Steve Clarke is set to name Scotland's 26-man World Cup squad at around 11:00 BST on Tuesday, with a news conference scheduled for 12:00. The announcement comes as Scotland prepare for their first men's World Cup since 1998, when the tournament was last taken to France.
Scotland will go into Group C with Brazil, Morocco and Haiti, and the squad is expected to form the core group Clarke will take to the finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico from 11 June to 19 July. There is a sense that most of the squad is already known, leaving open the possibility of no surprises when Clarke faces the media later in the day.
The timing also invites an uncomfortable comparison with Scotland's last World Cup squad announcement. In 1998, Ally McCoist was left out of Craig Brown's group for France '98, despite having scored 19 goals in 59 games for Scotland and 15 goals in his final season of a record-breaking Rangers career. McCoist had not featured for Scotland since September 1997 before that omission, and Brown said in 2018 that he felt “great regret” over the decision.
That history matters because selection day is never just about the players chosen. It is also about the ones who miss out, the arguments that follow and the judgment calls that linger long after a manager has moved on. Clarke's list will carry the weight of expectation not only because Scotland are back on the World Cup stage, but because supporters have spent years waiting to see who would be trusted to end the wait.
If there is a surprise, it will shape the discussion around Scotland's return to the tournament. If there is not, the focus will move quickly to how Clarke's group handles the challenge ahead, with Brazil, Morocco and Haiti standing between Scotland and a strong start to the campaign.
