Scotland kept on a steady course for the 2026 World Cup with a solid 2-0 win over Belarus on a surreal evening in Zalaegerszeg, Hungary.

After an encouraging 0-0 draw for Steve Clarke’s side in their opening qualifier in Group C against Denmark on Friday night, the closed-doors match in the ZTE Arena was in sharp contrast.

Players and management shouts echoed around the ground with loud Scottish celebrations heard when striker Che Adams scored from close range two minutes before the break. Defender Zakhar Volkov put through his own goal in the 65th minute to seal a crucial win for the Scots.

Scotland go into the home double-header against Greece and Belarus at a packed Hampden Park next month with four points from six on the road, two clean sheets and the chance to build on a strong start, while Denmark’s 3-0 win in Greece also takes them on to four points but with a slightly better goal difference.

After a demanding evening in Copenhagen, Clarke freshened his side up and, as the Tartan Army hoped, winger Ben Gannon Doak came in. There were also places for Max Johnston, Scott McKenna and Billy Gilmour, with Aaron Hickey, Grant Hanley, Lyndon Dykes and Ryan Christie dropping out.

As a UEFA sanction for the support shown by Belarus to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, their games have to take place in a neutral stadium with no supporters inside but there were a couple of dozen Tartan Army outside when Clarke and his squad arrived.

In the 15th minute of a game that harked back to Covid times, there was a penalty shout when Gilmour went to ground inside the Belarus box under a challenge from Kiryl Pechenin but Montenegrin referee Nikola Dabanovic was not interested.

At the other end, a header from Pechenin required a save from Scotland keeper Angus Gunn.

The match was warming up and Gilmour, defender John Souttar and midfielder Scott McTominay all had various efforts on the Belarusians’ goal – and the Napoli midfielder claimed unconvincingly for a penalty when he clashed with Yegor Parkhomenko inside the Belarus box – but the opener would not come.

In the 39th minute Belarus skipper Maks Ebong raced away from Johnston down the left but took a touch too many and his angled drive was blocked by Gunn.

Three minutes later Gannon Doak set up Gilmour and his powerful drive from 20 yards was tipped on to the post and away by Fyodor Lapoukhov.

The Belarus keeper was eventually beaten when John McGinn’s searching delivery to the back post was headed back by McTominay with Adams bundling the ball in from a yard out, his first goal since scoring a hat-trick against Liechtenstein in the June friendly.

McTominay had a header saved by Lapoukhov soon after the restart and then fired a drive high over the bar.

A second goal was needed to ease the nerves which surfaced with sporadic Belarus attacks and it came when the luckless Volkov redirected a header from Gilmour’s cross into his own net.

If not resigning themselves to defeat, Belarus did little to suggest there would be a comeback.

In the 80th minute Lapoukhov made a brave save from McGinn after the Scots had sliced through the Belarus defence and then Adams had a shot from a tight angle cleared off the line by Pavel Zabelin but there will no doubt be tougher tests to come before Scotland are able to book their place in the World Cup finals for the first time since 1998.