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ShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleStephen BrownandDanielle Malgwi,South EastA football supporter who attended the 1966 World Cup final has travelled to the US in the hope of seeing England win this year's tournament. Dave Thompson, from Canterbury in Kent, has seen the Three Lions play roughly 150 matches over the last 60 years. Thompson, who was five years old when he saw England defeat West Germany at Wembley Stadium in 1966, said he believed England could win it again in 2026. But having attended matches consistently since 2010, Thompson said that this tournament would be his last due to rising costs. "It's not for fans anymore. This tournament has proved it," Thompson told BBC Radio Kent. "The ticket prices have put a lot of people off. They're avoiding the friendlies as well, so there's not been a great deal of atmosphere." In December, Fifa introduced a small number of "more affordable" $60 (£45) tickets for all 104 matches at the 2026 World Cup following criticism of its pricing structure for the tournament. Since then, the sport governing body's practices are being investigated by the attorney generals of New York and New Jersey for "artificially inflating prices" and "misleading fans". Thompson said that his trip, including travel and tickets, had cost him about £20,000. "I've been going to the tournaments since 2010, so I didn't want to stop," he said. He added that he did not want to "tempt fate" by not attending this year. Thompson said that he will only be attending England matches due to the cost, adding that he has tickets for the sides group stage matches so far. "It's not worth going to watch another team when you've got to pay five or six hundred dollars to watch a team that you're not really following," he said.

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The rise and rise of 'Meatball' McGinn In the days following Unai Emery's appointment as Aston Villa head coach, captain John McGinn was north of the border catching up with some old friends. Some classic west of Scotland pessimism had set in. "He's going to think 'Who's this wee Scottish guy?'" he told his mates in a panic, fearing the worst about his place in how the Spaniard would reshape Villa. If he was to replay that scene in his head almost four years on, he would surely find it difficult not to chuckle at his own expense. McGinn lifted Villa's first major silverware in 30 years last month and the 31-year-old has just enjoyed his highest-scoring season at club level. It is the latest in a line of success stories McGinn has been integral to. At St Mirren he was part of their first cup triumph in 26 years while he played the full 90 minutes when Hibernian ended their 114-year wait for another Scottish Cup. He will feature in his nation's first men's World Cup match in 28 years on Sunday (02:00 BST) after playing a key role in back-to-back European Championship qualifications. Whatever jersey he has on, success seems to follow the all-action midfielder. It feels more like a direct relationship than pure coincidence. Defying the odds and hitting new heights has been the tale of a relentless ascent - although it is one that was a millimetre away from cruelly ending before it had really started. BBC Scotland charts the rise of a modern-day Scotland great, from Clydebank council pitches to football's grandest stage. Set up BBC Sport website and app to show you more Scotland this World Cup The chances of a youngster in the UK achieving their dream of making it in the professional game are lower than 1%, so it is quite something for McGinn and his two older brothers to have all managed it. Paul, a former postman, played at Queen's Park alongside Scotland internationals Andy Robertson and Lawrence Shankland. He is now captain of a thriving Motherwell side. His other older brother, Stephen, who also played for St Mirren, seems destined for a successful coaching career given the impressive work he has done as part of Falkirk's backroom team. His late grandfather, Jack, was Scottish FA president and Celtic chairman. His mum, Mary, taught her youngest son at school and even coached his school team. Born and raised in a working-class area on the outskirts of Glasgow, McGinn takes pride in the fact his rise has taken a different path from many Premier League players. He buzzed about the streets of Clydebank while his brothers tried to make their way in the game. 'No ball games' signs posed a problem - as they did for many 90s kids on west of Scotland council estates - but McGinn chose to rebel. Well, his mum did. After pestering the local council into submission, two sets of goals were hammered into a nearby patch of gravel where the McGinn brothers, extended family and friends could run wild. Without that persistence from mum, who knows where the careers of her sons would have gone, if anywhere. McGinn spent day and night dreaming of becoming Celtic great Henrik Larsson on that red ash pitch. Then it became Shunsuke Nakamura. But when Stephen broke into the St Mirren side, John had a new hero. Within minutes of the gates opening in Paisley, McGinn was sitting front row to see his big brother warm up. Watching those experiences drove him and, within a few years, he was in St Mirren's first team. "He was a revelation," said former manager Danny Lennon. "He wasn't the biggest, but he had the heart of a lion," added the ex-Buddies boss, who led the Paisley club to their 2013 League Cup triumph. McGinn thought his career had peaked that night, which ended with the youngster being carried out of a Glasgow pub and bundled into a taxi home. The idea that McGinn's career had hit its ceiling could not have been further off the mark, but he was lucky to have one at all two years later. A training-ground prank went horribly wrong when St Mirren team-mate Steven Thompson injured McGinn by piercing his thigh with a spiked pole. McGinn revealed he would have "bled out in a minute" had he been punctured a millimetre closer to his femoral artery. A breakthrough spell at St Mirren came to an end in 2015, and he joined a Hibs side then in the second tier after potential moves to Wigan and Houston Dynamo failed to materialise. He experienced Scottish Cup glory with Alan Stubbs, but his game went to a new level under Neil Lennon, who described McGinn as "the fulcrum" of his team. But the former Celtic boss knew how to give his star man tough love. Boasting the reputation of the Championship's top performer, Lennon told McGinn "you're not even the best player in your house" in the aftermath of a defeat to brother Stephen's St Mirren. He was later fined for taking a shortcut home by