Ewan Murray was in North Carolina to field the questions Scotland supporters were already asking as their team prepared for its first World Cup since France 98. The opening match on his radar was Haiti, and the mood around it was plain enough when a reader asked if it was fair to be scared by the prospect. Murray’s answer was immediate: “Of course you are!”
That kind of anxiety is exactly why people are searching for the World Cup 2026 opening ceremony date and time now, even if the bigger focus for Scotland is not the ceremony but the first kick of a campaign that has been 28 years in the making. For supporters who grew up with France 98 as the last reference point, every detail matters, from the opening opponent to the shape of the squad and the weather in which it will be played.
In the Q&A format, Murray moved straight to the questions that matter most. On Billy Gilmour, he did not hide the loss of a classy ball player, but he did not treat it as a fatal blow either. “I just feel really sorry for the player; his Euro 2020/21 was ruined by Covid,” he said. “It’s also fine to say the team can manage without him.”
That is the balance Scotland have to live with in the build-up to Haiti. Gilmour is the obvious miss because of what he offers on the ball, but Murray also said he generally found it hard to grumble with the squad. Tyler Fletcher turning heads ahead of Lennon Miller mattered to the selection debate, and Kieron Bowie and Oli McBurnie were both described as having strong cases for inclusion. The point was not that Scotland were perfect. It was that the group they brought had enough to work with.
Morocco brought a different kind of warning. Murray said they should be taken very seriously and left no room for the idea that something else might be going on in their case. That matters because Scotland’s World Cup return is arriving in a tournament that looks as hot as it is open. “It’s a shorts and T-shirt World Cup,” Murray said. “Steaming hot. Everywhere.”
The friction in Scotland’s story is obvious: a team with real nerves about Haiti, a midfielder many would still want on the pitch, and a coach’s case that the squad can cope anyway. The next thing that matters is simple. Scotland are here, the questions are already being asked, and the first answer will come against Haiti, with Morocco waiting to test how much of the optimism survives once the football starts.
