Football betting tips: World Cup qualifiers
1pt Scotland to win at 13/5 (General)
1pt Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg to be shown a card at 11/4 (Paddy Power, Sky Bet)
1pt Ryan Christie to be shown a card at 7/2 (William Hill)
0.5pt Hojbjerg and Christie card double at 13.5/1 (William Hill)
It defies all logic that Scotland are one home win from reaching a first World Cup since 1998.
Steve Clarke's side produced yet another listless display on Saturday, this time to fall 3-0 down away to a Greece team with nothing to play for. They did, to their credit, fight back to lose 3-2 and come mightily close to claiming a point.
That defeat should have been terminal, with the Tartan Army left to focus on March's play-offs in a bid to book a place in North America. Step forward Belarus.
The pariah state, beaten 6-0 at home by Denmark just last month, somehow escaped Copenhagen with a 2-2 draw and in turn gave Scotland's players the opportunity to play in the biggest match of their lives at Hampden on Tuesday night.
"Everyone would have bit their hand off in September for a play-off"
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) November 17, 2025
"90 minutes from the World Cup is exciting and something to relish"
Andy Robertson is hoping for a loud atmosphere at Hampden Park on Tuesday evening to help Scotland qualify for the World Cup 🏴 pic.twitter.com/DJN5VynT33
Denmark need only avoid defeat to progress to next summer's finals. For SCOTLAND, it is must WIN.
And with them 13/5 for victory I'm prepared to back them to do so.
Arguably their best performance of qualifying came in the reverse fixture, Group C's opener, with Clarke's side giving as good as they got in a hard fought contest that saw only three shots on target but seven yellow cards.
The nations were in the same qualification group for the 2022 World Cup too, and having lost 2-0 away from home, Scotland avenged that defeat by dominating Denmark to win by the same scoreline at Hampden.
Ultimately, the visitors look too short for victory, so we should back Scotland to end their 28-year wait and send the country into pandemonium.
Given what's at stake it feels incredibly unlikely there won't be a raft of cards dished out.
Former Tottenham midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has been booked twice in five qualifiers already and at 11/4 TO BE SHOWN A CARD he is worth backing.
At a slightly bigger 7/2 I'll also take RYAN CHRISTIE.
He has been quiet by his own standards for Bournemouth this season, picking up only one booking having been carded 12 times for club and country last term.
But for Scotland he remains a consistent culprit, with four yellow cards in his last 10 appearances, and two in four qualifiers during this campaign.
The CARD DOUBLE pays at 13.5/1 and we'll also be having a small bet on that.
Odds correct at 1700 GMT (17/11/25)
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