leaving Paisley with his family rather than travelling on the team bus back to Leith. McGinn was at a McDonald's drive-through when a furious Lennon phoned. With Stephen in the car with him, McGinn was told it was the "closest you've got to your brother all night". Kevin Bridges: In Search of the Beautiful Game Together with Scott Allan and Dylan McGeouch, Lennon's Hibs midfield became one of the most formidable in the country after their promotion back to the top flight. "Some of the games there would be boys on his shoulders trying to get the ball off him and he would never lose it," his former team-mate Allan tells BBC Scotland. "I was expecting him to be all action and a wee bit loose with the ball, but I was most surprised about how good he was technically. "That's not mentioned enough, but that's because you always see his fight and drive." In post-match father-son debriefs, Allan's dad had no problem letting his boy know he had underperformed. With McGinn, however, it was different, mainly because it rarely happened. "My dad would always say to me: 'John can't have a bad game, he's always involved'," Allan recalls. "And the way he uses his bum to protect the ball... I show my own son that when he's playing football. It's such a bizarre thing to say, but it's such a crucial tool." That ability to eliminate players using his backside to repel opposition players has become a trademark move. His physique had been questioned and he has conceded he is "no stick man" and "will never be ripped to shreds". He just wanted to be noticed for using his body "in a unique way" - and Villa did, paying £2.75m for his services as Celtic failed to stump up the cash. That now looks a colossal misstep from the Scottish champions, given the bargain McGinn has proved to be south of the border. Previous imageNext imageSlide 1 of 3, John McGinn, McGinn has been part of unprecedented success at each of his clubs, most recently winning the Europa League with VillaEnd of image galleryA crunching tackle at the Holte End against Wigan on his Villa debut endeared him to the support. His first goal, a wonder strike against Sheffield Wednesday, came a month later. He ended his first campaign in Birmingham by scoring the winner in the Championship play-off final against Derby at Wembley. It is poignant that the lad responsible for taking Villa back to the Premier League in 2019 went on to lift the Europa League as captain seven years later. He has become a legend at the club with more still to give, but it is his bubbly, larger-than-life character that sets him apart from most. When revealing to BBC Sport in 2022 why he was given the nickname 'Meatball', he said it was born from him having a "big, round head" with a buzzcut during his days at St Mirren. Last week, he was comfortable admitting to BBC Scotland that he had packed a European plug adapter for his summer trip to the US. McGinn does not take himself too seriously - possibly because he knows if he did that he would be brought crashing back down to earth by his grounded family and friends. "He's the same person he is now as he was back then," Allan adds. "That's a huge credit to himself and his parents." McGinn was called up and capped for his nation when playing in Scotland's second tier. That is rare. His ability helped earn him that, of course, but it was an off-field moment that Gordon Strachan noticed when spying on the Under-21s that told the head coach he was right for his squad. With the kit man struggling to remove equipment from the team bus, McGinn was the only player to offer a helping hand as his team-mates headed straight for the training pitch. "That told me right away what he is about - he looks after people," Strachan said. McGinn has recently received praise from fans for voicing concerns to Kevin Bridges about World Cup ticket and travel costs in a new BBC documentary. Those issues were brought up as McGinn waited for his full Scottish breakfast - with an "extra tattie scone" - being cooked up in his local Clydebank cafe. After 10 years, 86 caps and 10 goals, there is a scenario in which this man of the people retires as Scotland's men's leading scorer and most-capped player. He is 16 appearances off the record set by Sir Kenny Dalglish, whose joint landmark goals tally with Denis Law is 10 better than McGinn's. The problem he has as far as the caps milestone is concerned, is his captain Andy Robertson is above him and showing no signs of exiting the national side. Robertson's rise has rightly been given the fairytale treatment, but McGinn's is on a similar scale. McGinn is 31 but his story still has pages to fill. Another Champions League campaign is on the way in a Villa side buoyed by long-awaited silverware. First, however, there is a World Cup to savour. McGinn is a Harry Potter fanatic, but there is no fiction about the story of the boy from Clydebank who will in the coming weeks attempt to sprinkle more magic on the career of his dreams. Everything you need to know about the World Cup

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On a veranda at the Scotland squad hotel, captain Graeme Souness is discussing the players he is trying to sign for Rangers. Manager Alex Ferguson is in his room mulling over interest from Arsenal and Tottenham. And thousands of miles away, Kenny Dalglish - the country's most-capped player - is sitting idle. To say the national team's Mexico 1986 campaign was infused with intrigue would be doing the dictionary a disservice. After all, this was a campaign in which the manager died in the dressing room before qualification was clinched. His replacement was the greatest the game has ever seen. Three future national team bosses were on bibs and cones duty. The player-managers of two of Britain's biggest clubs were named in the squad. As, belatedly, was a striker from European Cup finalists Barcelona. And the Scottish FA president almost sparked a diplomatic incident by labelling opponents "scum". Furthermore, in the build-up you had players drinking mudslingers with Rod Stewart, hanging out of stretch limos on Sunset Boulevard, appearing on Grandstand drunk and - apparently - heckling John McEnroe at the Australian Open. Scotland had set up that tie on a wretched night in Cardiff, their joy stolen by the death of Jock Stein in the immediate aftermath of a 1-1 draw with Wales. That left assistant Ferguson to take charge for the play-off, leading the side to a 2-0 aggregate win after a goalless meeting down under. Goalkeeper Alan Rough remembers "a right good carry on" on the flight home after a four-day trip that included a night out at a Scottish social club, intoxicated striker David Speedie having to be carried back