Scotland’s long wait is over, and the first test is the one that has already stirred nerves: Haiti in the opening game of the 2026 World Cup. Asked in North Carolina whether he was allowed to be scared by the prospect, Ewan Murray did not soften it. “Of course you are!” he said.
That answer lands because this is not abstract anticipation. Scotland are heading into their first World Cup since France 98, and fans are already trying to work out what the opening ceremony world cup opening ceremony uk time search really means for them: when the tournament begins, how the day feels, and whether the first match can be survived without a jolt. Murray’s framing was blunt. “It’s a shorts and T-shirt World Cup. Steaming hot. Everywhere.”
The Q&A was built around Scotland’s selection picture as much as the tournament mood. Murray said Steve Clarke has a habit of not using Billy Gilmour when others expect he will, and he pointed out that Gilmour’s Euro 2020/21 was ruined by Covid. That matters because selection decisions now sit alongside the emotional weight of the occasion. Murray also said Clarke picked Tyler Fletcher ahead of Lennon Miller, with Fletcher having impressed more experienced players in training sessions.
There were also plausible cases for others to come into the squad mix. Murray said Kieron Bowie and Oli McBurnie had strong claims, but he still found it hard to grumble with the group Clarke settled on. That is part of why the Haiti opener feels so loaded: Scotland are not being asked to solve a theoretical puzzle, but to carry a squad into a tournament that supporters have been denied for a generation.
And then there is the part Scotland fans may not want to hear but probably need to. Murray said it is fine to be scared of Haiti, even with a World Cup return finally here. He also said Morocco were very good, and that there is a general understanding among Scotland followers that Morocco are very good, which underlines how unforgiving the group can be. The opening match is not being treated as a formality inside the camp or outside it.
What nobody has yet pinned down is the one detail fans are still searching for: the exact date and kick-off time for Scotland’s opening game against Haiti. The anxiety is already real; the countdown now turns on when, not whether, Scotland step into it.
