Southampton striker Ross Stewart has emerged from four years in the international wilderness to earn a surprise call-up to Scotland’s first World Cup squad since 1998.
Steve Clarke’s 26-man group was largely as expected but 29-year-old Saints striker Stewart – whose only two previous appearances for the national side came back in 2022 – got the nod up front, despite clamour for the likes of Oli McBurnie, Oliver Burke and Kieron Bowie to be included.
Stewart has banged in 10 goals in his last 21 games for Southampton to help fire them to the Championship play-off final – pending the result of the ‘Spygate’ hearing – and he joins Che Adams, Lyndon Dykes, Lawrence Shankland and George Hirst as the striking options.
In some ways, McBurnie can consider himself unlucky to miss out having scored 18 goals for the other Championship play-off finalists Hull this season but Clarke has long since made his intentions clear, with the 29-year-old frozen out of the international scene since 2021.
Rangers’s 19-year-old winger Findlay Curtis, who has been on loan with Kilmarnock this term, makes the squad after winning his first cap against Japan in March, while Bournemouth’s Ben Gannon-Doak is deemed to have recovered sufficiently from a hamstring injury to get the call-up.
Udinese midfielder Lennon Miller narrowly misses out as John McGinn, Kenny McLean, Scott McTominay, Billy Gilmour, Lewis Ferguson and Ryan Christie form a strong midfield selection along with widemen Curtis and Gannon-Doak.
Scotland’s goalkeeping options are something of an issue as the three stoppers selected – Angus Gunn, Liam Kelly and 43-year-old Craig Gordon – have just seven club games between them this season, with presumed No 1 Gunn having played only 45 minutes for Nottingham Forest. Falkirk’s Scott Bain would have been an alternative option, after playing against the Ivory Coast in March, but he misses out.
Bristol City defender Ross McCrorie isn’t selected, with Aaron Hickey, Anthony Ralston and Nathan Patterson chosen as the right-back options instead, Andy Robertson and Kieran Tierney the men on the left and Grant Hanley, Dom Hyam, John Souttar, Scott McKenna and Jack Hendry forming the centre-back pool.
In their first World Cup for 28 years, Scotland will face Haiti on 14 June, Morocco five days later and then Brazil on 24 June in Group C, with warm-up matches against Curacao at Hampden Park and Bolivia in New Jersey scheduled beforehand.
Scotland World Cup squad in full
Goalkeepers: Craig Gordon (Hearts), Angus Gunn (Nottingham Forest), Liam Kelly (Rangers)
Defenders: Grant Hanley (Hibernian), Jack Hendry (Al-Etiffaq), Aaron Hickey (Brentford), Dom Hyam (Wrexham), Scott McKenna (Dinamo Zagreb), Nathan Patterson (Everton), Anthony Ralston (Celtic), Andy Robertson (Liverpool), John Souttar (Rangers), Kieran Tierney (Celtic)
Midfielders: Ryan Christie (Bournemouth), Finlay Curtis (Kilmarnock), Lewis Ferguson (Bologna), Ben Gannon-Doak (Bournemouth), Billy Gilmour (Napoli), John McGinn (Aston Villa), Kenny McLean (Norwich), Scott McTominay (Napoli)
Forwards: Che Adams (Torino), Lyndon Dykes (Charlton), George Hirst (Ipswich), Lawrence Shankland (Hearts), Ross Stewart (Southampton)