to the hotel for a live BBC interview with David Coleman, and the same player passing out from sunstroke after a putting competition got a little too heated. Speedie would be excluded from Ferguson's squad for the finals, but it was the absence of another name that caused controversy. Alan Hansen had won the English double with Liverpool but failed to make the final 22, with the then-Aberdeen manager preferring Pittodrie partnership Willie Miller and Alex McLeish. "I don't think Alan had been playing much," says Miller. "I don't know if conversations were had but it's a long way to go if you're not starting." Within days, Hansen's close friend and Liverpool player-manager Kenny Dalglish - 35 and preparing for a fourth finals - withdrew with a knee problem. Some said the two events were not unrelated. Dalglish's place would be taken by Barcelona's Steve Archibald as the squad travelled to Santa Fe in New Mexico for an altitude training camp. Those involved speak fondly of those two weeks, which started with an irate Ferguson demanding the Scottish FA suits vacate their first-class seats on the plane for the players, and ended with an eventful two-day stay in Los Angeles. Winger Eamonn Bannon recalls scoring twice in a friendly against "Mickey Mouse local team" LA Heat before a reunion with his brother. Others tell conflicting tales about meeting with Rod Stewart... Miller believes his invitation got lost in the post; coach Craig Brown said Ferguson gave the players the night off on the condition they didn't go to a party at the singer's house; Bannon reckons a select group were permitted to show face and were a little worse for wear the next day. "It was fantastic," he says. "We never made Rod's house, though. We met him at some restaurant and he started making us mudslingers. Within an hour, we were all half cut and he disappeared. "Then a stretch limo turned up to take us home. There was a phone in it and I'll never forget wee Charlie Nicholas hanging out of the sunroof calling his maw in Maryhill while we were driving down Sunset Boulevard." After all that, Scotland were the last team to arrive in Mexico and took up residence in the middle of an Aztec heritage site. Miller describes it as "a wee bit more spartan" than the squad had grown accustomed to, while Bannon remembers a hairy police escort from the airport and "individual rooms that were like little caves with a tiny window". But the focus was on the opening game with Denmark. They might have been among the best in Europe but the Danes were also adept at the other side of the game, successfully hobbling Nicholas, whose selection with Paul Sturrock caused Archibald to storm out of a team meeting in a huff. As it was, the Scots were left to rue their profligacy as Preben Elkjaer Larsen's goal gave the Danes victory. "I always thought the first game was the one," says Rough. "You have to take something, especially with West Germany next." After impressing from the bench, Bannon started against Franz Beckenbauer's side in a game best remembered for Gordon Strachan's attempt to hurdle the hoarding after giving Scotland an early lead. Miller describes it as "like playing on a different planet"; Bannon remembers being unable to muster the energy to join the celebrations for Strachan's 18th-minute goal; while third-choice goalkeeper Rough "had the Ambre Solaire on" in the stands. Archibald had been restored to the XI, with Strachan playing off him. The ploy was designed to deceive the Germans, but it later emerged they had managed to watch a Scotland closed training session. "Wee Berti Vogts told us he tried to get in but was turned away," the late Brown previously said of the then Germany assistant and future Scotland boss. "But then he saw a guy going into the stadium to set up a Coca-Cola stall, so he took a shot of his uniform and barrow and rolled it in so he could watch." Two defeats in two games left Scotland needing to beat Uruguay to advance to the last 16 and Ferguson with a decision to make. Captain Souness, by then 33, had struggled with the heat and the altitude and, after a meeting of the coaches, it was agreed he would be left out. The manager went to the midfielder's room to break the news, which was apparently met without fuss. A couple of months before, it had been announced Souness would be leaving Sampdoria to revolutionise Rangers. A Rangers side that would threaten Ferguson's Aberdeen and a Dundee United team represented in Mexico by five players. Neither Miller nor Bannon recalls any tensions as a consequence, although the former suggests the dynamic had shifted given more than half the squad were Scotland-based, and the latter recalls whispered conversations between the captain and defender Richard Gough, who would arrive at Ibrox the next summer. "His room was two doors down from mine and I chatted to him a lot," says Rough. "He told me he was trying to sign Chris Woods and Terry Butcher, who were both in the England squad, and I just laughed. "But you could see he was really trying to learn about the Scottish game." Being confined to the sidelines for the final game with Uruguay would afford Souness further opportunity to do so, with seven domestic-based players in the XI. And they would face just 10 South Americans for almost the whole contest, after Jose Batista was dismissed inside a minute for assaulting Strachan. Bannon "didn't think wee Gordon was going to get up" after what Miller calls a "savaging", while Rough says such treatment extended to the Uruguay fans, who spat and threw coins at the Scotland bench. So incensed was Scottish FA president Ernie Walker, he told the global media that "we found ourselves on the field with cheats and cowards and we were associated with the scum of world football". None of that changed the fact Ferguson's side were unable to muster the goal that would have put them through. The best chance fell to Liverpool's Steve Nicol, but his effort was clawed clear and the Scots were out after a goalless draw. There would be further disappointment for Rough after he arrived home. An imposing hi-fi, bought "for a right few bob" by himself and room-mate Graeme Sharp, became the prize for the winner of a series of inter-squad games. Rough was the victor and lugged the device all the way home as a present for his son. "He was delighted," he recalls. "Then he plugged it in and it blew up." Goalkeepers: Leighton (Aberdeen), Goram (Oldham Ath), Rough (Hibernian) Defenders: Albiston (Man Utd), Gough (Dundee Utd), Malpas (Dundee Utd), McLeish (Aberdeen), Miller (Aberdeen), Narey (Dundee Utd) Midfielders: Aitken (Celtic), Bannon (Dundee Utd), Bett (Aberdeen), Cooper (Rangers), McStay (Celtic), Nicol (Liverpool), Souness (Sampdoria) Strachan (Man Utd) Forwards: Archibald (Barcelona), McAvennie (West Ham), Nicholas (Arsenal), Sharp (Everton), Sturrock (Dundee Utd)

