Key events
61 min: Some medical attention for the poor referee, who has run slap-bang into Hanley and taken a whack upside the head. An ice cube is pressed on his temple. Heâs fine to continue.
60 min: ⦠so having said that, McGinn shows in attack on the left and is brought down by Nélson Semedo. Gilmour floats the free kick into the Portugal box, and though the ball pinballs around, it doesnât drop to Scottish feet.
59 min: âNice to see Scotland giving the grass a chance to recover at the other end of the pitch,â notes a tinder-dry Jake Robertson. Scotland had some sort of threat on the counter during the first half. Now theyâre offering nothing. Time for Ben Doak, perhaps?
57 min: Ronaldo sashays in from the right and aims for the top left. He finds the top left of the stand behind the goal. âI reckon your empty half-time postbag is a timing-of-the-game thing,â begins Scott Blair. âI want to stress unreservedly, and without fear of let or hindrance, that I am not a stereotypical Scottish person. However, when this game kicked off I had just about dealt with my hangover from Saturday, and Iâm working on Monday. Itâs simply not natural.â
56 min: To be fair, Fernandes did give that a good whack, but youâd still expect your keeper to parry or turn the ball around the post. A shame for Gunn, who made a couple of fine stops in the first half.
GOAL! Portugal 1-1 Scotland (Fernandes 54)
This had been coming. A cutback from the left by Leão. From the edge of the D, Fernandes hits a first-time shot towards the bottom right. Gunn should save but his hand isnât strong this time, and the shot squeaks into the corner.
53 min: Ronaldo claims a tug on the jersey by McKenna, but the refereeâs not interested. Portugal come again, and Fernandes crosses dangerously from the right. Gunn punches clear confidently, but the hosts have started the second half as they finished the first: pinning Scotland back.
52 min: Ronaldo makes a run down the right. Danger here, but he flashes his shot into the side netting.
51 min: Robertson goes in late on Rúben Neves, half tackle, half slip. It didnât look deliberate, but it was clumsy. A yellow card, and thereâs no argument from Scotlandâs captain, who apologises.
49 min: Scotland continue to sit deep. The away supporters entertain themselves with a loud version of Flower of Scotland. They give it laldie. Always enjoy yourself when the going is good.
47 min: Portugal are immediately on the front foot. Nélson Semedo and Jota combine down the right but canât get the better of McGinn and Gilmour. António Silva then dribbles dangerously down the inside-left channel, but runs out of space in the Scottish box.
Portgual get the second half underway, having made two changes. Cristiano Ronaldo and Rúben Neves come on for João Palhinha and Pedro Neto.
Our half-time postbag isnât exactly bulging at the seams, but here it is anyway. âGood to have the jaws of victory stretched open and wide for inspection by Scotspeople everywhere, before the inevitable snatching arrives. McTominayâs fine goal has made those teeth shine brighter, while it lastsâ â Justin Kavanagh
Half-time statistical breakdown.
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Portugal shots at goal: 16
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Portugal shots on target: 3
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Scotland shots at goal: 1
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Scotland shots on target: 1
HALF TIME: Portugal 0-1 Scotland
Of all footballing nations on earth, Scotland know not to count their chickens. And yet it should still be acceptable to say the following: well, well, well.
45 min: There will be one additional first-half minute.
44 min: Leao has the chance to tee up Neto, but opts to drag a shot wide left. Neto is not happy.
43 min: Bernardo Silva jinks and spins elegantly down the left and chips a cross into the middle. Scotland half clear, but the ball drops to Fernandes on the edge of the D. He absolutely blooters a volley goalwards, but McKenna takes it flush in the chest to stop what would have been almost certainly a spectacular goal. What bravery!
41 min: Leão has been torturing Ralston, so Christie comes across to help this time. The plan works, too, with Leão clumsily running the ball out of play after finding thereâs no opportunity to cross.
