Scotland dealt blow as Billy Gilmour ruled out of World Cup with knee injury
The 24-year-old Napoli playmaker was forced off in Saturday’s 4-1 friendly win over Curacao at Barclays Hampden.
Scotland boss Steve Clarke was left “devastated” for Billy Gilmour after the midfielder was ruled out of the 2026 World Cup through a knee injury.
The 24-year-old Napoli playmaker was forced off in Saturday’s 4-1 friendly win over Curacao at Barclays Hampden.
Gilmour came off second best in a challenge but was able to walk off the pitch and was taken for a scan, with Clarke afterwards admitting in the post-match media conference that he was “100 per cent worried” about his fellow Ayrshireman’s prospects of making it to the USA.
Later on Saturday night, a statement on the Scottish Football Association’s official website confirmed Gilmour would not be on the plane to the Florida training camp on Sunday.
The statement read: “We regret to announce that the knee injury sustained by Billy Gilmour in today’s win over Curacao will rule him out of participation in FIFA World Cup 2026.
“Everyone involved with the Scotland men’s national team wishes Billy a speedy recovery.
“He will now return to his club, SSC Napoli, to commence rehabilitation.”
Clarke said: “I am devastated for Billy because he has been an integral part of our World Cup qualifying campaign.
“The timing of this injury is so, so cruel and we all feel for him.
“He knows what we all think of him as a footballer and a person and while no words will give him any comfort tonight, I am certain Billy will have many major tournaments ahead of him in the future.”
Manchester United’s Tyler Fletcher, the 19-year-old son of former Scotland captain Darren Fletcher, came on at half-time against Dick Advocaat’s side to make his international debut and made a big impression on Clarke, who has a decision to make about Gilmour’s replacement.
Fletcher is not in the 26-man squad named by the Scotland boss, but was one of five young players given the chance to join them for training over the past week to boost numbers and gain experience.
Asked at Barclays Hampden about his options if he is forced to make a change to his squad, Clarke said: “Obviously I’ve got Connor Barron, Andy Irving, Lennon Miller, and you see for yourself how good young Tyler is. I’ll probably keep him awake tonight as well.
“The three that I mentioned are on standby.
“Obviously Tyler joined us this week. He’s trained well this week so he’s a little bit closer than the other three but I’d need to have a big discussion with my staff and decide the best way to go.”
Scotland’s final warm-up game before the finals is against Bolivia in New Jersey on Saturday.
The Scots, who qualified for the World Cup finals for the first time since 1998, are preparing to take on Haiti, Morocco and Brazil as they look to qualify from the group stages for the first time.