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Storms causing delays to some of the warm-up matches this week have already shown how extreme weather will affect this World Cup. And with more storms forecast, some of the opening games are likely to be affected with the biggest risk to play coming by Monday. Scotland start their campaign in a pleasantly warm and dry Boston on Saturday night (Sunday morning UK time). Then for England, the Texas heat may be uncomfortable for fans leading up to their first match against Croatia in Dallas on Wednesday. For Thursday's opening match in Mexico City, it is likely it will be the altitude not the weather that players and fans will notice. How could extreme weather affect World Cup 2026? AttributionSportPublished9 hours agoOpening match in MexicoThe World Cup officially kicks off on Thursday afternoon (20:00 BST) in Mexico City. South Africa will be taking on one of the hosts Mexico. While the weather forecast shows showers, these shouldn't be particularly heavy. Temperatures will be around average of 23C (73F). Mexico City is however the highest World Cup host city, at around 2,200 metres above sea level. At this altitude the air is thinner and means that there is around 25% less effective oxygen per breath and therefore will have an impact on the players. Thinner air also means that the football will travel faster and further, have less curve and behave more unpredictably. On Monday, Saudi Arabia take on Uruguay at 18:00 ET in Miami where the temperature will be around 30C (86F). With high humidity forecast, it will feel more like 40C (104F). According to the heat index used by Fifa and other sporting organisations to measure how temperature affects the health and body of a person - called the Wet Bulb Global Temperature (WBGT) - a value of above 28C (82F) is widely considered the threshold at which heat stress becomes a significant concern for elite athletes. On Monday, the WBGT is forecast to be around 30C in Miami. This represents a high-risk or extreme environment at a level that Fifpro considers to be unsafe for play. Storms are also in the forecast. If they were to develop within eight miles of the stadium, the match would need to be suspended for at least 30 minutes. This allows players, officials and fans to seek shelter and stay safe from threat of being struck by lightning. Play can resume 30 minutes after the last lightning strike in the area. Texas is one of the hottest states in the US and England fans waiting for their team's first match to begin will be experiencing typical hot weather on Wednesday afternoon. Temperatures into the low thirties are expected and while it should be dry and sunny, there is a chance cloud cover could increase with a few showers. While no thunderstorms are currently forecast, the cloud cover and increased atmospheric moisture will raise the humidity. The 'feels like' temperature is therefore expected to approach 40C. However, the Dallas stadium is one of the World Cup stadiums with a retractable roof and air-conditioning. This will make it much more comfortable - and safer - for players and fans when inside the stadium during the game. Scotland's first game is against Haiti, taking place in Boston on Saturday evening local time - 02:00 BST on Sunday. While it will feel pretty warm with a temperature of around 25C (77F), this is typical for the time of year, and similar to a warm summer day in the UK. To see the latest weather for these and all other World Cup locations, check the searchable forecast here or use the BBC Weather app. How thunderstorms and lightning could impact games at World Cup

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ShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleRichard BakerYorkshireThe largest ever FIFA World Cup kicks off later, taking place across the USA, Canada and Mexico. World Cup fever is well and truly here, with England looking to remedy 60 years of hurt and 47 other countries looking to stop them. Whilst you could watch all 104 games from the comfort of your own home, there are venues all over Yorkshire showing the action from across the pond. In Leeds, The Brotherhood of Pursuits and Pleasures is aiming to show all 104 games live - from the group stages to the final in New Jersey on 19 July. Fans can watch the action across more than 25 screens amongst "packed-out crowds and an electric matchday buzz" in their city centre venue on New Briggate. The venue will show the 01:00, 02:00 and 03:00 GMT kick off matches with its late licence running until 03:00. Owner Seema Dhiman said they would determine how popular the 05:00 matches are before applying for a later licence and the possibility of staying open until the early morning. For England and Scotland's group stage games - live musicians, playing themed music will add to the atmosphere. Dhiman said: "We're a sports bar through and through. When I set up The Brotherhood, it was about sport and nothing else. It'll always come first." Despite the challenges of hosting all 104 games, Dhiman insisted there was no other option. "It wasn't even a decision, it's just what we do," she added. Dhiman said her Leeds venue sold out of tickets for England and Scotland's matches two months ago. An estimated 55 million additional pints are likely to be poured if England make it to the World Cup Final, according to the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA). James Hawkins from the BBPA said the the trade body had been working closely with the government to allow pubs to open during matches into the night. Last month, the association said 161 pubs closed in the first three months of the year across England, Scotland and Wales, equating to the loss of about 2,400 jobs. Earlier this year, the government announced business rates support for pubs after warnings from the sector that further tax changes could lead to more closures. The 15% tax relief for pubs and music venues came into effect in April. Elsewhere, the 02 Academy in Leeds will be staging a large fan park for England's group stage games, hosted by 4TheFans, who claim to be the biggest fan park organisers in the country. Tickets start at £5, whilst a table ticket is also available for £20. Those with more hope than others can buy a ticket for the knockout games already - with a money-back guarantee. At the West End Gold Club in Halifax, their 1906 Club House will be showing the Three Lions in action. The club house will offer free entry alongside drinks and snacks, and if the action on the screens isn't