Tartan Army excited for World Cup despite tough draw for Scotland

The Tartan Army have been reacting to a “tough” World Cup draw which paired the Scotland men’s team against five-time winners Brazil as well as Morocco and Haiti.

Venues for the matches will be announced on Saturday but the the Group C fixtures will all be played in the US across Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Miami.

Manager Steve Clarke was in the audience for the ceremony at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC where it was confirmed Scotland will face Haiti on 13 June.

They will then take on Morocco – who are ranked 11th in the world – on 19 June before lining up against top seeds Brazil on 24 June.

Afterwards Clarke said Scotland can “bring a little bit of magic” to the tournament after qualifying for the first time in 28 years.

Last time round the national side, managed by the late Craig Brown, were also drawn against the then defending champions Brazil and Morocco.

The 2026 edition will feature 48 teams and be played from 11 June to 19 July in 16 cities across the US, Canada and Mexico.

Scotland secured automatic qualification last month after a thrilling 4-2 Hampden victory over Denmark.

In Glasgow, scores of fans followed the draw at a special watch event in the Barras Art and Design venue.

John Plott was at the heart of the festivities, dressed in a Batman-Saltire costume.

He was also in the crowd for the opening match of the 1998 tournament, when Scotland took on Brazil in Paris.

And he intends to be in the US for the re-match next summer.

Brimming with confidence, John told BBC Scotland News: “We’re due to give Brazil one.

“We’re going to go far in this tournament and I’m going to be there.

“Batman is going from Gotham to Glasgow to global.”

Lewis Kinloch, 12, was following the draw with his mother, Sarah Jane.

He said: “I think we might get through. I’m excited.”

Sarah Jane said: “We went to Germany and go to home games.

“I don’t know if we’ll make it to the States but we’ll certainly be watching and there will be lots of parties here.”

Earlier this week Daris Nesbitt told BBC Scotland News how he had reserved 22 hotels across the the host nations.

After the ceremony, he said: “I pre-booked flights to Boston on Wednesday from Barcelona.

“I now only need to book a cheap one-way flight from a UK airport.

“I’m delighted we are on the east coast.”

The IT analyst will fly out on 10 June and admits Scotland could have faced easier opponents.

He said: “It will be a very tough group but if we want to qualify we need to beat the good teams.

“It won’t be easy but we need to keep the faith.”

One fan who has reason to be extra excited about the draw is Halina Rifai.

She is half-Moroccan but grew up in Dunoon, Argyll and Bute.

Halina now lives in Glasgow with Scotland-mad husband Stuart and the couple hope to be in the US when the teams meet on 19 June.

She told BBC Scotland that she was in disbelief at the draw but would support both teams during the game.

Halina said: “My heart was in my chest watching the draw. I just thought I was going to throw up.

“I will feel joy and heartbreak equally no matter what happens.

“I’ll probably cry regardless of the result.”

There has already been some joking in her family group chat, with one text message reading “divorce incoming” and “it’s going to kick-off in your house”.

She said it’s a really weird symmetry between Scotland’s last World Cup outing.

“I feel like I’m back in 1998 again. It’s a weird kid of excitement.

“I know for a fact that both Scotland fans and Morocco fans will show a lot a lot of love for each other so it will be a really special game.”

Steve Clarke’s reaction after learning Scotland’s opponents was: “Bring it on”.

He told BBC Sport Scotland: “The draw’s fantastic. One of the big things in my head was no European teams.

“So we’re playing three top sides from three different continents of the world and that’s what the World Cup’s all about.”

Midfielder Ryan Christie told BBC Sportscene: “You can’t ask for more exciting games. I’m sure me and the rest of the boys are buzzing for it.”

Christie joked that he feared he had “jinxed” Scotland’s draw.

He said: “Everybody’s been asking me who I’ve wanted, I’ve been saying Brazil the whole week and then they came out and I thought, maybe I shouldn’t be saying that.

“Brazil was one of my favourite international teams growing up.”

Scotland striker, Lyndon Dykes told the programme he was feeling confident after the “tough draw”.

He said: “Obviously, you’ve got massive teams in there but I don’t think it’s something we should shy away (from).

“It’s the World Cup you’re going to get hard teams.

“We’ve faced hard teams before, so we should be going into it full of confidence, I think.”

Scotland faced Brazil and Morocco in the 1998 World Cup but have never played Haiti, who are returning to the tournament for the first time in 52 years.

Last time round the national team lost 2-1 in the opening match against reigning world champions Brazil in Paris.

A Craig Burley goal secured a 1-1 draw in the second game against Norway in Bordeaux.

But in the final group game in Saint-Étienne Scotland went down 3-0 to Morocco to once again miss out on the knock-out stages.