Scotland Men's Football Team

Andy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter in Boston

Image source, SNS

Kenny McLean is confident "special" midfielder Scott McTominay will be fit for Scotland's World Cup opener against Haiti on Sunday (02:00 BST).

The Napoli talisman sat out training on Thursday with an upset stomach.

"Mine is alright thankfully," fellow midfielder McLean said. "Hopefully that doesn't spread. Fingers crossed Scott will be fine. I'm sure he will be."

In a side whose strength is its collective unity, McLean says McTominay's individual excellence will be key to Scotland's World Cup hopes.

"I don't need to speak too much on him, everyone knows how big he is," said the Norwich player.

"It's a team effort and always will be, but when you have special, special players like that you want them to be available. I'm sure he will be.

"His preparation has been amazing, apart from maybe something he's eaten along the line. He's up in a mural for a reason. He's an amazing guy, amazing part of the team."

The squad, may of whom are playing in their third major finals, are aiming to become the first Scotland team to progress from the group stage.

"We want to make more history," said the Norwich midfielder. "There's more to come - we believe and I believe.

"Preparation has been amazing, couldn't have gone any better. We need to maximise the opportunity we've got.

"We know how special this can be for us. We know we're in a good place to create more memories. We know it's about what we do and we have everything in place be as good as we can be, create more history and create they memories again.

"We want to make a stamp in this competition. First thing's first we start with Haiti, we don't want to look too far ahead.

"Looking beyond this, there's a lot in place. We have a lot of young boys coming through. Twenty-eight years was way too long, it's not going to be that long again."

Image source, SNS

Morocco, Scotland's second Group C opponents, have had to make two late changes to their World Cup squad.

The 2022 semi-finalists have replaced experienced central defender Nayef Aguerd and left winger Abde Ezzalzouli with Marwane Saadane and Amine Sbai before their opener against Brazil on Saturday.

Ezzalzouli went off at half-time in Sunday's 1-1 warm-up draw with Norway after a collision with a team-mate.

The 24-year-old Real Betis star scored 15 goals and provided 13 assists for the Seville club this season.

Former West Ham centre-back Aguerd, 30, has missed the past three months of action with Marseille because of a groin problem.

Sbai, capped once, is a 23-year-old winger with French club Angers, while Saadane, 34, plays in Saudi Arabia for Al Fateh.

Noussair Mazraoui was forced off with a shoulder knock against Norway but the Manchester United defender is expected to be fit to face Brazil in New Jersey.

Image source, PA Media

Midfielder Scott McTominay will not train with the Scotland squad on Thursday due to illness.

The 29-year-old has a stomach issue but there is no concern about his availability for Sunday's World Cup opener against Haiti (02:00 BST - live on BBC One).

Scott McKenna could train with the squad for the first time this week in Charlotte.

After their session on Thursday Scotland will travel to Boston, where they start their first World Cup campaign since 1998.

If fit, McTominay would be a certain starter for Steve Clarke having been a key player and scorer for Scotland.

The Napoli midfielder scored in Saturday's 4-0 friendly win over Bolivia.

Amy Canavan
BBC Sport Scotland in Charlotte, North Carolina

Image source, Reuters

Ryan Christie has never hid his love of playing for Scotland. That night in Serbia, anyone?

So it'll be of no surprise to anyone that the midfielder is getting all giddy at the prospect of featuring at the World Cup across the coming days and weeks.

"I naturally take a lot of pride playing for Scotland," the 31-year-old said on The Wayne Rooney Show.

"We're a very patriotic country, everybody absolutely loves representing and when we get to play at the World Cup - the pinnacle of football for me - I'm pinching myself a little bit that I'll get that chance."

He won't snub any start, but Brazil in the final Group C game is one he can't help but admit would be "a cool game to be a part of".

"It's proper exciting," the Bournemouth man added.

"Everyone was thinking do you want an easy group, but I think you just want an iconic game.

"Playing Brazil, like, when I was growing up, that was the international team.

"My memories of the World Cup in 2002 and of them are just unbelievable, so it'll be a cool game to be part of."

Image source, Getty Images

The match officials have been announced for Scotland's World Cup opener against Haiti in Boston.

Mustapha Ghorbal will referee the game on 13 June, with Algerian compatriots as his assistants.

The fourth official is from Spain, as is the reserve assistant referee.

Ghorbal, 40, has been a Fifa referee since 2014 and was in charge of two group stage matches at the 2022 World Cup.

He oversaw the Egypt v Ivory Coast quarter-final at the Africa Cup of Nations in January.

Amy Canavan
BBC Sport Scotland at Atrium Health Performance Park, North Carolina

Image source, PA Media

There are worse ways to spend your 24th birthday than at your country's first World Cup base camp in 28 years, even if you can't tuck into any cake.

Politely passing on the sugary gift from the Fifa broadcasters, Aaron Hickey admits it's a dream come true just to be here.

Being part of this Scotland squad is a fantastic achievement for all, but it maybe resonates a little more for the full-back who missed out on Euro 2024 through injury.

And he admitted there was an emphasis on "managing his minutes" at Brentford during another injury-hit season, with "the bigger picture" in sight.

"It definitely makes you stronger, mentally," Hickey said of his experiences with injuries.

"Now that I'm sitting here, thinking back about how hard it was, there were tough, tough times, but now I'm just happy to be here, trying not to focus on the past and to focus on my football."

Hickey managed just eight Premier League starts in 2025-26, but is a first pick for Scotland head coach Steve Clarke.

The former Hearts and Bologna defender certainly caught the eye in Saturday's warm-up win against Bolivia, combining well with Ben Gannon-Doak down the right flank.

"It's exciting for myself, playing with Doaky," he explained. "He's a clever young player.

"We're still getting used to each other, what we do and how we link up.

"It's been good getting to know him better as a person and the link up has been good, so we're looking forward to the games."

With the Scottish media circling the untouched cake, a smiling Hickey left saying: "I'll not eat it, honest. Help yourselves, it smells amazing."

Jane Lewis
BBC Sport Scotland in Charlotte, North Carolina

Image source, Getty Images

The Scotland squad were back in training on Wednesday after a day off and all the players were involved with the exception of defender Scott McKenna.

The Dinamo Zagreb centre-back has not trained yet this week, so it wasn't a surprise and it's understood his issue isn't too serious.

On their day off, some of the squad spent time with a local American football side, taking in their practice and getting to chat to some of their players.

Hopefully they didn't pick up any tackle tips...