running to script - they are putting on a sweepstake with a chance to win a free "bucket of beer" to keep spirits high. It may be the summer break, but Huddersfield Town will reopen the doors of their Accu Stadium , this time for England's games. Fans can watch the action on big screens in their H Town internal fan zone, with doors open two hours before kick-off. Under 12s go free, whilst adults tickets are priced at £5 to cheer on the Three Lions in their 750-capacity room. Kapital Beer Hall & Restaurant in Sheffield will also be showing every game live across big screens over two floors alongside a pre-match DJ. With its 300-person capacity, the venue is one of the largest in Sheffield to show the football and will offer fans a "European beer hall experience", organisers say. No booking is required but, naturally, arriving early for England's matches is recommended. Many say football is more art and theatre than sport, so fittingly Rotherham's historical Empire Theatre will be screening all England's group fixtures. The theatre, which opened in 1913 and recently underwent restoration, will offer free tickets for the games, whilst fans can take advantage of the two-pint pitchers on sale once inside. Penistone Church FC , the non-league club where England's John Stones started his career, will also be showing the action. The departing Manchester City defender, also known by the nom de plumes of "Penistone Pirlo" and the "Barnsley Beckenbauer" played for PCFC before being scouted by the Tykes. They will be showing the football on several large screens in their clubhouse. The Lysander Arms in York is also promising to show all 104 World Cup games at their pub, complete with a beer garden. The action will be spread across five screens and walk-ins are welcome too. Food from their outdoor Burger Shack and Pizza Oven is also available. Across the city, cocktail bar Manahatta are putting on a two-hour bottomless brunch for all of the three England group stage matches. Fans have to order a main meal to enjoy the bottomless drinks during the game, whilst a live DJ will keep the music flowing behind all the sporting action. Domestic interest in the World Cup starts first with Scotland, who face Haiti in their opener, whilst England's first group match will see them face Croatia (All times BST). Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds , catch up with the latest episode of Look North .

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Ryan Christie was the last Scotland player to touch the ball at Euro 2024. He brought it down, was dispossessed, then referee Facundo Tello blew his whistle before he had the chance to take the throw-in against Hungary. It was familiar agony again for Scotland, their exit confirmed by a 1-0 defeat to a 100th-minute goal. Deflation and disappointment was etched on the players' faces, while the Tartan Army were devastated in the Stuttgart stands. It is hurt the squad are still carrying two years on as they enter their first World Cup in 28 years. "A few of us left that thinking 'what could have been'," Christie said on The Wayne Rooney Show. "So I think this time we've got a bit of a chip on our shoulder that we are going to do something at this tournament. "We are absolutely desperate to be the first team to get out of the group stage, take that extra step and create a bit more history." Two years ago Scotland faced hosts Germany in the tournament opener, a 5-1 defeat that Christie vividly recalls as a "humbling" experience. It's one he points to when discussing the Scots' Group C schedule and rounding it off with the "iconic" game against Brazil. "Everybody's at the World Cup on merit, so there are no easy games," the Bournemouth midfielder said. "I don't think we're expecting that. "But it gives us the chance to get off to a good start. You probably look at the group and that's the easiest on paper. "You'd rather face them than Brazil first. I know that from facing Germany at the opening of the last Euros. That was a humbling experience. "I'm still having nightmares about that. But hopefully we can learn from that experience and start this one a bit better." Scotland's Super Mario and social butterfly who emerged from Man Utd cocoon It's down to the standards set by Christie, his team-mates and head coach Steve Clarke - who "completely changed the set-up" of the national team. "When I first joined international football, I know I was a bit younger and probably a bit quieter, but I was counting down the days until I could go back home," the 31-year-old explained. "It's the polar opposite now. If we're meeting up on a Monday, everyone flies up on the Saturday night to spend an extra day with each other - it's brilliant." Key to that is the trust Clarke has in his players. Most know he's as loyal as they come on the pitch, but off it is as important for Christie. "He puts a big amount of trust in us in terms of if we have a day off and play golf or something, there's full trust that we're not going to take advantage," he added. "Boys that are going to the World Cup now have been on a journey of five, six, seven years with the manager. "I think after the Denmark game was one of the rare times I've seen him properly smiling and enjoy himself a little bit, which was cool to see. For us as players, we knew how much it would mean to him to tick that off his list. "For me, he's got to go down as one of the great, great Scottish managers of all time." Everything you need to know about the World Cup

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ShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleJames McClairWest MidlandsKicking off their World Cup campaign against Croatia, England are hoping to become world champions for a second time and end 60 years of hurt. But the man who was responsible for tending to any pain for players before they lifted the Jules Rimet trophy hailed from Malvern, Worcestershire. Dr Neil Phillips, who died in 2015 aged 83, was the team doctor for the famed 1966 winning squad and worked with stars like Bobby Moore and Sir Geoff Hurst. "He was so proud to be doctor to the England football team," his daughter Annie Onions recalls ahead of this summer's tournament in North America. "What amazed him when he was on the pitch in 1966 before the final [was that] he was from Wales, his favourite sports were cricket and rugby, he spent six months doing gynaecology as part of his training, and he ends up doctor to the England World Cup team." "It was always a pinch me moment [for him] standing there on that pitch and being part of it," she added. Phillips' role landed him an appearance on Top of the Pops alongside the Three Lions squad when their World