Scotland achieve World Cup dream: Steve Clarke ends 28 years of hurt with win over Denmark at Hampden Park | Soccer News

Scotland qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1998 and for the first time in my life.

The same goes for the nine players on the current national team: Aaron Hickey, Anthony Ralston, Josh Doig, Andy Irving, Conor Barron, Billy Gilmour, Ben Gannon-Doak, Lewis Ferguson and George Hurst.

This is the first such feat in a generation.

For the past 30 years, children in Scotland have not had the opportunity to wear their national team colors to school or watch World Cup matches on TV in their classrooms. Those same kids have never launched plastic cups filled with lukewarm beer into the air to celebrate a World Cup goal. Things will change next summer.

I was too young to have been part of the 1998 France squad, but old enough to be forever damaged by Scotland’s spectacularly failed attempt since then.

Belgium 2001, Moldova 2004, Belarus 2005 (twice), Macedonia 2008, Norway 2009, Macedonia 2012 (twice), Wales 2012 (twice), Lithuania 2016, England 2017 (Stuart Armstrong, why didn’t you clear?), Ukraine 2022.

I called my dad before the game, but neither of us were confident. It has nothing to do with a lack of faith in these legendary players or coaches. Rather, it’s an essential Scottish survival instinct to protect us from disappointments that seem inevitable.

So at what point does youthful optimism give way to evidence-based misery and fear?

Well, probably right after your first taste of glorious failure. I remember crying in my dad’s arms when Cristian Panucci’s controversial stoppage-time winner at Hampden sealed Italy’s qualification for Euro 2008, even though it was well past my bedtime.

I had just turned six years old. Father’s pessimism began at five o’clock.

Scotland were eliminated from the 1974 World Cup on goal difference despite remaining unbeaten in a group consisting of reigning world champions Brazil, Yugoslavia and Zaire. Scotland qualified for five of the next six World Cups, but they have never qualified since then, so you could say my father was spoiled.

We’ve always talked about going to the World Cup together, but to be honest, I never believed it would happen.

Last year, when my father was diagnosed with kidney cancer, that small belief faded further.

The prognosis was good, but I understandably feared the worst. Sound familiar?

While normal people might worry about their fathers missing their weddings or the birth of their children, weirdos like me worry that we’ll never have the chance to share a World Cup with our dads again.

But two-and-a-half weeks ago, after a 12-month scan, he was diagnosed with no floating cells or cancer, and Scotland qualified for the World Cup.

I realize how lucky I am. A generation has passed since 1998, and in that time thousands of Scotland fans have lost a loved one. So tonight I urge all members of the Tartan Army to voice their denunciations against the Old Dar, or whoever is responsible for turning you into a Scotland fan, whether they are still one of us or not.

Dear Dad, we made it.

Book your flight and leave for North America.

lots of love,

Adam.

The 2026 World Cup draw will be held on December 5th in Washington.

President Trump will join FIFA President Gianni Infantino to determine group stage brackets at the John F. Kennedy Center, the performing arts venue where Trump is chairman.

When announcing the lottery venue at the White House in August, President Trump said the World Cup was “the biggest event in sports,” while Infantino declared the 104 games would be like “the 104th Super Bowl.”

The draw will take place from 12pm local time (5pm UK time).

The 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup will be held from June 11 to July 19, 2026.

This will be the 23rd tournament.