Scotland’s UEFA Nations League campaign suffered a major setback as they were beaten 3-0 by Switzerland at Hampden Park, with Jack Hendry’s early red card leaving Sébastien Pocognoli’s side with 10 men for most of the contest.
After opening their Group B1 campaign with a goalless draw against Slovenia, Scotland had been hoping for a positive result in Pocognoli’s first home match in charge. However, their plans were disrupted inside the opening 11 minutes when Hendry was sent off after bringing down Dan Ndoye as the Switzerland forward moved towards goal.
The referee initially awarded a penalty and showed Hendry a yellow card, but a VAR review established that the foul had taken place outside the box. The penalty was overturned, while Hendry’s yellow card was upgraded to a red, leaving Scotland with a difficult task for the remainder of the match.
Switzerland took advantage almost immediately. Ricardo Rodríguez curled the resulting free-kick into the corner in the 12th minute, putting the visitors ahead and making the numerical advantage count within seconds of the dismissal.
Despite being reduced to 10 men, Scotland did not completely lose their attacking intent and created some promising moments before half-time. Andy Robertson was involved in one of their better openings, while the hosts also forced a succession of corners as they tried to stay in the contest.
That resistance, however, became increasingly difficult to maintain after the break as Switzerland began to make their extra man tell. Nico Elvedi doubled the visitors’ advantage in the 55th minute, sliding the ball home after Ndoye delivered a cross from the right.
With Switzerland now firmly in control, Scotland were forced to spend long periods defending their own penalty area. Angus Gunn kept the score down with important saves in the second half, but there was little the hosts could do to prevent the Swiss from adding a third.
Zeki Amdouni completed the scoring in the 82nd minute with a powerful finish, giving Switzerland their second consecutive 3-0 victory in the group. Ndoye played a decisive role again, providing the assist after also setting up Elvedi’s goal.
The scale of Switzerland’s control was reflected in the match statistics. The visitors had 75.7 per cent possession compared with Scotland’s 24.3 per cent, while they registered 15 shots to the hosts’ two. Scotland failed to record a single shot on target, whereas Switzerland managed six, while the visitors also completed 558 passes compared with Scotland’s 177.
The result leaves Scotland with one point from their opening two Group B1 matches, while Switzerland move to the top of the group with six points and a 6-0 goal difference. Scotland are now third, with Slovenia on four points and North Macedonia yet to register a point.
The defeat also extended Scotland’s recent difficulties in front of goal and at Hampden. They have now failed to score in six of their nine matches in 2026, while they have gone eight home games without keeping a clean sheet.
For Pocognoli, the early dismissal made it difficult to properly judge his side’s performance, but the Scotland head coach focused on how his players responded to the setback.
“It’s not easy against a good team to be with 10 men,” said Pocognoli. “It will be more about the reaction. We had an unlucky red card, punished with the free-kick, that’s the worst scenario. The guys did the best they could and hopefully we will remember this night differently later on.”
Rather than dwelling on the result, Pocognoli is already looking towards Scotland’s next opportunity to respond. The Scots travel to North Macedonia on Saturday before returning to Hampden to face Slovenia next Tuesday.
“We have to move on and get a good result in North Macedonia,” he added.
Switzerland, meanwhile, will take maximum confidence from a second successive convincing victory under Murat Yakin. Having opened the campaign with a 3-0 win over North Macedonia, the Swiss have now scored six times without conceding in their first two matches and sit at the top of Group B1.
For Scotland, attention now turns quickly to North Macedonia, with Pocognoli’s side looking to produce a response after a difficult night at Hampden.
