Pocognoli's Scotland Thrashed 3-0 by Switzerland

Sebastien Pocognoli's first game in charge of Scotland at Hampden turned into a rout. Switzerland won 3-0 in the Nations League on Tuesday night, and Scotland spent 80 minutes of it with 10 men.

The turning point came after just 8 minutes. Jack Hendry brought down Dan Ndoye as the Swiss forward bore down on Angus Gunn's goal. Referee Nenad Minakovic first pointed to the spot and produced a yellow card, then reversed himself: free-kick, and a red for Hendry. Ricardo Rodriguez stepped up and curled the free-kick into the top corner.

Switzerland added two more after the break, through Nico Elvedi and Zeki Amdouni, to finish the job against a side already reduced to chasing shadows. It was Scotland's fourth match in a row without a goal.

"It was a frustrating night. There's not a lot to say about the game. We can analyse it — 80 per cent with 10 men, a red card, a direct finish from the free-kick. Probably the worst situation we could have found ourselves in," Pocognoli said. "We started quite aggressively and on the front foot but, after 8 minutes, the game plan had to be put to one side. The red card for Jack is all of our red card. We stay together."

The defeat leaves Scotland third in Group B1 on 1 point, five behind Switzerland with 6 games still to play, after a goalless draw away to Slovenia on Saturday. Slovenia themselves moved off the bottom on the same night, beating North Macedonia 2-0 through goals from Sandi Lovrić and Aljoša Matko.

With Switzerland already showing the pace Pocognoli's side could not live with even at full strength, the group looks to be shaping up as a fight for second between Scotland and Slovenia rather than a challenge to the top seeds.

A fuller breakdown of the Slovenia–North Macedonia match is available on our site (/en/football/event/slovenia-north-macedonia-7113-2026-09-29_6935093/).