Congratulations to Scotland, and very well done to Andy Robertson, who fully deserved to mark his 100 caps with a victory. Sid Lowe’s report from Spain 2-1 Czechia is also below.

Nations League tables are here.

Goodnight.

“He scored the most difficult chance of the game,” Pocognoli says of Bowie’s fine opening goal. “And I was really pleased for him, because I know the topic about not scoring will be on the table, after 25 minutes … I was happy for him … yes, I was really pleased with his performance, and from many of the lads.”

Pocognoli, the Scotland head coach, speaks to the BBC: “I’m very pleased, for sure, with this first win. But yeah, stay stable, because we have a game in three days, and we want to have another good game before the end of the first camp together … but today, I think we played a very good game, we created a lot of chances, we keep a clean sheet twice in two games, which for me means a lot … and I think we played with the right attitude.

“I think we played with the right attitude. Not everything was perfect, because we should have scored more goals, but we continued from the second half from Slovenia, and I hope we can have another good game at home.”

This was an occasion on which Scotland dare not stumble. By the time Kieron Bowie smashed home a seventh minute opener against a North Macedonia side not without its troubles to seek, it was already clear they would not. Bowie afforded Sébastien Pocognoli his first goal as the Scotland manager. Later, the Belgian had his maiden victory confirmed. Anything else, against such a dismal level of opposition, would have been worthy of significant Scottish embarrassment.

You want today’s football content? You’ve got it:

“They did a nice presentation for me this afternoon,” Robertson adds, having marked his 100th cap for Scotland. “My message was clear: I just wanted to win … today, the lads done so well to get the win … one that will be memorable for me for a long time, and all my family.

“I thought we played excellent. I thought we played really well on a difficult pitch. I thought we could have been four or five-nil up at times … we made it a wee bit interesting with the sending off, but I thought we defended so well for the last 10 minutes, defended our box, and kept a clean sheet. Most of the lads, or all of the lads, were magnificent tonight. It was a big win. You want to get it for the manager as early as possible, and thankfully we’ve done that today.”

“It means everything to me and my family,” Robertson says of his 100th cap. “We sacrifice a lot … I’ve been away 100 times now, I’ve got to feel sorry for my wife, dealing with the kids back home

“But yeah, look, it’s been an unbelievable journey. I remember my first game under Gordon Strachan, in Poland … it’s been a process from there, trying to keep going, always trying to be available for my country.

“I’m very fortunate to have done that so many times. It’s really emotional for me. I love this country, I’ve never hid away from that, and there’s only one person before me in the mens’ game to do it. It’s a pretty special achievement.”

Scotland will face Slovenia at Hampden Park on Tuesday to round off this marathon international window.

90 min +3: Djekov tries one from distance. But it’s a naff effort. Gunn has hardly been troubled at all in the Scotland goal.

90 min +2: A minimum of eight minutes added in Skopje.

87 min: Gilmour off, Luke Graham on for Scotland. Moments before, Robbie Ure smacked a shot into the side netting from a tight angle.

86 min: For the first time, Scotland are under a bit of pressure in defence. That’ll teach me to write off the plucky North Macedonians. Pocognoli will be happy with that two-goal cushion, that’s for sure.

85 min: Atanasov hits the free, after a touch by Elmas. It squirts wide.

81 min: Little wonder that Goce Sedloski, the home coach, is under intense pressure.

The hosts launch a couple of attacks, and Atanasov bends an effort over the bar from outside the area. He shakes his head.

79 min: North Macedonia have offered almost nothing. This is one of the worst displays I’ve seen from an international team in a while.

But, of course, Scotland have been “at it”, and not allowed their opponents to play.

78 min: Spain still lead Czechia 2-1, Switzerland still lead Slovenia 2-1.

75 min: Bowie and Gannon-Doak off. Both were excellent. Robbie Ure and Aaron Hickey on for Scotland.

73 min: Hats off to McGinn for keeping his cool and tucking that penalty in. After failing to find the net since June (when McGinn’s goal defeated Haiti at the World Cup) Scotland have scored twice in one night. What a rush!

65 min: And now! A VAR review for a penalty to Scotland … it’s Bowie’s follow-up, that hit a North Macedonian hand.

They are looking at the initial header by McKenna … but that’s a not a foul, it’s just strength and a good jump by McKenna.

64 min: It’s all Scotland in this second half. They’ve been utterly dominant, overall. But Pocognoli, his players, and indeed the fans badly want that second goal.

63 min: McKenna nearly nods in a corner! It’s off the post, and Bowie tries to follow up, but it looks like there was an initial foul by McKenna with the header.

