Andy Robertson was set to join Kenny Dalglish at the top of Scotland’s appearance list when Scotland faced North Macedonia at Hampden on Thursday night, with the captain starting in a Nations League match that kicked off at 7.45pm GMT. Robertson went into the game on 101 caps, one short of the record, and Scott McTominay was back in the squad after his heart procedure.
That made the search for Scotland Vs North Macedonia about more than a routine group fixture. Scotland were third in Group B1 on four points from four matches, with Switzerland on 12 and Slovenia on seven, while North Macedonia arrived fourth on zero points from four and still without a goal. For Scotland, the immediate task was to build on the 2-0 away win over North Macedonia last month and keep their place in the section secure.
The milestone mattered because Dalglish’s 102-cap mark had stood as the standard for Scotland appearances, and Robertson was about to match it in a side that has leaned on him for years. The numbers behind him underline that point: John McGinn was on 93 caps, Jim Leighton on 91, Craig Gordon on 84, Darren Fletcher on 80, Alex McLeish on 77, Paul McStay on 76, Ryan Christie on 74 and McTominay on 73. This was not just a cap count ticking over; it was a familiar face stepping into the top line of Scotland history.
There was still friction in the match-up. Scotland had the safety of a strong position in League B, but North Macedonia had nothing to show from four games and no goal to their name, which gave the fixture a lopsided feel even before kick-off. Yet the earlier meetings between the sides had not always followed a simple script: Scotland first met North Macedonia in 2010 World Cup qualifiers, won the return at Hampden 2-1, and later got through a difficult home match in the qualification cycle for the 2014 edition before taking last month’s away game 2-0.
What happens next is now tied to two questions at once: whether Scotland can turn the night into the result that settles their League B place, and whether Robertson leaves Hampden having matched Dalglish on 102 caps. Either way, the captain walked out already part of the record book.