39 min: Christie is booked for upending an in-flight Nuno Mendes. As tackles from behind go, you canât get much more agricultural, and there are no arguments. âThis is just the same hope/disappointment cycle stretched out longer,â suggests James Humphries. âThough to be fair, losing at home to Poland then somehow mugging Portugal away (to, inevitably, miss out by one or two points in the end) would be Peak Scotland.â
37 min: From 25 yards, Nuno Mendes sends a dipping, bouncing, skimming shot inches wide of the right-hand post. Gunn had it covered, just, but Portugal have come close on a few occasions now. Scotland holding onto their lead with grim determination.
36 min: Robertson swings it in. McLean competes too hard and the whistle goes for a free kick.
35 min: Scotland enjoy a couple of minutes of possession. Enough to frustrate Portugal into skittling Dykes out on the right touchline. A free kick and a chance to load the box.
33 min: Nélson Semedo crosses from the right, forcing McKenna to head out for another corner. The set piece is sent backwards for Mendes, who hoicks a dreadful shot a long way wide left.
31 min: Fernandes, quarterbacking from deep on the right, wedges a diagonal defence-splitting pass towards Jota, who stoops and steers a powerful header towards the bottom right. Gunn with another strong hand, another fine save.
29 min: To be fair, a composite player made up with bits of Lilian Thuram, Carlos Alberto and Cafu would struggle to cope with Rafael Leão in this mood. Poor Ralston has a job on tonight.
27 min: Leao dinks infield for António Silva, who should work Gunn at the very least, but eyebrows over the bar from ten yards.
26 min: In fact, Leao is less giving Ralston the runaround than simply ignoring his existence. Heâs been excellent so far.
24 min: Steve Clarke is told to pipe down by the referee, the result of a long tactical exposition directed at Ralston, who is being given the runaround by Leao.
22 min: Robertsonâs delivers the free kick towards a non-existent player to the right of the Portuguese goal. The hosts counter, the ever-dangerous Leao zipping down the left and cutting back for Jota, who scoops a shot over the bar from 12 yards. Portugal repeatedly knocking on the door.
21 min: Nothing comes of the resulting corner. Scotland go up the other end through the big-leggy McTominay, who is eventually upended 25 yards from goal, just to the left of centre.
20 min: Leao drives in from the left and whistles a low drive towards the bottom-left corner. Itâs flying in, but Gunn gets down to tip around the post with a strong hand. The keeperâs had his critics, sometimes deservedly so, but thatâs a world-class stop. Leaoâs shot looked in all the way.
18 min: McKenna goes long in the hope of releasing Dykes down the left. Costa comes to the edge of his box to collect.
17 min: Neto crosses from the left. Antonio Silva heads over. Scotland take a while over the resulting goal kick, which generates much irate whistling from the home crowd. Scotland will be delighted at the way things have gone so far.
15 min: Robertson steals the ball in Scotland territory and McTominay romps forward on the counter. The ballâs shifted to Ralston, overlapping on the right, but the pass isnât a good one. He crosses but the ball clanks back off him and out for a goal kick. That attack, with Portugal light at the back, promised more. Not Ralstonâs fault. Heâs much better in attack than defence.
13 min: Fernandes is fouled by Ralston in midfield. While the pair jabber at each other, Leao is sent scampering down the left, chasing a quick free kick. His shot-cum-cross is deflected out for a corner, from which nothing comes. Portugal have responded to conceding by coming back at Scotland hard.
11 min: Leao certainly has the beating of Ralston down the left. He reaches the byline and tugs back for Jota, who canât force a shot goalwards. Scotland clear. Portugal are going to cause a lot of bother along this flank.
9 min: Thatâs McTominayâs 11th goal for Scotland. Itâs nearly immediately cancelled out by Leao, who burns past Ralston, Gilmour and Hanley down the left and flashes a shot into the side netting. Gunn had it covered, but what a run.