Cup song, 'Back Home', shot to fame four years on from their World Cup triumph. His bond with England skipper Moore was one of the highlights of his stint with the national team. Onions said she remembered trips to the West Ham legend's leather factory in London during her childhood whenever the family visited the capital. "I had a bright red waistcoat in suede with all the tassels at the bottom," she said. "From a very early age I was in love with Bobby Moore, I thought he was the greatest thing in the world and going there was just fabulous." However, the job did not come without challenges, particularly as part of a small team, with Phillips even having to use his holiday allowance to tend to the team during competitions. "Now when they go to the World Cup, they have this whole entourage of psychologists and physiotherapists," Onions said. "Then it was just Sir Alf Ramsey, my dad and Les Cocker – that was it." Speaking to the BBC in 2010, Phillips was intent on the secret to England's one and only victory on the world stage. "I know how we did it, and it was all due to one man - Alf Ramsey," he said at the time.

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ShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleMegan BonarandKayleigh Harvey,BBC Scotland, BostonThousands of Scotland fans are descending on Boston after making the long journey to the US for the World Cup. Anticipation is building as the men's team prepare to play in the tournament for the first time in almost 30 years. Members of the Tartan Army have been arriving in the east coast of the US ahead of the opening fixture with Haiti, which will be played at 21:00 local time on Saturday - 02:00 BST on Sunday for those watching back home. While dozens of fans have reported issues with travel permits being revoked at the last minute, thousands have already completed the journey. The World Cup kicks off on Thursday night with the opening ceremony and the first game between Mexico and and South Africa. Edinburgh Airport was awash with kilts and Scotland tops on Wednesday as fans headed to the States via different flight routes. Some going direct to Massachusetts, where Scotland play their first two group games in Boston, with others travelling to neighbouring states. The Delta direct flight to Boston was special for one family, who managed to secure match tickets mid-flight. Christopher Currie from Ayr told BBC Scotland he used the airline's wifi to buy four tickets Scotland v Haiti for a "decent" price. He said: "We managed to buy tickets at 34,000ft so it's been a great flight. We're absolutely buzzing now." It will be his son Hudson's first big international game. Fans who have already travelled to the US include 69-year-old Jim Stewart from Edinburgh. He has been following Scotland since he saw his first game at Hampden as a 15-year-old schoolboy in 1972. That match ended in a 1-0 defeat to England – but Jim was hooked. One of his most memorable moments came in 1977 at Wembley, where he saw the 2-1 victory over England. The match is still remembered for the post-match pitch invasion, where fans stole parts of the turf and broke the crossbar on one of the goals. "I was on the pitch that day. My dad's got a bit of Wembley turf in his garden somewhere still - but no goalposts," said Jim. His first World Cup was Spain in 1982, when he and eight friends bought a campervan, covered it in tartan wallpaper and drove to Malaga. Jim - in the middle of the back row, wearing a Scotland top - and friends took a campervan to the 1982 World CupThe 1982 competition in Spain was the first World Cup that Jim (back right) attendedFootball matches took a back seat when Jim moved to England to pursue a career as a financial advisor, but his interest was rekindled in the early 2000s. Jim says he hasn't missed a Scotland game – home or away – since the 2018 game against Peru. He describes it as a great way to see the world. "I enjoy meeting up with people and seeing different places I never in my life would have thought I'd have gone to – Peru, Kazakhstan, Albania, Armenia, Russia and Moldova. "You meet up with all sorts of people when you go to these places. There's a big group of us that always seem to find each other. "On match days there can be 50 or 60 of us and we'll have a few beers and go to the games." Jim, who's now retired, was able to secure $60 tickets for all three of Scotland's group stage fixtures – but admits that he didn't think he would see the men's team play at another World Cup. "I'd been to Spain in 82, France in 98 and the Euros in 24, but it just seemed to be the World Cup was never going to happen for us." Scotland have never progressed beyond the group stages at a World Cup. Jim thinks the current squad is the strongest he's seen and is optimistic about the team's chances. "I think we could get out of the group, but then again I've thought that in every World Cup since 1974," he added. Keeping his options open, Jim has decided not to book a return flight home so he can continue to follow the team as far as they go. Those in the Shetland branch of the Tartan Army believe they are among the most dedicated members because of the extra travel involved from the far north of Scotland. About 30 will be travelling from Shetland to the US for the World Cup, including brothers James and Stuart Milne, from Brae in the north of the mainland. They started their journey by travelling to the central belt of Scotland to join a group of friends, before flying from Edinburgh to Frankfurt, then on to New York City before taking a party bus to Boston. The brothers have each spent about £6,500 on match tickets, accommodation, flights, internal flights and transfers during the trip. "And we've not even bought a pint yet!" jokes 41-year-old James, who planned the trip. While James is a long-time member of the Tartan Army, his 40-year-old brother is a more recent recruit. Stuart says they have become "a lot closer" through attending matches together. "Having your brother sitting next to you in a stadium when the game kicks off, for me it's everything," added James. Inverness Caley Thistle legend Charlie Christie - the father of Scotland star Ryan - will also be jetting out to the US with his family. Charlie said it had been a "dream" to watch his son's football career. Ryan progressed from Caley Thistle's youth system to play for the club, before moves took him to Celtic, Aberdeen and now Bournemouth - while earning 68 caps for Scotland. Charlie said the World Cup would be the "pinnacle" of Ryan's career and that he had encouraged his son to savour every moment. "I'm not one to go overboard, but it will be emotional. There will be tears," he added.

