Scotland name squad for 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Greece & Belarus; Scott McTominay included

The Scots have won one out of two matches in the qualifiers so far.

In an effort to put a stop to Scotland’s protracted World Cup absence, head coach Steve Clarke has set a goal of getting as many points as possible from their upcoming home doubleheader against Greece and Belarus.

The Scots opened Group C with a 2-0 triumph over Belarus in Hungary and a 0-0 draw in Denmark, giving them four points.

On October 9, they host Greece in Glasgow, and three days later, Belarus at Hampden Park.

Craig Gordon, 42, has been absent since early May and has not yet been included in a Heart of Midlothian team this season as he recovers from a neck ailment, but Clarke has called him up for the October’s Hampden Park double-header.

Head coach Clarke urges his team to get as many points as possible in fixtures

Clarke said: “Two away games, you’re probably looking at them and thinking that four points would be the minimum that we’d want to take for the games – we managed to get the four points.

“It gives us a good platform going into two home games and obviously the two home games are important as well.”

“But then you go to November, there’s two more games and they’re going to be important. So the whole process is truncated in a short period of time, but we understand what we have to do.”

Oli Burke, who scored a hat-trick for Union Berlin against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga previously this month, and in-form Hearts attacker Lawrence Shankland have no place in Clarke’s team.

According to Clarke, he kept an eye on both players’ recent performance but chose to pick other stars who helped Scotland win the first two group games.

Also Read: Wales squad for friendly against England & 2026 World Cup qualifier against Belgium

Scotland squad for October international break

Goalkeepers: Gordon (Heart of Midlothian), Gunn (Nottingham Forest), Kelly (Rangers).

Defenders: Hanley (Hibernian), Hendry (Al-Etiffaq), Hickey (Brentford), McKenna (Dinamo Zagreb), Ralston (Celtic), Robertson (Liverpool), Souttar (Rangers), Tierney (Celtic).

Midfielders: Christie (Bournemouth), Ferguson (Bologna), Gannon Doak (Bournemouth), Gilmour (Napoli), McGinn (Aston Villa), McLean (Norwich City), McTominay (Napoli), Miller (Udinese).

Forwards: Adams (Torino), Bowie (Hibernian), Dykes (Birmingham City), Hirst (Ipswich Town).

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