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Minutes after the final whistle sounded in Piraeus, a roar went up from the Tartan Army packed into a corner of Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis. Undiluted euphoria. Proper jubilation.

The celebration of Ben Gannon-Doak scoring to make it 3-1 and Ryan Christie scoring to make it 3-2 were loud and lusty, but this was somehow different. Joy laced with relief and disbelief.

A gift from Copenhagen. Full-time, Denmark 2 Belarus 2. Scotland died a thrilling death in Greece but Belarus’ impossible draw resuscitated Scottish hopes of automatic qualification for the World Cup.

A win against Denmark at Hampden on Tuesday night and it’s done. An opportunity that looked like it had been trampled underfoot when the dismal visitors in Piraeus fell three goals down, was reborn thanks to Belarus, the unlikeliest of unlikely heroes of the night.

In the birthplace of Western drama, a classic night unfolded from around the hour-mark, in Greece and in Copenhagen, a tragicomedy and a mystery and a farce.

This wasn’t the ancient amphitheatre of Herodium down the road, but it was a sporting spectacle all the same, twisting and turning, bewildering and perplexing.

Before it all started to get trippy, Scotland were losing 3-0 and Denmark were winning 1-0, a series of results that made Scottish hopes of automatic qualification a dead duck. Hampden would not have its howitzer showdown. The play-offs beckoned. Oh well. Luck had run out. It was bound to in the end. And then. And then.

What madness was this coming down the line from the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen. Belarus, with a world ranking of 103, had scored a 62nd minute equaliser against Denmark with a world ranking of 20. Denmark, the top of the table thrusters, being held by Belarus, the bottom of the table whipping boys?

And now, three minutes later, a goal for Ben Gannon-Doak to make it 3-1, a just reward for all of Scotland’s pressure towards the end of the first half that saw Scott McTominay’s shot from distance come slapping back off Greece’s crossbar, that also saw Che Adams miss from close-range just before Gannon-Doak did likewise.

Noise and hope for the visiting fans. A draw in Denmark meant that Scotland could still qualify automatically with a win against the Danes at Hampden on Tuesday. Direct entry to the World Cup was back on. Cancel the sob stories. A dream was alive despite Greece lording it.

But hold up, what lunacy is this? Within seconds of Gannon-Doak’s goal, Denmark 1 Belarus 2. And five minutes after that, Greece 3 Scotland 2, Ryan Christie heading home. Goals flying around like snuff at a wake. The Tartan Army in delirium. Scotland driving at Greece’s heart in a bid to sicken them again after sickening them at Hampden earlier in the group.

In that moment the Greeks might have looked at Scotland as something from a Hollywood B movie, an evil creature in a lagoon, riddled with bullets, stake through the heart, as dead as dead can be only for a hand to come shooting out of the water to signify life and menace.

McTominay came within a Odysseas Vlachodimos wonder save from making it 3-2. Then, a red card from Tasos Bakasetas, the Greece captain. Then, more Scotland pressure. Then, a Denmark leveller. Then, a wait.

Some of the Scotland players hung about on the pitch to hear the final score from Copenhagen, A Denmark winner was the doomsday, the mood killer for Tuesday night when the sides come together.

Seconds went by and then confirmation. A draw, “Winner takes all at Hampden,” gushed Andy Robertson. Rarely in football has one man sounded so happy after losing a game of football that everyone thought they could not afford to lose.

Beforehand, we wondered if the luck that Scotland enjoyed in their two previous games in the group would hold and for the longest time it looked like Lady Luck had left the building, storming out in an almighty strop.

Greece were outrageously dominant and led 1-0. Only Craig Gordon’s excellence kept the score down, but time looked to be running out for Scotland. One became two and two became three – and it was a shambles. Defensively, Scotland were shocking. Grant Hanley and John Souttar looked like nervous kittens, spooked by the vision and accuracy and brilliance of Christos Tzolis and the coruscating teenager Konstantinos Karetsas.

Scotland conceded six shots on target in the opening 45 minutes, their highest total in a first half in more than nine years. They ceded space and time to Greece, who had it easy. Ahead of Tuesday night, Scotland’s limp beginning isn’t so much food for thought for Clarke, it’s a veritable feast, a banquet of things to fix, in tactics, in formation, in selection, in psychology.

Belarus broke Scotland out of jail. Just when you thought they had drained the well of good fortune they got the biggest and most unpredictable dollop of luck imaginable.

He called it a strange game and posited the theory that the 2-1 win against Belarus last month, when Scotland were booed off, was a better three points than people imagined. Freakishly, he might be right on that.

He didn’t hide from the fact that Scotland were blessed by the miracle of Belarus. How could he? But he also said something that has a deep relevance to the endgame in this group. “We have to believe in ourselves more,” he pointed out, before elaborating on Scotland’s dominance late on, the chances they created, the power and aggression they showed, the quality they put on the pitch that was invisible for too long.

“For the last 15-20 minutes we put a very good side on the back foot, we put them to the sword,” he said.

England manager Thomas Tuchel has told his players to avoid any needless red cards that could mean a World Cup ban.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s red card in Portugal’s defeat by the Republic of Ireland on Thursday means he will miss the start of their World Cup campaign if they qualify automatically.

England finish their qualifying campaign against Albania on Sunday.

England secured qualification to next year’s tournament with two games to spare and face an Albania side who have guaranteed a place in the play-offs regardless of Sunday’s result.