GOAL! Portugal 0-1 Scotland (McTominay 7)
A shock! Scotland score! Not so much a shock: itâs McTominay who scores it. Portugal only half-clear a free kick. The ballâs picked up by McLean on the left. He curls a majestic cross into the box. McTominay, timing his run perfectly from behind a static back line, arrives on the edge of the six-yard box from the right and powers a header across Diogo Costa and into the top left! What a fine goal!
6 min: Fernandes dinks a clever pass infield from the left. Silva shuttles it further towards the centre for Jota, who canât quite sort his feet out on the edge of the box and hooks a shot wide right.
5 min: ⦠nothing much. But thatâs a decent couple of minutes for Scotland, who hadnât had much of a sniff beforehand. Hopefully itâll settle them.
4 min: McTominay takes a quick free kick in the middle of the park and sends McGinn skittering off down the left. The referee considers pulling play back â the ball was probably rolling when McTominay took the free kick â but decides against it, and McGinn wins a corner. That corner leads to another, which leads to â¦
2 min: Portgual stroke it around like they own the gaff. Which they sort of do. Bernardo Silva drops deep on the right and tries to find Pedro Neto with a cute pass down the channel but thereâs too much on it and it flies through to Gunn. A big gap in the Scotland defence there.
Scotland get the ball rolling. The Estádio da Luz making a rare old racket.
The teams are out! Portugal wear red and green, while Scotland are in second-choice âlight mint blue with purpleâ which is said to represent [adjusts pince-nez, squints] âa new twist on tartan with fresh colours and a disruptive design randomly placed across the sides and back.â Lord Rosebery will be spinning in his grave. Anyway, once the patriotic folk ditties are warbled, weâll be up and away.
Hereâs how A1 stands after the first round of matches. Scotland will visit Croatia and host Portugal during the October break; in November theyâll welcome Croatia to Hampden before travelling to Poland.
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Poland P1 W1 D0 L0 F3 A2 Pts 3
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Portugal P1 W1 D0 L0 F2 A1 Pts 3
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Scotland P1 W0 D0 L1 F2 A3 Pts 0
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Croatia P1 W0 D0 L1 F1 A2 Pts 0
Scotland have lost four of their last five games against Portugal to the aggregate tune of 12-2. The other meeting ended goalless. Their last victory over the Portuguese came in March 1980, Andy Gray, Kenny Dalglish, Steve Archibald and Archie Gemmill scoring the goals in a 4-1 Hampden rout. Hereâs what happened the last time everyone met â¦
Team news: Scots unchanged, Ronaldo benched
Scotland pick the same XI that started the Poland game. The public cry out for more Ben Doak and Ryan Gauld but Steve Clarke, ever the showman, keeps âem wanting more.
Portugal meanwhile make four changes to their team in the wake of their 2-1 victory over Croatia. Cristiano Ronaldo and Diogo Dalot get some rest on the bench, while Vitinha and Gonçalo Bernardo Inácio miss out altogether; Nélson Semedo, António Silva, João Palhinha and Diogo Jota step up.
The teams
Portugal: Costa, Semedo, Dias, Silva, Palhinha, Fernandes, Silva, Leão, Mendes, Neto, Jota.
Scotland: Gunn, Ralston, Hanley, McKenna, Robertson, Gilmour, McLean, Christie, McTominay, McGinn, Dykes.
Referee: Maurizio Mariani (Italy).
Preamble
Well, Thursday night didnât pan out in the ideal manner ⦠though if nothing else events faithfully adhered to traditional character-driven narrative structure: a brave performance, flashes of hope, a twist of the knife at the very end. And so now, having lost what was on paper their easiest fixture in League A1, Scotland are pretty much behind the eight-ball from the get-go. Tonight the task level shifts from easiest to hardest: away to Portugal, the eighth-best side in the world, and one whose line is led by a man who has scored 131 international goals. God speed, Steve. Good luck, gentlemen. Kick-off is at 7.45pm BST. Itâs on!