WORLD CUP BETTING PREVIEW - SCOTLAND VS BELARUS

World Cup

2025-10-12 - Scotland vs Belarus

A Sports Betting Preview by Auls

Scotland v Belarus
Football: World Cup Qualifier
Sunday 12th October 2025 - Kick Off 5pm
This game is live on TV

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Scotland

No one who was watching Scotland's last World Cup Qualifier would have expected the last thirty minutes to be as different as the first hour when they were outplayed by Greece. They fell behind and fans would have been thinking about another few years of having to wait to see Scotland back at the World Cup Finals, but Scotland equalised almost immediately and were then able to score another couple of goals to beat Greece.

If Scotland are playing in North America next summer, people will not be looking back at the performance against Greece. However, that does not mean that the players and the management staff are unaware that Scotland will need to improve if they are to finish top of this Group or come through the Play Offs next year ahead of the 2026 World Cup Finals. And it is vitally important for Scotland to back up the victory over Greece by securing another three points against the weakest team in the section.

Scotland are unbeaten in 4 games and they have won 3 of those fixtures, while the exception is a good looking draw in Denmark. The team had lost the previous 2 games played at Hampden Park, but Scotland snapped that run in the victory over Greece on Thursday evening.

Aaron Hickey is expected to miss out with the injury picked up in the win over Greece. Steve Clarke will also be without both Ryan Christie and Lewis Ferguson will both miss out through suspension.

Belarus

The draw was made and it looked like Belarus would be doing little more than playing spoiler in this World Cup Qualifying Group, but even that has been beyond them so far in this section. Losing football matches is tough for any squad, but Belarus will be travelling to Glasgow after being crushed 0-6 by Denmark on Thursday.

It is a result that leaves Belarus bottom of the Group and they have yet to pick up a single point, while also conceding 13 goals. A couple of those defeats have been on neutral field and Belarus were also thumped 5-1 when visiting Greece in the opening Qualifier in the section.

Belarus have lost their last 4 games in a row overall, while they have not won any of the last 7 competitive fixtures played. That includes fixtures played in the last Nations League and Belarus remain in League C of that competition. They did win in Kosovo in that Nations League Group, while Belarus did earn a draw in Switzerland in the last Euro Qualifiers.

Head to Head

Scotland secured a 0-2 win on neutral field against this opponent last month.

This is the third time Scotland are hosting Belarus- they won the first fixture 4-1, but suffered an upset 0-1 defeat in the 2006 World Cup Qualifiers.

Prediction

It felt really important for Scotland to equalise almost immediately in the World Cup Qualifier against Greece a few days ago.

The Ryan Christie goal was awarded so soon after falling behind that the fans were not able to voice their frustrations at what had been a really poor performance up until that point.

However, the equaliser sparked the team and Scotland were able to turn things around and eventually prevail 3-1, which puts them in a strong position to earn a top two finish in the Group. The 28 year wait to play in the World Cup Finals could be ended in 2026, but Steve Clarke will be reminding his players that nothing has been achieved in October and they have to build on the win over Greece.

Dropping points here could leave Scotland in a vulnerable spot with fixtures in Greece and hosting Denmark to be completed in November.

Scotland are set as big favourites though having already beaten Belarus on neutral field in what was a dominant display last month.

Belarus have sandwiched that 0-2 defeat by being hammered by Greece (5-1) and Denmark (0-6), while they were also beaten pretty comfortably by Northern Ireland at Windsor Park in the Nations League last year.

They may arrive in Glasgow looking to frustrate the home team, but Belarus have not defended with any real authority within this Group. Scotland are missing two of the three goalscorers from Thursday through suspension, but there is still enough about them to secure a win by a slightly wider margin than the one achieved against Belarus on neutral field earlier in this Group.

The Pick :

Scotland 3-0 Belarus

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

I'll back Scotland - 2 Asian Handicap at 1.80 with Bet365