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Scotland's Super Mario and social butterfly who emerged from Man Utd cocoon BBC Scotland's chief sports writer in Charlotte Scott McTominay is talking about mentality, about dig and dog and how some players have it and how some players just don't. That refusal to stop and give up? He says he's had it since he was a kid and knows that every last man in the Scotland changing room has it, too. "Not willing to stop when it gets tough, it's one of the most important things in football," he tells BBC Sport, before talking about a guy who, to him, embodied that uncompromising nature every day - Michael Jordan, the NBA colossus of yesteryear. "He once said that whenever somebody arrives to the stadium they could be watching for the first time," McTominay explained. "So if you're not giving your absolute best a young fan could be walking away going 'he wasn't that great'." The Scotland midfielder says he's been doing a bit of that in training, a mentor but also a taskmaster for the youngsters in the squad, such as teenagers Tyler Fletcher and Findlay Curtis. "I'm demanding and quite hard on some of them," he says. "The right way to live your life off the pitch is probably more important than what you do on the pitch because you can kill your whole career by things that you do off the pitch. "They need a little bit of tough love sometimes, young players. I had that. There was a lot of senior pros saying, 'Listen, you've got to up your game or you've got no chance. I don't want to name names. It was a lot. Behind closed doors. "And the things that get said are ruthless - sink or swim." The day McTominay scored an even better overhead kick He left home in Lancaster at an early age to become part of a residency programme at the club, an emotional upheaval that presented challenges to a boy who spent much of his early years flying well under the radar. He was no childhood prodigy, no sure thing. In his first season of under-18 football he barely saw two hours of competitive action. He was only 5ft 6in at 16 - a "silky number 10" as he put it. In his debut season with the under-21s he started two of 22 matches. His growth spurt was something to see, from a diminutive attacker to a beast at 6ft 4in. His bolshiness seemed to grow in proportion with his height. That tough love he talks about now began around then. He tells a story of a day spent training with the senior team and how he vented when all the tight decisions in a bounce game were given in favour of the "old lads" and against the "young lads". Jose Mourinho was his manager who later became his champion. "Jose phoned me because I was arguing with Michael Carrick and Ashley Young," McTominay recalled. "There were a couple of swear words in there. He dressed me down. It was like 'who do you think you are, you've done nothing'. I thought it was over [at United] before it started, how forceful he was." It wasn't over, it was just beginning. McTominay made his senior debut in May, 2017. "This kid has everything I want," said the manager. The following season, Mourinho invented a new award at the end of campaign ceremony, making McTominay the manager's player of the season. "He started the season in the academy and ended it playing big games in the Premier League," said the Portuguese. "I thought this kid cannot go home without an award." McTominay was a Scotland player by then, capped in March 2018 against Costa Rica. There was a brief crossover between Steven Naismith exiting the international stage and McTominay bursting on to it, but Steve Clarke's now assistant, remembers how the young man was back then. "He kept himself to himself," he said. "At the start I thought, is that because he was born in England and it's his grandparents who are Scottish? He's maybe just a wee bit unsure of the Scottishness, the bluntness of Scottish people? But over the years, he just matured." McTominay was born into a difficult era at United. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer succeeded Mourinho and loved the youngster. He gave him 22 games, then 37, then 49. He called him a "physical monster". His engine was unreal even when the team was not. Ralf Rangnick succeeded Solskjaer and talked of McTominay as a future captain. The problem was that Old Trafford was in turmoil. When the United fans rounded on players then their local boy, the lifelong fan, was one of the first to get it. Playing in a deeper role instead of the box crasher he has become, he came in for special treatment. Tough love? At times, it was savage. Rangnick made way for Erik ten Hag, who simultaneously praised McTominay's fighting qualities while at the same signing a battery of players in his position. He could have left for West Ham for £30m but stayed. Newcastle, Fulham and Bayern Munich were said to be interested. Nothing happened. In October 2023, United were trailing 1-0 at home to Brentford when McTominay came off the bench with 10 minutes to go. He scored twice in added time to win the game. He gave one of his most famous quotes in the aftermath, words that reflected his frustration but also his fierce determination. "Never give up, man," he said. "You never give up. No matter the situation you never give up, never throw the towel in." It's said that McTominay did not give up on United but that United gave up on McTominay. Things were stressed. Money had been wasted. The club needed to sell in order to buy. He left for Napoli. A succession of his former United managers rounded on the club for letting him go. "I'm almost shocked," said Solskjaer. "This decision is beyond me." It wasn't long before Mourinho was calling his former wunderkind "one of the best midfielders in Europe". "When I think of Scotland, I think of my boy Scott McTominay," he said. "I got him when he was 