Scotland went to Miami with hope in their hearts and got a fairly brutal reminder that Brazil are, well, Brazil. Vinicius Jr was the man who really killed the party, doing what he does best by making life extremely uncomfortable for defenders and generally being a nightmare to deal with. It was the kind of performance that reminds you why Real Madrid pay him an absolute fortune.
For Scotland, it stings. They had been building a bit of momentum and there was genuine excitement around this campaign. Steve Clarke's side are never the most glamorous outfit, but they are organised, they are honest and they give everything. Against Brazil though, that work rate only gets you so far when the opposition have the individual quality to unlock any defence on the planet on any given day.
The real question now is whether Scotland are actually out of it or whether the qualification picture could still smile on them. International tournaments can be wonderfully chaotic things and results elsewhere could yet drag the Scots back into the conversation for one of those last 32 spots. It is not the most comfortable place to be, relying on other teams to do you a favour, but it is far from impossible.
Scotland fans will know this feeling well enough. They have spent a good chunk of football history being the nearly men, the side that gets so close and then finds a way to not quite make it. To be fair to them, they keep turning up and they keep believing, which is more than you can say for plenty of nations with far greater resources.
Brazil, meanwhile, look like a side finding their feet again after a difficult few years on the international stage. Vinicius at his best is genuinely unplayable and if they can get that consistency going, they will be a serious threat to anyone as this competition develops further.
Scotland will wait, hope and watch the other results come in. Sometimes that is all you can do in football.
Let me know your thoughts.