Andy Robertson reveals crucial John McGinn and Scott McTominay moment that set Scotland on path to World Cup

Scotland captain Andy Robertson admits that playing in front of attendances in the early days of Steve Clarke's managerial reign had a huge impact on the squad’s desire to make it back to the World Cup.

The Liverpool left-back made his debut for the country over 12 years ago as a late substitute during a 1-0 friendly victory against Poland, and has gone on to become Scotland’s second most capped player of all time, with 92 caps. Named in the squad for this summer’s World Cup this week, he’ll captain the side on their first appearance at the tournament since 1998.

Expected to lead the side out when they open their campaign against Haiti at the Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, Robertson admits that the performance in the 4-2 win over Denmark last November, which sealed their return to the World Cup after a 28-year absence, was born out of the squad’s desire to make Scotland fans proud again after decades of disappointment.

Scott McTominay and Andy Robertson were both left disappointed at Euro 2024 as Scotland crashed out at the group stage. | SNS Group

"I spent a couple of days up in Scotland after that [Denmark] game,” Robertson told The Overlap. “I had a couple of days off, and the most pleasing things for me was seeing all the Scotland flags out in windows, and the amount of Scotland shirts you would see in the street. We've not always had that, sometimes we've had tough times. When the gaffer [Gordon Strachan] left, a lot of players went with him. We could have maybe done with a slower transition. We got thrown straight in.

“When Steve Clarke first came in [2019] and I got the captaincy, it had an impact on all of us because we were only playing in front of 10k or 12k people. The likes of me and [John] McGinn had to step up at 23 or 24 years old. [Scott] McTominay was even younger, maybe 21 or 20. For us to be on that journey and now going to the World Cup is unbelievable. We are such a good group of lads, we just want to go over there and make more history.”

Drawn in Group C of the tournament, Clarke’s side will also face Morocco and Brazil in their opening fixtures as they look to seal a place in the knockout stages of a major finals for the first time in the nation’s history. Expected to leave Liverpool on a free transfer following the expiry of his contract next month, Roberson still has one more league game to play for the Reds before he meets up with his Scotland teammates for the pre-tournament friendly against Curacao on May 30. He admits excitement for the World Cup is beginning to build.

"It's one of them ones you don't want to think about too much,” Robertson continued. “I can go back to the Denmark game, and it was the most emotional I've been after a game. To achieve it [qualifying for the World Cup] after not doing it since 1998, you then start thinking about it. Now we're so close. The squad got announced this week, and we meet up the week after. We're now right close to it, and the excitement is building. All of a sudden the group chat is going off again, and everyone's trying to get it going again. It's just so exciting.

"Me and McGin had to step up at 23 or 24 years old," recalls Robertson of the early days of the Steve Clarke reign. | SNS Group

"I'm lucky to have had a lot of good achievements, but the biggest one is being captain of my country. When you were little, you never have dreams of playing for Liverpool, but I did have dreams of playing for Scotland. The one thing we all have is we want to play for our country. But to captain your country, especially during such an era is even more special.”

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