Scotland’s World Cup elimination has been confirmed after Saturday’s results in Group L, with the country failing to finish among the top eight of third-placed teams in the tournament’s group stage.
Steve Clarke and his team had a stated aim of making history by becoming the first Scottish side to reach the knockout phase of a major finals. Instead, the event has once again caused crushing disappointment. Clarke has led Scotland to three major tournaments, in which they have won just a single game and scored only four goals.
Scotland’s tally of three points and a goal difference of minus three was always likely to be insufficient to progress, with Croatia’s 2-1 win over Ghana finally confirming what had seemed increasingly inevitable over the past few days.
Clarke’s side beat Haiti 1-0 in their opening match at the Boston Stadium before losing by the same margin to Morocco. A calamitous start against Brazil in Miami saw the Scots fall behind after six minutes to Vinícius Júnior’s goal. A further two from Brazil left Scotland under severe pressure, with Clarke and his players admitting afterwards they feared their World Cup was over. That has been proven correct by subsequent events in other groups. Scotland had returned to their World Cup training base in Charlotte on Thursday but will now head for home.
Clarke had been uncharacteristically critical of the Scotland team after the Brazil defeat. “We have to be better if we want to compete at this level,” he said.
The manager’s position is under no threat, with the 62-year-old being handed a four-year contract by the Scottish FA immediately before the World Cup. The deal raised eyebrows at the time but was vigorously defended by SFA officials. While Clarke will continue, a World Cup exit may mark the end of the international road for some members of what is an experienced but ageing squad.
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Scotland return to action in September, when they face Slovenia and Switzerland in the Nations League.