On the basis of their second-half performance in yesterday's 1-1 draw with Norway in Bordeaux, I'd say Scotland deserve to make it to the second round of these finals.

The Scots dominated the second half, despite going a goal down almost immediately after the interval and fully deserved to equalise. If they continue in this vein against Morocco in their third and final first-round game, they must have a good chance of making it. Media speculation suggests that Norwegian coach Egil Olsen is in line to become the next coach of Celtic.

Well, if that is true, then God help Celtic fans. Watching Olsen's Norway, with one up front and five stretched across midfield, is about as exciting as watching paint dry. Olsen's Norway were widely considered to be one of the worst and most boring sides at USA '94 and it looks like they are on target to pull off an historic double as they are one of the most boring teams at France 98 too.

Having said that, it is never easy to play against a side as negative as Norway. All credit to Scotland for taking the game to them and, in the end, running rings round them. John Collins, Paul Lambert, Christian Dailly and Craig Burley were all outstanding in a terrific second-half display.

Scottish coach Craig Brown must also take some credit for the substitution of Darren Jackson with Jackie McNamara. This move left more room for Gordon Durie and Kevin Gallacher, allowing them to exploit the full width of attack and get in behind the static Norwegians.

Scotland will be disappointed about conceding a goal just after half-time, but goal-scorer Havard Flo of Werder Bremen did well with his header. Norway, too, could claim that the Scottish goal was attributable more to defensive error than to attacking skill. But, nonetheless, Burley did well with the chance even if Norwegian goalkeeper Frode Grodas will not enjoy watching the replays of this one.

Scotland's second-half performance was an example of what they can do best. They played with passion, but not without thought.

They kept going forward looking to get in crosses and looking to get in behind the Norwegian defence. Scotland could argue that, not only did they deserve their equaliser, they might have even sneaked a winner.

One thing about the Scottish showing is that their morale had not suffered from their 2-1 defeat by Brazil in the opening match. On the contrary, they played with zest and confidence.

My final thought, now that all the teams have played at least one game, concerns Germany's easy 2-0 win against the USA at the Parc des Princes on Monday night. Like other pre-tournament favourites - Brazil, France, Argentina, Nigeria and England - they did the job efficiently and effectively.

The big-name teams are on a hiding to nothing in their first-round games against minor opposition and it is significant that there were no major upsets (Italy's 2-2 draw with Chile and Nigeria's 3-2 win over Spain were hardly upsets).

As we have said before, this World Cup has started very, very well. It could get even better and that's a mouth-watering thought.

(In an interview with Paddy Agnew)