their first league title in 90 years before a spell at Monaco.
He is only the second foreign manager in Scotland's history, after Berti Vogts. With qualification on the line, can he get the job done at Hampden? See our expert’s first.
Where The Spotlight Actually Shines Tonight: McTominay vs Elmas
Scott McTominay returns to the Scotland squad for the first time since the World Cup after a heart procedure in September to correct an irregular heartbeat.
Napoli confirmed the surgery was successful and he was cleared to return in October.
The former Man United man had 20 Serie A goals across his first two seasons at the club, including 12 in 2024-25. And his absence from Pocognoli's opening Nations League camp was felt in the midfield.
On the other side, Eljif Elmas carries North Macedonia's entire attacking responsibility. The 27-year-old, now on loan at Atalanta from RB Leipzig, has 83 caps and 13 goals for his country.
Elmas spent five years at Napoli, winning Serie A with them in 2022-23, and chose North Macedonia over Turkey at international level. The problem for North Macedonia, however, is that Elmas and his teammates have not scored a single goal in four Nations League matches.
North Macedonia Have Lost Every Game, and Scotland Need the Points
The Group B1 table explains the stakes.
Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Switzerland | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 12 |
| 2 | Slovenia | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 7 |
| 3 | Scotland | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| 4 | North Macedonia | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
Scotland need at least four points from their final two matches to have any chance of catching Slovenia for second place and avoiding relegation to League C. North Macedonia, who have been outscored 10-0 in this group, are playing for nothing but pride.
The reverse fixture finished 0-2 in Skopje six weeks ago. And notably, Scotland has never lost to North Macedonia.
Robertson was directly involved in the first 13 minutes of that match, taking four shots, marking the first time he had done that in a Scotland game.
At Hampden tonight, Robertson will draw level with the record Dalglish set 40 years ago. And no better opponent to do it against than North Macedonia who almost guarantees Scotland a victory.
