Lawrence Shankland spent the opening hour at Hampden as a supporting act — dropping deep, drifting wide, and largely absent from the areas where he does his best work. For 60 minutes, George Hirst led the line while Scotland's most accomplished striker played within himself.

Then everything changed. Shankland pushed into dangerous positions and produced two composed finishes to turn a laboured afternoon against ten-man Curacao into a 4-1 victory that Scotland can take to the United States with some confidence.

The striker debate is over

These were Shankland's 22nd and 23rd goals in his last 37 matches. He has scored in five consecutive games in May, netted twice in three in April, and has nine goals in 13 appearances in 2025. All season, he has not gone more than three matches without finding the net.

The Rangers striker — who completed a dramatic switch from Hearts this summer — arrives at the FIFA World Cup 2026 in the form of his life. Head coach Steve Clarke's preference for Che Adams as a starter in the biggest games will become increasingly difficult to defend given the weight of evidence Shankland continues to produce.

His two finishes were neither routine nor predictable. The quality of those strikes alone demands a rethink at the top of Clarke's striker pecking order.

Curtis announces himself on the world stage

Findlay Curtis was the other significant story of the afternoon. The 19-year-old Rangers winger — who caught the eye at Kilmarnock in the latter part of the season — entered as a substitute just before half-time after Billy Gilmour was forced off injured.