Scotland

Scotland at the World Cup 2026

Scotland arrive at the 2026 World Cup having ended a 28-year World Cup drought — their last tournament appearance was France 1998. Steve Clarke, head coach since May 2019, has built the most-successful Scottish national team era since the 1980s, qualifying for Euro 2020, Euro 2024 and now the 2026 World Cup in succession. He has the longest active tenure of any UK national team coach.

Captain Andy Robertson (Liverpool) anchors the left side as wing-back in Clarke's 3-4-2-1 system. The midfield's defining player is Scott McTominay (Napoli) — who delivered a 12-goal Scudetto title-winning season in 2024-25 under Antonio Conte and has continued the form into 2025-26 with 8 goals in the first half of the campaign. McGinn (Aston Villa) plays as the right of the two No. 10s; James Forrest provides veteran depth.

Defensively the back three is Jack Hendry (Al-Ettifaq), Grant Hanley (Norwich) and Harry Souttar — when not available, the Brentford defender Aaron Hickey moves inside. Goalkeeper rotation is between Norwich's Angus Gunn and Brighton's Cieran Slicker. Up front, Che Adams (Torino) and Lawrence Shankland (Hearts) compete for the central striker role; Lyndon Dykes (Birmingham City) is the alternate.

Group C contains Brazil, Morocco and Haiti. Scotland are competing with Morocco for second place behind Brazil (favourites at 1.40). The realistic ceiling is a first-ever World Cup Round of 16 berth (Scotland's previous nine appearances have all ended at the group stage); the credible bottom is a group-stage exit. Outright tournament price 251.0.

Group C fixtures

All three group-stage matches for Scotland at World Cup 2026 with current odds from our partner books.

Squad & predicted XI

Gunn · Hendry, Hanley, Souttar · Hickey, McGinn, McTominay, Robertson (c) · Adams, Doak · McGregor

Formation: 3-4-2-1 · Coach: Steve Clarke

How Scotland qualified for World Cup 2026

Scotland qualified from UEFA Group H with 18 points from 8 matches — first place ahead of Greece, Belarus, Lithuania and Cyprus. Five wins, three draws, no defeats. The standout result was a 2-0 home win over Greece in October 2025 (the qualifying-sealing match); the campaign featured 23 goals scored and only 6 conceded.

McTominay finished as the squad's leading qualifying scorer with 7 goals from a more-advanced midfield role than he plays for Napoli. Robertson and McGinn added 3 each. The 2-0 home win over Belarus in March 2025 — Scotland's first qualifying match of the campaign — saw three players make their senior debut.

The pre-tournament friendly window saw Scotland host Northern Ireland (3-1 win), travel to Liechtenstein (5-0 win) and play Wales at Hampden (2-2 draw). The Wales draw produced the standout individual performance from Lewis Ferguson (Bologna), who Clarke has used as the alternative to McTominay in the central midfield two.

World Cup history

Scotland have appeared at eight previous World Cups (1954, 1958, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1998). They have never advanced beyond the group stage — the most-unwanted record in the World Cup history of UEFA football. The closest miss was 1974 in West Germany, where they were eliminated despite finishing unbeaten (1 win, 2 draws) on goal difference. The 28-year absence between 1998 and 2026 was the longest since their first qualification in 1950.

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