Jonathan Geddes

Image source, Reuters

Anyone in Glasgow seeking positive vibes need only look a few yards from the national stadium, where adults cried last November as the final whistle went.

A mural of Scott McTominay's spectacular overhead kick which opened the scoring against Denmark is painted on a nearby wall.

Lindsay Hamilton has run walking tours around the area for several years, taking in the three different places where Hampden Park has been located.

For Lindsay, the mural brings back emotions - and like the rest of the country, she is hoping for more to be made this summer.

"It brings a smile every time you see it."

Amy Canavan
BBC Sport Scotland in Boston

Big day, Boston.

Ye ready?

Image source, Boston Globe

The Boston Globe reports that "thousands of soccer faithful poured into City Hall Plaza on Friday" to begin a 16-day free World Cup fan festival at the site.

Nearly 150,000 peple have registered for tickets to Boston's dedicated fan zone, which has a capacity of 5,000.

The Globe reported that "scores of Scots in tartan kilts" were among those gathered at the Plaza yesterday.

Chris MacLean, 47, of Edinburgh, was one of those who attended with his eight-year-old son, Lewis. They both have tickets for Scotland's opener, which kicks off at 02:00 BST on Sunday, 14 June.

Chris told the Globe that his son was shocked to hear Scotland had not been at a World Cup for 28 years and pleaded with his dad to take him to this tournament.

"My son dropped quite the emotional baggage on us that day," he said. "Now we couldn't be happier. I could be pushin' up daisies, you know, waiting another 28 years."

James McFadden
Former Scotland forward speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live from Boston

Image source, Getty Images

Steve Clarke is cracking jokes in news conferences. It's not an awkward jokes he's cracking - he looks like he's having fun.

He's not guarded when he's speaking to the press - obviously he's not going to give all his secrets away - but it looks like he's really enjoying the tournament. And quite rightly so.

There's a confidence and an urgency to get this game started and try to get over the disappointment of the last two Euros.

I've enjoyed listening to Steve Clarke. He looks calm, like he's ready to go and enjoy the experience. That should be good for Scotland.

So, according to Opta Scotland have a pretty decent chance of getting out of the group.

But how far can they go?

Scotland have never made it out of the group stage at a World Cup in eight previous attempts - winning just four of their 23 matches.

But there is understandable hope that they make history by reaching the knockout phase this year. That's thanks largely to Fifa's expanding tournament and the decision to grant passage to eight of the best third-placed teams.

Opta have crunched the numbers and here's how they rate the chances of Scotland, Brazil, Morocco and Haiti to get out of Group C:

Brazil ➡️ 97.23%

Morocco ➡️ 87.40%

Scotland ➡️65.65%

Haiti ➡️ 17.81%

Scott Mullen
BBC Sport Scotland in Boston

While called the Boston Stadium, it's a bit of a stretch to consider it actually a part of the city.

It's situated around an hour outside of the place, but what an impressive sight it is.

Home of the New England Patriots, a wee wander around the place gave a real sense of the jaw-dropping atmosphere which could be delivered in this place. How full it is remains to be seen.

What I can tell you, is that it's lucky it's due to be scorching sunshine given the lack of a roof. I also spotted fans can enjoy the game with a Margarita.

No Bovril, then?

Image source, Scott Mullen

James McFadden
Former Scotland forward on BBC Radio 5 Live from Boston

There was probably an overconfidence until people started to realise that Haiti are a good side. They're going to be a problem.

There's a confidence in the group that they can go and give their best performance so far under Steve Clarke at a major tournament.

There's always a good feeling, especially when you're travelling away. There's loads of Scotland fans here - you can't move for Scotland fans. We expected no less.

They're confident they'll get the job done. I think the performances leading into the World Cup this time have been better, the results have been better.

There's a real good feeling among the Tartan Army. They've paid an absolute fortune to be here so they'll be letting the players know how much is at stake for them.

Image source, SECC

We've brought you plenty of updates from the travelling Scotland contingent in Boston, but what's happening back on home soil?

Many fans will be heading to Glasgow’s Hydro for one of the biggest viewing events in the country, with the match set to be shown on a 20-metre screen.

Ahead of kick-off, Dougie MacLean will perform Caledonia, while Runrig’s Donnie Munro will lead a rendition of Loch Lomond.

The Scottish Events Campus's chief executive Dominic McKay tells Radio Scotland the atmosphere will be created by 5,000 fans:

He says: "The artists talk about this venue having the best acoustics, the best sound, that's as a consequence of the wonderful fans who come through here."

