Scotland have finally been put of out their misery, with results elsewhere condemning us to another group stage exit at the World Cup.
Our hopes of reaching the knockout rounds for the first time in our history were left in tatters after Steve Clarke and his men picking up just three points from three matches in Group C, with the 1-0 victory over Haiti quickly being followed by defeats to Morocco and Brazil, crucially leaving us with a goal difference of minus three.
Boss Clarke has came under heavy fire in the wake of those disappointments, and has taken more backlash after storming out of a post-match interview after they were thumped 3-0 by the Selecao in Miami.
A potential saving grace came in the form of the eight teams who finished third that will secure passage into the last 32 but the helping hands we required have failed to materialise.
Supercomputer data had given Scotland a 0.07 percent chance of getting out the group going into Saturday night, with unfavourable score lines from around the competition seeing us drop out of the top eight spots.
And Clarke, his squad and the Tartan Army are now officially heading home after Ghana failed to beat Croatia by three clear goals in the late hours of Saturday night, with Luka Modric and Co claiming a narrow 2-1 win.
The Dark Blues are one of just four other sides who will crash out of the World Cup having finished third in their respective groups, with Uruguay’s fate already confirmed.
The Scots ended a 28-year-long wait to appear at the finals but have now failed to get past the group stage in all of their 13 outings at the World Cup and European Championships – starting with their first appearance in the former in the 1954 tournament.
The three remaining teams to miss out will be determined before the early hours of Sunday morning, joining the 12 countries that finish bottom of their respective groups in bowing out at the first hurdle.
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