60 min: Nearly two for Bowie! He is denied by Dimitrievski from point-blank range, after another attack down the right! How is it only 1-0?

59 min: Gannon-Doak on the charge again down the Scotland right. He tries to cut a cross back but into the danger zone but is crowded out.

58 min: Robertson, Scotland captain and cap centurion, goes route one, cutting in from the left. His progress is interrupted by the last line of defence.

57 min: Now McGinn curls a shot fractionally wide.

Does this have infuriating 1-1 draw written all over it?

56 min: North Macedonia’s defence continues to be on the beach, and it’s only October. Gannon-Doak is given the freedom of the penalty area to cut in and hit a shot low that is saved by Dimitrievski.

50 min: Gannon-Doak is in on goal! He’s one-on-one! He hits a shot straight at the goalie, and it’s still 1-0! It really, really should be 2-0.

48 min: As it stands, Switzerland top Group E with three wins from three. Slovenia and Scotland both have four points, with a win, a loss and a draw. North Macedonia rock-bottom with three defeats from three. Plenty of football to be played this evening though.

46 min: Elmas fouls Ferguson again, and they share a little joke. Then Elmas fouls Welsh. They don’t share a little joke.

Spain 2-0 Czechia
Switzerland 2-1 Slovenia

… are the other scores on the doors at half-time.

Half-time reading:

45 min + 3: Gilmour shows some silky skills on the edge of a packed penalty area. He makes a darting run, but North Macedonia hold their shape and hold firm.

45 min: We’ll have three minutes of stoppage time, minimum.

Mladenovski is booked for pulling back McBurnie.

44 min: Djekov is booked for a cynical block on Welsh, who’d touched the ball beyond him and was about to run free. No complaints.

42 min: Elmas fouls Ferguson around halfway. A soft one, and you could say good game management from Scotland, edging their way to half-time with this handy 1-0 lead. They need another goal or two, though.

34 min: “After the Clarke era, Pocognoli has not been afraid to make changes, but was under pressure already to get a result,” emails Simon McMahon.

“Bowie up front has been our star man tonight, and Robertson and McGinn are still heroes. Let’s dance!”

Yes, fair play, thanks for doing that Simon.

33 min: Gannon-Doak hits a cracking shot from distance. Dimitrievski makes a smart save, plucking the swerving, powerful effort out of the air and gathering it cleanly.

30 min: Two changes for North Macedonia, half an hour in. Sedloski has seen enough. Stankovski and Herrera are hooked, Djekov and Atanasov are on.

29 min: A super challenge by Scott McKenna stops a dangerous attack by North Macedonia in its tracks.

Suddenly, at the other end, Bowie touches the ball past the goalie, and only had a defender to beat with his shot, but he hits it straight at him!

28 min: Scotland are all over them. Bowie does brilliantly to cut a ball back from the byline. But Gannon-Doak hits it wildly over the bar from around the penalty spot.

26 min: Scotland win a corner. Ferguson knocks it full gun to the back post. Another corner results. McGinn takes it from the other side, it’s a poor one, but he gets another go. Scotland need to go for the jugular here, because they are well on top.

22 min: Ilievski is in again down the North Macedonia right. He makes it to the edge with a driving run, and then fires a shot over the crossbar. Miovski, of Rangers, makes his feelings known in the middle after being ignored by his teammate. For the first time, Scotland’s defence was a bit out of position there.

20 min: Ilievski makes a dart down the hosts’ right and crosses, but it sails out for a goal kick.

18 min: North Macedonia haven’t had a sniff. Scotland are controlling possession and territory. Ideally they’d be 2-0 up based on the chances they’ve created, but it’s been an excellent start.

14 min: Robertson has his 18th effort on goal for Scotland tonight. OK, maybe his fourth, but he’s got his shooting boots on. This one is from the edge, and bends over the crossbar.

11 min: “Hi Luke,” writes Simon.

Hi, Simon.

“The Pocognoli Scotland era has got off to a, eh, slow start, but there were some positive signs in the second half in Slovenia last week, and it’s still early days. The less said about the Switzerland game on Tuesday the better. We could really do with a win tonight though.”

9 min: Robertson is in again on the Scotland right! McGinn plays him in with a stunning curling delivery from deep, he holds off the defender, and slides a shot agonisingly wide! McBurnie, who was booked a few minutes ago for I’m not quite sure what, was free in the middle. Hopefully Scotland will not rue that miss.

Now, there is a dog on the pitch.

4 min: Robertson chases a fine pass down the wing, hits an ambitious shot early, but high and wide.

Seconds later, the ball breaks to the same man on the edge of the box. Robertson controls his first-time shot superbly, and it’s rising into the roof of the net with plenty of power, but Dimitrievski manages to beat it out for a corner.

