Following Steve Clarke’s World Cup squad announcement, the SNN Sports journalists lodged their predictions for Scotland’s first World Cup in 28 years.
Winners
Declan: Spain- I’ve swayed between Spain, France and even Argentina. I’m going Spain at the last minute as there’s something about the France squad I’m unsure about and I don’t think an ageing Argentina squad can go back-to-back. Spain have also been absolutely terrific since the Euros and I think they’ll continue that form and win their second World Cup.
Mack: Spain- There’s not as many superstars as squads of their past, which can sometimes equate to less egos. They done fantastic at the Euros two years ago. I fully expect them to carry that form into this summer.
Fayez: France- I think their strength in depth is simply too strong for everyone else.
Liam: Spain- I feel they have so much quality in which they’ll be very strong and win the entire competition. Players like Yamal will be key to their success in winning the World Cup.
Top goalscorer
Declan: Erling Haaland- Not only do I think he’s the best striker in the world, I think he’s already one of the best strikers ever. Norway were brilliant during qualifying and scored a lot of goals. I’ve got them to get to the semi-final meaning they’ll be there to the end. I can see Haaland bagging a lot of goals on the way there.
Mack: Harry Kane- A bit of a cop out to predict world’s best striker to be the best goalscorer. But even by his own standards he’s scoring at an outrageous rate, and will be leading the line for one of the tournament’s favourites.
Fayez: Harry Kane- He’s had an incredible season with Bayern Munich and will rack up a number of goals, especially if England can get some favourable ties.
Liam: Kylian Mbappe- Despite not winning the World Cup, I think Mbappe will be top goalscorer as he’s done for many years with both PSG and Real Madrid.
Dark horses
Declan: Ecuador- I don’t want to call Haaland that good and then call his team the dark horses. Ecuador have went under the radar for their qualifying campaign, they look a really hard team to beat thanks to a brilliant defence.
Mack: Norway- They’ve got such a strong squad and that’s before you even get to Erling Haaland. They never lost a game in qualifying and will go into their first World Cup in 28 years with a loads of momentum.
Fayez: Norway or Japan- Norway were brilliant in qualifying and have a number of quality players, I think they could seriously go on a deep run.
As for Japan, they’ve really flown under the radar with a solid squad and have shown great form in their friendly wins over Brazil, England and of course, Scotland. I think they can definitely give the big teams a shock this tournament.
Liam: Japan- As we’ve seen in recent months, they look a very good squad as we of course saw at Hampden as well as against England and I just feel they may cause a few shocks along the way.
Flops
Declan: Germany- Granted they’ve not made it out of the groups in the last two World Cups, but that shouldn’t be normal for a country with four World Cups and one of the best footballing histories. Whilst I think they’ll make it out of the group this time round, I’ve got them to finish behind Ecuador and go home shortly after.
Mack: France- I just think everything that’s went on with Mbappe at Real Madrid could potentially carry on into the France setup. they are a side that should go far, but I think a lack of cohesion amongst the players will make room for an early exit.
Fayez: Belgium- They’ve always been perennial underachievers. The golden generation never lived up to the hype with many of those players in their prime, I don’t think the squad is strong enough to have the tournament you’d expect from a team like them. I don’t think they’ll have a shock exit like in 2022, but I can’t see them going far in the knockout stage.
Liam: Belgium- A team that seems to be declining in quality and a team who I don’t think will do as good as they did in the past. Although they still have KDB and Doku, I still don’t believe they have enough quality to go far in this tournament.
How far will Scotland go?
Declan: Group stages- The squad doesn’t fill me with confidence, the last international break doesn’t fill me with confidence and our group doesn’t do that either. I don’t think we can beat Haiti by enough goals (beating them isn’t even a guarantee) and I just don’t know where that elusive fourth point will come from.
Mack: Group stages- I’m forever a pessimist, I don’t see Scotland performing particularly well. We need to beat Haiti by a lot of goals and I simply don’t think we have the style of play to do that.
Fayez: Round of 32- I believe that Scotland will get out of the group stages for the first time. Being one of the best 3rd place teams is most likely. You have to expect the boys will get the jobs done against Haiti (although I think it’ll be a tough watch) and can be competitive in the games against Morocco and Brazil. Depending on how the other teams place we could be in for a difficult first knockout tied I think that’ll be the end for us. Getting into the knockout stages will be the aim for the team and if they do that, I think it’ll be considered a successful tournament.
Liam: Knockout stages- I think Scotland will finish 3rd in the group and hopefully continue to progress.
