In front of 64,146 fans at the Boston Stadium, Steve Clarke’s side ended their 28-year absence from the World Cup with a 1-0 win over Haiti.

John McGinn’s deflected strike in the 28th minute did the business for the Scots, handing them their first win at a World Cup since June 1990.

The win also fired Scotland to top spot in Group C after Brazil and Morocco played out a 1-1 draw.

It was an immensely emotional result for the thousands of Tartan Army members inside the stadium and the many more who got up at 2am to watch the action unfold.

talkSPORT’s Scotland correspondent Shebahn Aherne, who was pitchside in Boston, conceded she was ‘nearly bawling my eyes out’ following McGinn’s strike.

“Wee John McGinn from Clydebank puts us ahead in this game against Haiti,” Aherne said on talkSPORT’s live coverage of the match.

“The Tartan Army behind me up on the barriers is going absolutely wild.

“Angus Gunn ran towards the friends and family who are just behind Steve Clarke.

“Steve Clarke, hands in his pockets. Cool as you like.”

McGinn may have been the hero on the scoresheet, but it was a collective effort for Clarke’s side en route to a win that was 36 years in the waiting.

Here, former Scotland international Mark McGhee rates every Scottish player’s performance against Haiti, with one star described as ‘absolutely fantastic’.

We start in goal with Angus Gunn, who kept his eighth international clean sheet.

McGhee felt Gunn ‘dealt with everything throughout’, although he did have a wobble midway through the first half when he spilled a shot that was fired straight at him.

Robbo leads by example

Aiding Gunn’s relatively uneventful evening was a strong performance from the back four.

Skipper Andy Robertson was his industrious self, flying up and down the left flank.

Robertson, who recently joined Spurs, whipped in five crosses, the most among the Scottish team and ‘never let us down’, according to McGhee.

Centre-backs Grant Hanley and Jack Hendry repelled Haiti’s attacks while Aaron Hickey on the right put in a solid display.

Midfield pairing Scott McTominay and Lewis Ferguson pulled the strings, although McGhee was critical of the former and felt he was ‘largely ineffective’.

McGhee felt Ferguson was the pick of the midfielders, especially for his work in breaking up play.

McGinn, who started on the left, was his usual busy self and wasn’t afraid of drifting into central areas to disrupt Haiti’s defence.

‘A star is born’

But the man who McGhee reserved special praise for was young winger Ben Gannon-Doak.

The Bournemouth star terrorised Haiti left-back Martin Experience as he constantly cut in from the right onto his left foot.

But just when Experience thought he’d figured out Gannon-Doak’s primary move, the 20-year-old then burst past him on his right foot.

“I think there’s only one player that we can say stood out, he’s won us the match with his early performance,” McGhee said.

“We obviously took him off eventually, we knew he’d run out of energy, but Ben Gannon-Doak for me is, as I said at half-time, a star is born.

“He was absolutely fantastic in the period of the game when we needed him to produce, he did, and literally won us the match.”

Up top, McGhee had ‘high, high hopes’ for Lawrence Shankland but the recent Rangers arrival didn’t enjoy his finest display.

McGhee felt Che Adams was ‘industrious’ but felt his hold-up play could have been better.