Steve Clarke has 'fantastic problems' ahead of Scotland's World Cup opener following Bolivia win

Steve Clarke insists he has “fantastic problems” ahead of the World Cup opener against Haiti after a thumping 4-0 friendly win over Bolivia in New Jersey.

The Scots followed up the 4-1 victory over Curacao at Barclays Hampden last weekend with another clinical performance against the South Americans in the heat of the Sports Illustrated stadium.

Lawrence Shankland, who scored twice against Curacao, struck with a fine header in the fifth minute, then set up midfielder Scott McTominay for a second in the 20th minute before striker Che Adams added two more goals before the break.

Unsurprisingly, Clarke made numerous second-half substitutions and every player bar goalkeeper Angus Gunn came off at one stage, but Scotland remained assured and in control.

Clarke will have to pick a starting line-up for Scotland’s first World Cup game since 1998 next weekend in Foxborough and he said: “Fantastic, fantastic problems.

“Really good first half, then I turn round to my bench and the changes are good.

“When we made the changes, you lose a little bit of the rhythm of the game when you make so many changes, both sides, but boys go in, their priority, really, was not to concede because we wanted a clean sheet.

“It been a little while since we had a clean sheet, so it was nice to get that.”

He continued: “I spoke before that there are no injuries, good performance and we got the result.

“It’s not often they give me everything I asked for, so pleased with that.

“We worked a little bit this week on the shape of the team, 4-4-2 is a system that we’ve only recently gone towards with the two strikers. There’s still a bit of work to be done.

“Some good moments today, but some moments as well that I can see what we can do a little bit better, so we’ll work on that next week and, hopefully, a similar performance next weekend.”

Scotland's Andy Robertson (left) and goalkeeper Angus Gunn applaud the fans after the international friendly match at the Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey. Picture date: Saturday June 6, 2026. — Scotland’s Andy Robertson (left) and goalkeeper Angus Gunn applaud the fans after the international friendly match at the Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey. Picture date: Saturday June 6, 2026. PA Media

Clarke was pleased to see the goals go in again as he looks ahead to a group, which also includes Morocco and Brazil, which could go to the wire in terms of qualification to the knockout stages – something Scotland have never achieved.

The former Reading, West Brom and Kilmarnock boss said: “Obviously, we get told that we don’t score enough goals, but that’s back-to-back fours, so if we can continue in that vein…

“It’s about the creation of the chances and the creation of chances was good tonight. If you create good chances, then we’ve got players on the pitch who can score goals.”