Scotland have been forced to pull out of a World Cup warm-up game just seven days before their tournament opener, as injury fears hit Steve Clarke’s squad. The team was scheduled to face Norway in an unofficial, behind-closed-doors training match at their Charlotte base on Monday, but the game was cancelled due to slight injury concerns within the camp.
Norwegian FA media manager Morten Morisbak Skjonsberg confirmed: "It is a poorly kept secret that we were supposed to play a training match against Scotland on Monday. Today we learned that Scotland unfortunately had to withdraw from the agreement due to injuries. Instead, we will train at Greensboro." Norway boss Stale Solbakken added: "The cancellation means I will make more changes in our game against Morocco. The idea of playing Scotland was that we could get some minutes in the legs of the guys who don’t play in the Morocco game."
“Scotland cancelled a training match against Norway due to injury fears days before their World Cup opener.”
The setback comes after a commanding 4-0 win over Bolivia, which left Clarke with what he called "fantastic problems." Reflecting on the performance, Clarke told BBC Scotland: "For once, I got everything I asked for - no injuries, a performance and a good result." But the emphatic victory also created a selection headache, particularly in goal. Angus Gunn, confirmed as Scotland's 'number one' when squad numbers were released, had little to do against Bolivia but made one memorable save and was the only player to last the full 90 minutes. Meanwhile, veteran Craig Gordon, 43, played 77 minutes against Curacao the previous week and is expected to finally feature at a major tournament after missing Euro 2024 due to a shoulder injury.
"I've got some decisions to make," Clarke admitted after the Bolivia win. "The starting XI becomes a fixation, but this is a tournament for your finishing XI." He also praised the defensive solidity, saying: "Me being me, I was really happy with the defensive work they did, the way they dropped down, kept the team…"
With the Norway game off, Scotland's preparations are all but finished. Clarke remained upbeat: "We are as well prepared as we can be at this stage. Obviously, you don't always get everything you want in terms of preparation. We went to Florida for heat and humidity and we got the humidity but a lot of rain. We probably didn't get the heat we expected but we got that heat in the first half today and I thought we handled it well. As much as we have done up until now then we have prepared as well as we can and we will prepare well this week and make sure we start the tournament well."
Scotland open their Group C campaign against Haiti in Foxborough next Sunday, before facing Morocco and Brazil.