In a bar on East Flagler Street in downtown Miami, the World Cup pulsed through every corner of the room on a Friday night.
Nations mingled, danced, and soaked up the atmosphere as the tournament’s drama played out across giant screens and smaller televisions dotted around the venue.
But five Scots stood apart from the revelry, their eyes fixed on a game that carried the faintest flicker of their nation’s hopes.
While the rest of the bar celebrated the occasion, this group of Scottish supporters drank studiously, scanning screens with a grim focus that set them apart from the crowd entirely.
Scotland head coach Steve Clarke had all but conceded his side could not escape their World Cup group, but these five clearly had not given up on the mathematics.
The Scots needed snookers — in fact, they needed snookers while playing blindfolded and without a cue ball, as the article’s author vividly put it.
Even John Higgins, the Wizard of Wishaw, would struggle to extract Scotland from a situation this dire and improbable.
To progress, Clarke’s side needed four fellow third-placed teams to finish on three points with a goal difference worse than minus three, or with fewer points.
Spain’s victory earlier in the Miami night had complicated things further, meaning Scotland now appeared to need two of Saturday’s three unsettled groups to go in their favour.
When Mahmoud Saber turned in Egypt’s opener against Iran, fists were briefly punched into the air at the Scottish table, a rare moment of hope breaking through the tension.
Nine minutes later, as Iran levelled to puncture the mood, the atmosphere at that particular corner of the bar shifted noticeably and the music seemed only to grow louder.
The room swayed to its own carnival rhythm while in the corner, Lionel Messi danced in near slow motion, arms swinging methodically as if against an imaginary tide.
The five Scots remained unmoved as the second half wore on, Egypt retreating deeper following the departure of Mohamed Salah with the scores level.
Mehdi Taremi struck the bar for Iran in the closing stages, drawing a visible gasp from the Scottish table as another moment of hope evaporated almost instantly.
In the dying seconds, Shoja Khalilzadeh found the net for Iran, sending heads plunging into hands as the goal was checked and ultimately ruled out for offside.
The game ended in a draw, leaving Scotland needing all three remaining groups to go in their favour, a probability calculated at just 0.07%.
By the time the clock struck 01:00, the bar had emptied and the apocalypse brothers wandered out into the hot and humid Florida night, their World Cup party hanging by the thinnest of threads.
Scotland have brought colour, noise, and passion to the United States, but the tournament may be about to deliver its cruellest verdict yet on their adventure.