2 min: Eljif Elmas, formerly of Napoli, makes a run down the hosts’ right and bends over a cross. Gunn deals with it easily.

If you offered Scotland a 7-0 win, I fancy they’d take it.

Goce Sedloski, the North Macedonia manager, is under plenty of pressure after two defeats, no goals scored, five goals conceded in this Nations League campaign. There was apparently talk of a fan boycott tonight – but there is a decent crowd in. The pitch is in poor condition and this is going to be a test for Scotland …

Players are on the pitch. Anthems being belted out. Here we go!

Andy Robertson, the Scotland captain, wins his 100th international cap tonight. The full-back made his debut in 2014.

Pocognoli is also asked about the soon-to-be cap centurion: “It’s a privilege for all of us to be next to him tonight. I’m sure the best thing for him is to get a win, and he will have the best memories … I hope we can continue the process [of Robertson playing for Scotland and winning caps] and he will have a great time with us.”

“We are excited to see a I hope a good game for 90 minutes,” the Scotland head coach, Pocognoli, tells the BBC. “I hope there will be a clear structure for all of us … Ben [Gannon-Doak] is starting on the right side today … let’s hope we can see his quality, and that we can be offensive in the opponent’s box.

“We always bring a gameplan where we want to be offensive, and try to create chances … the first game [against Slovenia] we created a lot, enough to win the game, in terms of creating chances it was one of the biggest performances from the last few years, against that level of opponent… we did well. Today I hope we can do the same and to be more clinical in the box.

“Let’s just focus on a good process, and hopefully a good game.

“The pitch [which is apparently in poor condition] is the same for both teams … it means we can miss a pass or make a bad control, but we always have a counter-press … we need to be ready, if we cannot play short passes, to explore a bit more the depth … we have a lot of quality to explore different areas of the game.”

Scotland haven’t won since beating Haiti in June: but they also haven’t scored a single goal in the four matches since.

The midfielder Fabián Ruiz left the Spain squad on Saturday to be present for the birth of his first child in Paris, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) said.

The 30-year-old Paris Saint-Germain player will miss the Nations League match against Czechia on Saturday in Oviedo.

The RFEF did not say if he will return for Spain’s final match of the international window against Croatia in Split on Tuesday.

Ruiz started both games as world champions Spain started their campaign with wins over England and Croatia. AFP

Kick-off in Skopje is a mere 25min away.

Mail me with your thoughts, Scotland fans.

Over on Channel Rugby, Lee Calvert has the Super League Grand Final here:

It had all the edge of a pop concert in the stands but England looked ready to steal candy from a baby. The 6,200 Croatian under-14s allowed inside Stadion HNK Rijeka were invited free of charge and this was a priceless footballing experience. England ripped Croatia to shreds to take a firm grip on second place in their Nations League group, boosting their hopes of reaching next year’s quarter-finals, and anyone supporting the home team could at least find consolation in watching Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham combine to devastating effect.

John McGinn has learned to cope with his detractors amid criticism of his form for Scotland. The 31-year-old Aston Villa captain has 91 caps and played at three major tournaments with the national team.

But McGinn’s first-choice status has been called into question after an underwhelming World Cup and after two matches of this Nations League campaign.

“The nature of the beast is, at club and country, you have a lot of responsibility, a lot of weight on your shoulders,” McGinn said. “When you do something well, you’re the best thing since sliced bread. When you don’t have a great couple of games … you’re automatically not good enough.

“It’s the nature of competing with Scotland and with Aston Villa. I take the praise with a big smile. Any criticism that comes, it’s just part of it … Everyone’s entitled to their opinion, but if you go through a spell where you’re not doing too well, you need to find that inner self-belief.

“The older you get, you learn how to manage tough moments better. You know after a game like Switzerland, losing 3-0 at home, do you turn the telly on? No. Do you listen to radio reports? No … The lows get lower, and the highs become less high. But you certainly deal with it a lot better when you’re older.

“I think when you’re younger, it completely consumes you, and you try and work too hard … But I feel as if I’m managing those times well, and they come quite often … the challenges come in different ways, and I’m used to dealing with them.” PA Media

I’ve accused Harry Kane of plenty of things over the years, but child cruelty is a new one. He has two, Bukayo Saka has two, Jude Bellingham and Anthony Gordon one each.

Team news for North Macedonia v Scotland and the other 7.45pm BST kick-offs when we get it.

England, meanwhile, are mercilessly thrashing Croatia in Rijeka – the score stands at 6-0 with 15min remaining. Join Scott Murray:

There are thousands of children in the stadium and as Lee Dixon recently remarked, “A lot of the kids have lost interest now.”