Sport / ‘We know we can do it’ – Scotland fan excited for winner-takes-all World Cup clash
SCOTLAND football fan James Milne has already started saving up money to head to the World Cup in North America next year – the team just need to get there now.
The Shetland man’s dreams may become reality tonight (Tuesday) as he heads to Glasgow to watch Scotland face Denmark at Hampden for a ‘winner takes all’ World Cup qualifying match.
The stakes are massive. If Scotland win, they will automatically book their place in a World Cup for the first time since 1998.
If they do not win, Denmark will top the qualifying group and go through – leaving Scotland with the task of play-offs instead to qualify, against some potentially tricky opponents.
Speaking to Shetland News ahead of the big match, Milne – who has followed the team across the globe for years – described Scotland’s topsy-turvy World Cup qualifying campaign as a “rollercoaster”.
“Getting wins when playing poorly instead of playing good and getting nothing out of it has caused different emotions,” he said.
Scotland’s qualifying campaign opened in September with a 0-0 draw away to Denmark, before a two-nil victory against Belarus.
There was then a 3-1 victory against Greece at Hampden last month, despite a poor performance, before Scotland beat Belarus again, this time 2-1.
At the weekend Scotland lost 3-2 away to Greece but Denmark’s surprise draw against Belarus left Steve Clarke’s men within touching distance of automatic qualification.
“We’re now in the last game, at home, knowing a win will send us to the biggest competition in the world,” Milne said.
He added that after heading to Germany to see Scotland play in Euro 2024, the “next natural step in progression is the World Cup”.
It would be a fair old trip, considering the matches are being held in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
But Milne said the Tartan Army were “loved” in Germany and would be welcomed in North America too.
“To bring that atmosphere to the Americas would be a dream,” he said.
“I started saving right away for the trip – I had a feeling we may just get there.”
Tonight’s game also has extra significance for Milne, as his wife and children will be accompanying him for the first time.
“They’ve been practising Flower of Scotland … it brings a tear to my eye even saying that!”
Scotland last played at the World Cup in France 1998, where they infamously went up against heavyweights Brazil in the opening match and held the game at 1-1 until an own goal with 15 minutes remaining saw the Samba superstars pick up the win.
After a truly barren run of failing to qualify for any international tournaments for two decades, Scotland managed to grab a place at Euro 2020, which was held in 2021 due to the Covid pandemic, before qualifying for Euro 2024 too.
But the World Cup is the biggie, and next year’s tournament is slightly different in that it is expanding from 32 to 48 teams.
So, what is Milne’s all-important prediction for the game tonight? He reckons Scotland can do it – a scrappy game, perhaps, with the team coming from behind to win 2-1 or 3-1.
“There’s not a single fan going tonight expecting us to lie down, after they drew with Belarus, we know we can do it,” Milne said.
“We do have the safety net of the play-offs, but we want to get this done and dusted.”
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