John McGinn scored twice as Scotland beat North Macedonia 2-1 at Hampden Park on Friday, and the winner only arrived because VAR saw what the stadium had missed. The penalty gave Sebastien Pocognoli his first home win as Scotland head coach, but it did not hand Scotland control of their Nations League group.

The penalty nobody appealed for at first

Scotland were booed off at halftime with the game goalless, after North Macedonia goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski made three first-half saves. Billy Gilmour then fired over an open goal from eight yards in the opening seconds after the break.

McGinn broke through in the 54th minute, running onto a loose ball after Che Adams outmuscled a defender. Three minutes later Enis Bardhi whipped in a near-post corner and Elmin Rastoder glanced a header past Scotland to make it 1-1.

The decisive moment looked like a waste at first. Substitute Oli McBurnie sent Ben Gannon-Doak through, and the winger's heavy touch took him too close to the keeper. The video review showed Dimitrievski had taken him out as he went down at his feet, and McGinn converted the penalty in the 74th minute.

Robertson level with Dalglish

The night was also a milestone for Andy Robertson, whose 102nd cap matched Kenny Dalglish's Scotland record. He will break it on Monday in Switzerland if he plays. On the same occassion, McGinn's double took the Aston Villa captain to 24 international goals, level with Hughie Gallacher on Scotland's all-time list, per PA.

The crowd of 41,585 left more relieved than happy. Pocognoli has talked about moving Scotland away from relying on McGinn and Scott McTominay to rescue games, and Friday was exactly that kind of night.

Why winning in St. Gallen may not be enough

Switzerland have already won Group B1, and their 0-0 draw in Slovenia kept Slovenia on eight points. Scotland have seven from five games, one behind them in the race for second place, which brings a promotion playoff and better seeding for the Euro 2028 qualifiers.

That means Scotland must win in St. Gallen on Monday and also need North Macedonia to take something off Slovenia in the final round. A draw against a Swiss side missing Granit Xhaka and Johan Manzambi would not be enough.

A year ago at Hampden, McTominay's overhead kick against Denmark sent Scotland to their first World Cup in almost three decades. This November, the win came from a midfielder who keeps scoring and a VAR check, and that leaves Scotland needing results elsewhere on Monday.