Tears to cheers as Scots stun Greeks

Gakpo boosts Dutch, Danes bite Belarus

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Scotland's Ryan Christie celebrates scoring first goal against Greece in Glasgow.

(REUTERS)

Scotland roared back to beat Greece 3-1 on Thursday to boost their hopes of direct qualification for the 2026 World Cup, while Cody Gakpo inspired the Netherlands to a 4-0 win in Malta.

The Greeks took the lead in Glasgow early in the second period through Kostas Tsimikas, before Scotland hit back through Ryan Christie, Lewis Ferguson and Lyndon Dykes to secure a second win from three Group C qualifying matches for Steve Clarke's side.

Scotland are looking to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1998.

“Massive win. We're not naive enough to know we weren tat our best tonight. The reaction to going 1-0 down was brilliant,” said Christie.

“Two massive games — that’s one ticked off and now onto Sunday [when Scotland take on Belarus].”

Tsimikas, on loan at Roma from Premier League champions Liverpool, gave Greece a deserved lead on 62 minutes as he stroked home a breaking ball from the edge of the six-yard box.