Naismith Backs Scotland Changes in Morocco Preview — Matches Today
Steven Naismith said matches today carry Scotland into their World Cup build-up with confidence high and no drastic changes expected for the Morocco game. The assistant boss gave that update at Scotland's news conference as the tournament moved into day five.
Naismith and Scotland
Naismith’s line was direct: confidence is high. He also expects no drastic changes for Morocco, which leaves Scotland heading into the match without a major reset to the way they are being set up.
That matters because it narrows the focus to fine-tuning rather than overhaul. For a team moving through a World Cup build-up, the message points to continuity at a stage when every selection and shape call gets measured against the next result.
Deschamps at MetLife Stadium
Elsewhere in the same tournament build-up, Didier Deschamps was due to hold a news conference at the MetLife Stadium, which has been rebranded the New Jersey New York Stadium for the tournament. France were due to launch their World Cup campaign on Tuesday against Senegal.
Deschamps has held the France role since 2012, and he has already taken them through major peaks and near misses: runners-up at Euro 2016, World Cup winners in 2018, and World Cup runners-up again in 2022. He has said he will step down after the tournament.
Morocco after Brazil opener
Morocco arrive into that frame with a strong early reference point of their own. After 30 minutes of their World Cup opener against Brazil, they looked a class apart, a sign that Scotland will not be walking into a soft checkpoint.
Day five of the tournament also opened with Spain against Cape Verde at 17:00 BST, while other results across the build-up included Germany’s 7-1 win over Curacao, the Netherlands’ 2-2 draw with Japan, Ivory Coast’s 1-0 victory over Ecuador and Sweden’s 5-1 win over Tunisia. For Scotland, though, the main takeaway is still the same: Naismith expects the plan to stay largely intact against Morocco.