England have a 100% record with seven wins from seven in qualifying and, when asked if he would rather risk losing the game than getting a player sent off, Tuchel said: “It is an extreme example.

“If he goes in the last man example and if we can avoid it, no red card of course.

“I don’t want to make the subject too big speaking about it because then you have a cloud above you.

Along with Spain, England have won all of their games in qualifying without conceding and if the two sides win their final matches of the campaign and keep a clean sheet they will become the first European nations to play at least six qualifiers and win them all without conceding.

The Three Lions have scored 20 goals without reply but Tuchel said he has not spoken to his players about the record they could set and his only focus is to continue building towards the World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico.

“I didn’t speak a single word about that,” Tuchel said when asked if he was using the possible achievement as motivation going into England’s final qualifier.

“We need to get the foundation right to have a chance to have these records.

“Just by thinking about it or by talking about it, nothing will change.

“We need to deliver again. The feeling and the trust is absolutely there because I witnessed this in camp. I trust my players to perform again.”

The match against Albania is the last that England will play this year and will mean there is only one more international break before Tuchel names his squad for the World Cup.

And he wants his side to deliver a performance that shows the developments made since he officially took charge in January.

“In general I just hope and I feel the hunger for us to win, and to achieve something is bigger than the fear of losing and the fear of maybe losing a record of clean sheets,” Tuchel said.

“These things just happen. We are well aware that we put a lot of effort in to defend as a team and it’s only possible to have so many clean sheets because we defend properly as a team, which is the case, but you also need a bit of luck in certain moments.

“We should not focus too much on what we have to lose. We should be more excited about the next possibility to show our quality and to have another exciting and intense match.”

Captain Harry Kane said remaining unbeaten without conceding provides extra motivation for players.

“The last game in an England shirt for the year is always important to win for momentum,” he said.

“We also know we have qualified and Albania are into the play-offs, but we still have not conceded and I think that is a great motivation.

“Not conceding any goals through the campaign would be special motivation.

Conor Benn put on a dominant performance to earn revenge over bitter rival Chris Eubank Jr and seal a unanimous decision victory in their rematch at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Eubank, who won on points when they first fought in April, looked shot-shy throughout and had no answer to a heavy-handed Benn.

Benn held a wide lead going into the final round when he put Eubank down twice before triumphantly stepping up on to the ropes to celebrate when the final bell rang.

The judges scored it 119-107, 116-110 and 118-108 in Benn’s favour.

Benn, who moved up two divisions to make this fight happen, achieved something his father Nigel was unable to do in the 1990s – earning victory against a Eubank.

He has been labelled as a brawler throughout his career but proved he has a lot more to offer in sealing this win.

Benn, 29, said he carried too much emotion into April’s fight following a prolonged two-and-a-half-year build-up after serving a ban for failing a voluntary doping test.

The family feud began almost exactly 35 years ago when Chris Eubank Sr beat Nigel Benn on 18 November 1990 before the pair fought to a draw three years later.

Despite their being no title on the line, the magnitude of the rivalry was enough to draw out some big names from the world of sport and entertainment.

Actors Jeremy Piven and Pierce Brosnan, musicians Emma Bunton and Rod Stewart, and ex-Arsenal footballer Thierry Henry were among the stars watching from ringside.

Trying to recapture the magic of the first bout was always going to be a predicament and it fell short of achieving a sell-out.

The Eubanks’ arrival – both were expected this time – also provided an interesting insight into public opinion as boos rang out around the stadium. It was all cheers, though, as Benn was shown stepping out of his car.

Benn made his entrance to resounding cheers and alongside father Nigel. They were accompanied to the ring by a percussion troop, who started off with Phil Collins’ ‘In the Air Tonight’, before transitioning into a remix of ‘Ready or Not’ by the Fugees.

Defending champion Luke Littler came from behind to beat Josh Rock and reach the semi-finals of the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton.

Littler, who will usurp Luke Humphries at the top of the world rankings for the first time if he reaches the final, averaged 105.18 in a 16-12 victory.

World champion Littler had trailed his Northern Irish opponent 9-6 but the 18-year-old won seven legs in succession to turn the match around.

Littler will play Danny Noppert in the last four on Sunday after the Dutchman defeated German Lukas Wenig 16-8 in his quarter-final.

Littler has yet to lose at the tournament but it was Rock who edged into a 3-2 lead on Saturday night after an 84 checkout.

He led 7-6 when Littler missed a double in the 14th leg, going on to win against the throw on his way to opening a three-leg lead.

But after Littler found another level to move ahead 13-9, he did not falter despite three missed attempts at double 10 to seal the victory.

Mark Selby reached the final of the Champion of Champions tournament by beating Neil Robertson 6-2 in a match which included a 63-minute frame decided on the final black.

England’s Selby, playing in front of his home crowd at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester, largely controlled matters against the Australian to set up a final against world number one Judd Trump.

A grinding seventh frame which had lasted well over half an hour appeared to be heading to a conclusion when Robertson fluked the pink, but he then missed the black – only for Selby to miss a simple pot.

Four-time world champion Selby also made heavy weather of a 45-minute eighth frame, but came through it to set up a meeting of the only two men to have played in every edition of the Champion of Champions since 2013.

Selby won the opening two frames, including the second with a break of 127 to extend his record of scoring a century in every tournament he has played this season.

Robertson missed a simple red in frame one and was on the back foot thereafter.

Selby moved 4-1 ahead with an 80, but Robertson responded with a 104 – more than double his next highest break in the match – before the epic seventh frame.