Scotland vs Switzerland finished 0-3 at Hampden Park on Tuesday night, and the damage was done before most fans had settled into their seats. Jack Hendry was sent off after 11 minutes, Ricardo Rodriguez scored the free kick that followed, and Switzerland controlled the rest of the night. It was Sébastien Pocognoli’s first home game as Scotland head coach, and it could hardly have gone worse.
The defeat leaves Scotland with one point from two Nations League B Group 1 games after Saturday’s 0-0 draw in Slovenia. Switzerland have now won both of their games 3-0.
The red card that changed Scotland vs Switzerland
Hendry, the last man, brought down Dan Ndoye as the Swiss winger broke through. The referee first pointed to the spot and showed a yellow card. After a VAR review the decision changed on both counts: the foul was ruled to be outside the box, and Hendry’s card became a straight red for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity, as Sky Sports and VAVEL both reported.
Rodriguez stepped up and drove the free kick past Angus Gunn a minute later. Pocognoli admitted the plan went out of the window almost at once. “After eight minutes, game plan has to put on the side,” he told Sky Sports.
Ndoye’s second half and the goals that ended it
Scotland held out until 55 minutes, when Nico Elvedi swept home from Ndoye’s delivery. Ndoye then cut the ball back for Zeki Amdouni to make it 3-0 on 82 minutes. Amdouni also scored twice in Switzerland’s 3-0 win in North Macedonia on Saturday.
John McGinn, winning his 91st cap, did not hide from it. “That was a big setback for us,” he told beIN Sports, adding that the squad is “starting a new chapter, learning to play a different way.”
Scotland’s unwanted numbers
The scoreline was bad enough. The numbers behind it, according to beIN Sports, were worse:
| Stat | Detail |
|---|---|
| 4 | Games in a row without a Scotland goal, their worst run since 1971 (a 55 year low also noted by The Scotsman) |
| 0 | Shots on target at Hampden, from just two attempts |
| 8 | Home games in a row without a clean sheet |
| 11 | Minute of Hendry’s red card |
Nations League B Group 1 table
Slovenia beat North Macedonia 2-0 on the same night, which moves them above Scotland. For newer fans: the group winner is promoted to League A, the runner up goes into a promotion play off, and the bottom side faces a relegation play off.
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Switzerland | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | +6 | 6 |
| Slovenia | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | +2 | 4 |
| Scotland | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −3 | 1 |
| North Macedonia | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | −5 | 0 |
What’s next for Scotland
Scotland go to North Macedonia on Saturday, October 3, at the Toše Proeski Arena in Skopje, kicking off at 7:45pm BST (2:45pm ET, 11:45pm PKT). They are back at Hampden against Slovenia on Tuesday, October 6, also at 7:45pm BST (2:45pm ET, 11:45pm PKT). Switzerland host Slovenia and then North Macedonia in Lucerne on the same two nights.
Elsewhere on Tuesday night, England beat ten man Czechia 2-0. Read our Czechia vs England report.
