Scotland must score early in Skopje — within first 26 minutes

Scotland arrive in Skopje under pressure to break their recent goal drought — and the calculations say the visitors must score inside the first 26 minutes to avoid an unwanted historic mark.

Numbers and recent form

North Macedonia come into Saturday’s match having gone six games without scoring, a run that totals 607 minutes without a goal. Scotland, meanwhile, have failed to find the net in four consecutive matches, a sequence of 422 minutes. North Macedonia’s last goal came away to Wales last year in the 7:1 defeat; Scotland’s most recent international goal was against Haiti at the World Cup, after which they did not score in meetings with Morocco (1:0), Brazil (3:0), Slovenia (0:0) and Switzerland (0:3).

The Scottish side have a new head coach: Belgian Sebastian Pocognoli, who took charge in August. Ahead of the trip to North Macedonia he warned his players not to be overwhelmed by the statistics.

“We must not be pressured by the statistics and the fact that we have not scored for a long time. I believe in these lads and from what I saw in the matches with Slovenia and Switzerland I can say there are positive moments we must prove against North Macedonia. Still, this is football and the minutes without scoring are only statistics. The crucial thing is the final effect,” Pocognoli said.

Scottish media calculated that the visitors need to score within the first 26 minutes in Skopje to prevent a shameful team record dating back 55 years: the longest run without a goal in Scotland’s history is 447 minutes, set in 1971.

For the hosts, the cold numbers are a reminder of difficult recent times. The Football Federation of North Macedonia’s slogan — "This is our time…" — will feel ironic if the scoreboard remains silent again at home.

Photo: press material from the event