Do excuse me for beginning by highlighting a special and unique moment in World Cup qualifying history. A moment where two countries of very different sizes had reasons to celebrate.
For if I told you that Celtic full-back Kieran Tierney was born a stone’s throw from where I live and has just sparked elation for the nation he represents, as well as great pride in the country in which he was born, you could be forgiven for being puzzled.
Yet some 10,011 days after defeat in a group stage match against Morocco at the 1998 World Cup, a game I watched in a local pizzeria in the Isle of Man, Scotland have once more reached the biggest international stage of all.
They will be going to the World Cup in the United States next summer, and few can begrudge them their place.
It was Tierney, born in Douglas (the Island’s capital) before moving north of the border, who scored the crucial goal to seal their spot and end 27 years of hurt.
And yes, while he is a Scotland player, moving to the country in his early years and initially joining Motherwell before progressing up through the youth ranks at Celtic, the left-back is, at the very least, an honorary “Manxie” and has become the first Manxman to send a nation to the World Cup Finals.
My SBOTOP colleague had begged the question pre-match whether Scotland could stun the Danes and, ultimately, they did, but few expected it to be quite like this.
Until the third minute of stoppage time at Hampden Park, Denmark were top of Group C and it was Scotland, not them, who were facing play-offs next spring.
Yet Tierney and co had other ideas against the 10 men of the Scandinavians.
If you’ve not seen the third-minute opener from Scott McTominay, may I suggest you watch it again because that was a goal fit to win any tie, an outrageous overhead kick which even a goalkeeper as superb as Kasper Schmeichel could only acknowledge.
His former Man United teammate Rasmus Hojlund netted from the spot 12 minutes after the restart to bring the Danes level and, even after Rasmus Kristensen was sent off for a second yellow card, the Scots struggled to take advantage.
Substitute Lawrence Shankland stabbed home his fourth international goal with just over 10 minutes remaining but within minutes full-back Patrick Dorgu swept home a second equaliser.
So into stoppage time where a spectacular long-range effort from Tierney brought elation to a nation.
Their World Cup dream was officially a reality when, with every single Dane pushing for a third leveller in the dying seconds, Norwich City midfielder Kenny McLean found the net from his own half.
An incredible ending to a contest and a nation will awake with sore heads tomorrow morning, while many in the Isle of Man will raise a proud smile and glass in Tierney’s honour.
The events at Hampden Park were always likely to provide the majority of World Cup 2026 highlights on the final night of European action (although not quite like this), but there were still two other encounters with the capacity for decisive action.
One was in Cardiff where Wales needed to see off North Macedonia to secure their own play-off place, and home advantage to boot, in Group J.
On the night he captained his country for the first time, Harry Wilson scored a hat-trick as Wales hit seven for the first time since thrashing Malta in 1978.
They will now face a home semi-final next spring against either Kosovo, Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina or the Republic of Ireland.
The other key game of the night was in Group H in Vienna where Bosnia chased a win that would ensure they leapfrogged leaders Austria and seal automatic qualification at their expense.
They were only 13 minutes away from doing so after Haris Tabakovic gave them an early lead. Yet Michael Gregoritsch earned the hosts a deserved point to send Ralf Rangnick’s side to the tournament for the first time since 1998, just like Scotland.
With the likes of David Alaba, Marko Arnautovic and Marcel Sabitzer amongst their ranks, it will be interesting to see where they fare in the eventual World Cup 2026 betting odds.
Elsewhere, the most notable story of the night was European champions Spain confirming their place with a 2-2 draw at home to Turkey, who are in the play-offs.
It was the first goals La Roja had conceded in qualifying, but it did ensure they equalled Italy’s all-time record of staying unbeaten in 31 consecutive World Cup and European Championship matches (both qualifying and tournament).
So there we have it. World Cup qualifying is as dramatic as it gets, and before we know it, we will know the path laid out for the nations as they try and emulate what Argentina and France achieved four years ago.
December 5 is the day of the draw – remember to put the date in your diary.
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