Scotland Reporter Notebook: Steve Clarke and Co ultimately put an end to the exile of the country’s World Cup? | Football news

ahsan65@gmail.comSeptember 4, 2025

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Scotland Reporter Notebook: Steve Clarke and Co ultimately put an end to the exile of the country’s World Cup? | Football news

We left, the secular question for each fan of Scotland: is this the moment when we finish our exile from the biggest tournament that football has to offer?

The qualifications of the World Cup are about to start, and we will discover very quickly if Scotland will go to North America next year given the truncated nature of the qualification process.

Denmark, Belarus and Greece are held between the national team and their first World Cup from France ’98. Six games in three months in this Quickfire group.

The last time I covered Scotland was at Euro 2024. After having succeeded so well the qualifications, the team simply did not play the tournament despite the great support and all the pre-European optimism.

I remember standing at the Garmisch-Partenkirchen Team hotel when the team was leaving, wondering where they would go from here.

Not covering Scotland allowed me to return to participation as a fan with my father, and to look at things in a different day of a different seat.

The mouth of the woods of the euros saw Scotland losing its first three first -rate games of the League of Nations despite their competition in each. I was in Croatia for the three, after which you started to wonder if we would win again.

A late Var check refused a draw in Zagreb. It was difficult to remain positive, but the addition of Ben Gannon-Doak to the team, a change of system (partly due to availability) and the shape of the Napoli midfielder, Scott MCTOMINAY, had believed the Tartan army.

A draw without Portugal to Hampden Park, who saw Craig Gordon, 41, preventing Cristiano Ronaldo, Scotland could compete. The victories over Croatia and Poland gave the team a chance to stay in League A, if they could beat Greece on two legs in March.

It seemed like we could do it after winning the first leg in Athens who showed resilience, grain and a little luck to take the lead in Glasgow. The return leg was a source of concern. We were completely outdated by an exciting Greek team losing 3-0, causing relegation to League B.

Another concern after this match in Hampden Park was the fact that Greece is in the qualification group of the Scotland World Cup. We had an overview of the difficulty. Scotland certainly was not lucky with the draw, because Greece and the Bélarus were probably the most difficult teams that could get out of their respective pots.

You should never fell for Steve Clarke and his team. He qualified for two European championships and put Scotland in the upper level of the League of Nations. We had bumps on the road and he has always managed to bounce back.

His contract ends after the World Cup. At this point, he will have taken care of more Scotland games than anyone. It absolutely deserves the possibility of taking Scotland to the World Cup.

Some may not agree with it, but I think he knows how international football works. He has an experienced team with a pinch of young players, but there is no doubt, they will have to rediscover the form of Euro 2024 qualification which saw them win their five opening games to have a foot in the final before the end of the section.

They inflicted the only defeat of Spain throughout the Euro 2024 campaign. Some will say that it was a summit of Scotland under Steve Clarke.

He has problems. Friendly matches in June raised more questions than answers. Home defeat against Iceland did not do much for confidence and belief. The biggest problem to come from this match was the situation of goalkeeper.

Craig Gordon was reintroduced during the Nations League campaign and his performances showed that there was an even older life at 42 at the international level, but it would never be a long -term solution and an injury means that he is not in the team.

Angus Gunn was injured at the start of the match in Iceland and replaced by Kieran Slicker. Having seen the Ipswich goalkeeper working well for those under 21, it was disappointing to see that he had a match to forget.

Gunn is back in the team and now with Nottingham Forest, but does not play. Zander Clark started the season as No. 1 in Hearts, while Liam Kelly presented only for the Rangers in the League Cup.

At the start of his mandate, Clarke went to the back three who served Scotland well but looked aged during the match in Iceland.

He deployed a rear four in the League of Nations, helped by the introduction of Gannon Doak further, it is something that he will seriously consider for this campaign. With Andrew Robertson and Kieran Tierney among our best performers earlier in his reign, Clarke found a way to have them both in the team. This problem is not as pressing now. He will be more willing to choose one or the other if he opts for a rear four.

Not only Gannon Doak broke out on the stage, but Kieron Bowie of Hibernian. From an injury to the hamstrings last season, he did his debut in Scotland only in the friendly victory against Liechtenstein in June. His performance for those under 21 in the last campaign and the Hibernian Europa League matches this season showed the quality and potential he has. His goal in Easter Road against Partizan Belgrade is one of the best I have attended to live in a stadium.

I mentioned Mctominay, the winner of Serie went from force to force with Napoli, helped by his teammate and his compatriots Billy Gilmour. The fact that Scotland has five players in the team playing in the high flight of Italy shows the quality we have.

MCTOMINAY, like John McGinn in the previous countryside, is the place where Scotland will seek inspiration and objectives.

Scotland finished second behind Denmark in the last World Cup qualification campaign, although they beat them 2-0 in Hampden Park in 2021. There is a feeling that Scotland will need four points of a six-game potential in the first two games to have a chance.

It could be the last chance for some of the team’s most experienced members to reach a World Cup. For Steve Clarke, it looks like his final campaign anyway. I hope we can rediscover our form and prove that some of the skeptics are wrong.

Start as you want to go to Scotland.

Scottish team in its entirety:

Goalkeepers: Zander Clark (Hearts), Angus Gunn (Nottingham Forest), Liam Kelly (Rangers).

Defenders: Grant Hanley (Hibernian), Jack Hendry (Al Etiffaq), Aaron Hickey (Brentford), Dominic Hyam (Blackburn Rovers), Max Johnston (Sturm Graz) (Celtic).

Milieuseurs de terrain: Ryan Christie (Bournemouth), Lewis Ferguson (Bologna), Ben Gannon Doak (Bournemouth), Billy Gilmour (Napoli), John McGinn (Aston Villa), Kenny McLean (Norwich), Scott McTominay (Napoli), Lennon Miller (Udinese).

Advances: Che Adams (Torino), Kieron Bowie (Hibernian), Lyndon Dykes (Birmingham), George Hirst (Ipswich).