Scotland’s World Cup squad has been confirmed as the Tartan Army prepares for the USA, Canada and Mexico

Steve Clarke has named his 26-man Scotland squad for the 2026 World Cup, confirming places for Hearts goalkeeper Craig Gordon, 43, as well as on-loan Kilmarnock star Findlay Curtis and in-form Southampton striker Ross Stewart.

Scotland will face Haiti, Morocco and Brazil in Group C and all three games will be played in the United States.

Their campaign will open on June 14 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, against Haiti, before they face Morocco on June 19 at the same venue and finish the group stage against Brazil on June 24 in Miami.

“When you name a team for a big event like the World Cup, it’s difficult,” said Clarke at Hampden. “You have to put a lot of thought into it, make sure you get the balance right. I feel we’ve done that. Everyone knows how I work. Hopefully the experience of the guys who have been to the big tournaments before will shine through and we’ll do something that a Scottish team has never done before.”

Gordon grabs his head

The most selected player in the team is Craig Gordon, who is 43 years old and has not played a single competitive minute since the 2-2 draw with Celtic in January.

Clarke was asked about the concept of taking the goalkeeper for such a short time during the game.

“It’s always difficult when you have a goalkeeper who doesn’t play regularly. As long as they work hard in training, you feel like they can come in and play a lot of games. We’ve had good reports from Hearts, he’s training very well, he assures us that he’s fit. He’s shown great fitness. He deserves to be there.”

Gordon joins Nottingham Forest’s Angus Gunn and Rangers’ Liam Kelly in the goalkeeping squad. Clarke has confirmed that he will also take the young goalkeeper in training as the 27th member of the departing squad.

Stewart came in but Conway came out

Ross Stewart returns from a four-year international absence to replace Tommy Conway, who has been ruled out through injury.

The Sunderland striker has been in impressive form since January and Clarke left no doubt as to why he made the call.

“He had a bad run due to injuries, but from January onwards he hit the mark, he showed that he can score big goals in big games.

In Conway’s absence, Clarke was sympathetic. “I spoke to Tommy, he’s sad about his injury. What’s really disappointing is that he missed out. It’s unfortunate that we didn’t discuss it in detail.”

Miller left out

The most controversial absence is Lennon Miller, the 19-year-old who impressed in his first season for Udinese and has been part of previous Scotland squads.

“I had five very difficult conversations. I know how they will feel. He has been in a few squads, maybe he felt he would be like that. I saw that in terms of the balance of the field it was better to take an extra striker than a midfielder”, added Clarke.

The team consists of ten defenders, three of whom are right backs in Aaron Hickey, Nathan Patterson and Anthony Ralston.

‘The American public will love them’

Clarke ended his press conference with a message to the Tartan Army, which is expected to travel en masse to Boston and Miami.

“Go out there and have fun. Do what you always do and support us 100%. The American public will love them.”