Scotland saw coach Craig Brown quit the national team job just minutes after this low-key win which failed to deliver the goal tally needed to stand a chance of overtaking group rivals.
Croatia's win in Zagreb over Belgium made Scotland's efforts irrelevant.
In any case the Scots went behind when Marians Pahars cashed in after Christian Dailly was caught in possession by the Southampton forward who set up Andrejs Rubins to send a weak finish past Neil Sullivan into the Scottish goal.
Sullivan had to defy Pahars as he caught Matthew Elliott in possession and then raced past daily forcing the Tottenham player to send the ball away with his legs as Latvia dominated and threatened a second goal but then the home team got the break they needed.
Don Hutchison and Dailly combined to win back the ball and it skewed across the face of goal for debut striker Dougie Freedman to head in off the last defender.
Craig Burley crossed from a free kick for David Weir to head the winner midway through the second half.
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