Scotland's hopes of reaching the World Cup's round of 32 are in tatters after a 3-0 defeat by Brazil left them staring at a group-stage exit.
Steve Clarke's men were generally 4/11 to make the knockout stage on Tuesday evening, before Ghana's surprise goalless draw with England made their challenge of finishing as one of the best eight third-placed teams even more difficult.
They are now 1/4 to go home early, with their three points and -3 goal difference highly unlikely to be enough.
Scotland never looked like making a fist of things in Miami, gifting Brazil a seventh-minute opener when centre-back Scott McKenna was caught on the ball in his own area by Bournemouth teenager Rayan, handing Vinicius Junior the simplest of finishes.
They didn't learn their lesson, with a dawdling Jack Hendry tackled by Vinicius shortly after, only this time the Real Madrid forward's goal was questionably disallowed by the VAR.
Scotland weren't able to capitalise on that slice of fortune, with more poor defending punished by Vini Jr in first-half stoppage time, before Matheus Cunha made sure of the result on the hour.
Scott McTominay looked most likely to reduce the arrears in the closing stages, with a couple of decent headed efforts, but in truth the scoreline was more than a fair reflection of the chasm between the two sides.
In all likelihood it means Scotland's wait to reach the knockout stage of a major tournament for the first time in their history goes on, with this World Cup ultimately just as underwhelming in terms of performances as their previous two European Championship campaigns.
More World Cup content from Sporting Life
Group previews
- Group A: Mexico; South Africa; South Korea; Czechia
- Group B: Canada; Bosnia; Qatar; Switzerland
- Group C: Brazil; Morocco; Haiti; Scotland
- Group D: USA; Paraguay; Australia; Turkiye
- Group E: Germany; Curacao; Ivory Coast; Ecuador
- Group F: Netherlands; Japan; Sweden; Tunisia
- Group G: Belgium; Egypt; Iran; New Zealand
- Group H: Spain; Cape Verde; Saudi Arabia; Uruguay
- Group I: France; Senegal; Iraq; Norway
- Group J: Argentina; Algeria; Austria; Jordan
- Group K: Portugal; DR Congo; Uzbekistan; Colombia
- Group L: England; Croatia; Ghana; Panama
Outright previews
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