BBC Sport Scotland will be there and you'll be able to watch a vlog on the BBC Scottish Football YouTube channel tomorrow.

Scott Mullen
BBC Sport Scotland in Boston

Anyone else in Boston been up since 05:30?

Image source, Getty Images

In the latest world rankings published by Fifa this week, Scotland climbed two places to 40th, between Hungary and Serbia.

Since Scott McTominay's epic bicycle kick helped Scotland beat Denmark and qualify for the finals, Steve Clarke's side lost both friendlies in March against Japan and Ivory Coast, then beat both Bolivia and Curacao earlier this month.

Their first opponents, Haiti, are the third-worst ranked team at the tournament at 83rd.

Morocco, who reached the semi-finals at Qatar 2022, are ranked seventh - while Fifa deem five-time champions Brazil to be the sixth-best team in the world right now.

Scott Mullen
BBC Sport Scotland in Boston

It was all fun and banter yesterday with Steve Clarke. We're seeing a new side of him this World Cup.

Normally a stoic and dead pan character, the Scotland head coach lit up his press conference at the impressive Boston Stadium by bantering with a journalist over his football injury, talking about the team avoiding getting humped and doing it all with a smile on his face.

Will the smile still be there in 24 hours?

Image source, Getty Images

Steven Godden
BBC Scotland in Boston

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

The Governor of Massachusetts has clearly done her World Cup homework.

Maura Healey received a cheer at a reception with First Minister John Swinney in Downtown Boston as she began her opening remarks with the phrase “No Scotland, No Party.”

Governor Healey said that during the day on Friday local judges had told her they couldn’t hear anything in the Boston Courthouse because of the noise from the Tartan Army gathered on the streets outside.

Presumably tongue in cheek she also told assembled guests that such was the thirst of visiting Scotland fans she was going to have to send out an SOS for more alcohol to fellow governors in New England and even Canada.

Right, we've spent the best part of this morning looking back at last night's action, so let's alter our route and begin looking forward.

The Scotland takeover of Boston has been in full swing for a few days now - you may have seen some of the videos on social media.

Let's bring you a bit closer to the action!

Image source, Getty Images

Mauricio Pochettino was appointed USA coach 20 months ago, tasked with transforming a team that was often capable of getting out of the group stage but almost never any further than that.

USA's tactical transformation under the Argentine was clear against Paraguay as they played a high-pressing, attacking style of football that their opponents could not live with.

In addition, Pochettino has been able to call upon a squad that is packed with talent - 17 of the 26 in his camp play in Europe's top five leagues with seven of those playing in the Premier League.

He has also changed the players' mentality, encouraging them to shed the idea that they are underdogs and instead believe in themselves as being able to be among the elite, capable of not just going far but actually winning the World Cup.

"Why not us?" he said earlier this year. "We need to really believe that we can be there. We need to dream."

The USA will, of course, have to beat stronger teams than Paraguay to win the World Cup, but this performance will certainly help their fans to believe they can - at the very least - match their run to the quarter-finals in 2002.

"The United States brought in Pochettino with this tournament in mind after failing to deliver in past World Cups," ex-Wales defender Ashley Williams said on Match of the Day.

"They have also got a set of players you expect to go far in this tournament, so the expectation will be massive.

"If things click with Pochettino and with a strong starting 11, I think United States can go far in this tournament on home soil. They will be looking at this group and thinking they should top it."

Image source, Getty Images

If there is one area of concern for Mauricio Pochettino and USA fans it is perhaps how this game highlighted how crucial Christian Pulisic and Folarin Balogun are to their hopes.

They were both instrumental in a first half where USA looked capable of scoring with every attack, with Balogun producing two goals and Pulisic providing an assist.

But Pulisic was withdrawn at half-time while Balogun went off with 18 minutes remaining and, while the USA still dominated, they were not the attacking threat they were in the first 45 minutes.

After the game, Pochettino confirmed that Pulisic's withdrawal was precautionary after feeling something in his calf, where he had been kicked in an earlier training session.

"I hope it is not a big issue but when we finished the first half he could not work," Pochettino said.

"Hopefully not a big issue. Now I think is better and hopefully for the next game he will be available."

As for the idea that the USA could be the surprise team of the tournament, Pochettino feels it is too soon to make that call.

"We know in the world of sports when you see good performances and good results everyone thinks of success and people try to flatter you but when you lose it is a catastrophe," he added.

"I think we've had a good match but I think to be the upset of the World Cup we need to get to the semi-finals or the quarter-finals, then yes.

"We have to see if throughout the tournament we can be that pleasant surprise that other teams have been at World Cups."