Scotland are sitting on top of their European Championship qualifying group after the historic 2-0 win over Spain in Glasgow on Tuesday.
Hampden Park was in party mode as the Tartan Army celebrated a double from Scott McTominay that secured the win to move them three points clear after two games.
It was Scotland’s first win over Spain since 1984 and the 50,000 fans inside the national stadium lapped it up as they begin to dream of Germany next summer.
But manager Steve Clarke urged calm and warned “you don’t qualify with six points” knowing there was still a long way to go before the tickets can be booked.
After the game, that will go down as a famous night in the history of Scottish football, he agreed that it is a win that will give the squad belief they can mix it with the big guns.
He said: “We’re really pleased with the performance – two good performances over the nine days we’ve been together.
“It was important to capitalise on the two home games as much as we could and we’ve managed to get maximum points.
“All the credit goes to the players. We had 16 players on the pitch and none of them let us down. The seven players in the stand were every bit as happy as everyone else was.
“We have a good group but we’re working hard to get better and better and tonight was a chance to put our mark on the group.
“We wanted to be competitive against a top team and that’s what we did. It certainly should give the players a bit more belief when we come up against these top seeds.
“That’s the last two top seeds – Denmark (in World Cup qualifiers) and Spain – who have come to Hampden and left with no points.
“But it’s very important we stay grounded because there’s still a long way to go in the group.
“We knew it would be a night were Spain had a lot of the ball, so it was important that when we had the ball, we capitalised on the moments.
“We did that, if you look at the statistics. Very similar shots on goal, shots on target, we got a little bit fortunate with the defender slipping, but we capitalised on that moment, and that is very important if the opposition make mistakes we have to capitalise on it, especially against the top sides.”
It was a polished performance from Scotland who were well worth the win and had a number of outstanding performances all over the park, including midfielder Callum McGregor who says it was the team’s best result under Clarke and a performance they had been building towards.
He said: “That’s the one that’s been coming is against a big nation. Probably the way that we played as well, really comfortable in the game, carried out the game plan excellently. So that should give us a lot of confidence moving forward.
“It’s a result that we’ve been looking to pick up for a while. When you get more experience in the group and boys start to get more caps, you start to feel better at this level.
“That’s what we have now is a really strong core with a lot of caps and a lot of experience. We’ve been sort of building towards a result like this.
“It’s important that we take the positives and we keep our feet on the ground. By no means have we qualified but it’s a great night. Hopefully the supporters enjoyed it and hopefully the nation enjoyed it.”
The new First Minister and his outgoing predecessor both hailed the result on social media when the referee blew his whistle for full-time.
Humza Yousaf said it was a “stunning” win and Nicola Sturgeon said “what a result! Scotland are on fire”.
Next up for Scotland is a trip to Norway on June 17 before returning to Hampden three days later to play Georgia.
After that they face three away trips in a row to Cyprus on September 8, Spain on October 12 and Georgia on November 16 before hosting Norway in what could be a vital final game in their quest to reach Euro 2024.
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