18, when nobody at Man Utd believed he could be the player he is." His Napoli years - the Serie A title in 2024-25 and the adoration that came with it - have turned him into a player who is worshipped in Naples and identified throughout the world. McTominay is the superstar of this Scotland team, the guy with a giant mural on the side of a house near Hampden and whose frame - mid-bicycle kick against Denmark on the night of all nights last November - is on a bank note. For club and country he has scored 13, 16 and 17 goals in the last three seasons, some of them to win a title in Italy, others helping Scotland to the World Cup. McTominay has 70 caps and has played multiple positions - right-sided centre-back, defensive midfielder, attacking midfielder. He is now exactly where he wants to be, in every sense. Naismith has watched him grow into a player of huge substance, on and off the field. "He can glide across the pitch with elegance. He's such an athlete," he said. "And see his passing - it's as if you're in a computer game. It's like in Super Mario where you get a mushroom and you're bigger, if that makes sense. He's just more powerful than everybody else. "The last part is you just hope he's not an arsehole - and he's not. He'll hang about with the youngest players in the squad at dinner and he'll chat away to them. "And then the next day he could be sitting with [John] McGinn and Robbo [Andy Robertson] and Kenny McLean and Grant [Hanley] and be part of that. "And then he might just be by himself for a bit. He's a social butterfly and it's all pure happiness for him." It's taken a lot of hard work to get McTominay happy. A nation will be hoping he's still smiling in the wake of their opener against Haiti, Scotland's first World Cup game since the great thoroughbred in their midfield was barely out of nappies. Everything you need to know about the World Cup

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When Scotland last reached a men's World Cup, the Scottish Parliament didn't exist, Google wasn't a thing and a pint of lager was roughly £1.90. The first concerns around what Y2K would bring were creeping in. C'est La Vie by B*witched was number one in the charts, The Wedding Singer was the best in the box office, and the BBC's written coverage for the opening game against Brazil was on Ceefax. While the Tartan Army were healing their broken hearts with a 10p Freddo after Morocco spoiled the party in St Etienne, little did they know they'd be waiting 28 years to see their country at a men's World Cup again. 1998 was a very long time ago. Too long ago. Eight of Steve Clarke's squad here in the US were not even born. A whole generation and then some have been envious of their elders who have experienced their national team dining at the top table. But while Scotland have been sitting in the footballing dark, doing their best to keep their memories of France fresh, the rest of the world has kept spinning. And then some... Why this World Cup will showcase 'different Steve Clarke' Though it had been in existence for over a decade, it was largely used for work, not play. It's true potential - or danger - was lightyears away from being learned. Craig Brown's line-up wasn't being predicted, leaked or discovered online, and there certainly wasn't anyone watching Colin Hendry and his team-mates trot out at the Stade de France in their kilts on their mobile phones. That's an image, actually. Only one in four people back then actually had a mobile phone. Imagine the huddling... In fact, most fans back home were watching in smoke-filled pubs – it was nearly eight years before it was made illegal to light-up in enclosed public spaces. They watched Hendry admirably attempt his unenviable job of marking a certain Ronaldo – the world's most expensive player at the time. He'd just completed a £17m move from Barcelona to Inter Milan. At the time the fee was eye-watering, but now it might buy you a third-choice full-back. The Euro didn't come into use until the year after. And it was that year too that Scotland's first First Minister, Donald Dewar proclaimed "today there is a new voice in the land," as the new parliament opened in Edinburgh. There have been six First Ministers since, and one vote on independence in 2014. Glasgow hosted the Commonwealth Games in the same year, two summers after London welcomed the world for the Olympics. Hampden hosted a few men's and women's football games during that one. Including the 1998 title, won weeks before the jaunt to France, Celtic have won 21 Scottish top-flight titles since, that one in 98 - the Scottish Premier Division league title, as it was then called – ending nine years of dominance by Rangers. Elsewhere in the sport, a 22-year-old Tiger Woods was waltzing into the golfing world. He had just one major to his name - The Masters - but would go on to win a further 14. Roger Federer hadn't even made his ATP debut, never mind won any of his 103 singles title - or his 20 majors, while Wimbledon's winner in '98, Pete Sampras earned £43,500 more than women's winner, Jana Novotna. Equal pay finally arrived in 2007 with last year's winners - Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek - both receiving £3m. Changed days. This Scotland squad will feel £3m and more having achieved what they just have. They might also have spent close to that amount on the celebrations... But this is historic. The first for a generation and then some. Aaron Hickey, Lewis Ferguson, Ben Gannon-Doak, Nathan Patterson, Anthony Ralston, Findlay Curtis and Tyler Fletcher were all born post-1998. They grew up watching James McFadden, Darren Fletcher, Barry Ferguson, Scott Brown, Kenny Miller and many others in dark blue fail to reach the promised land. It's taken over 10,000 days to do so. There won't be CDs and DVDs to capture the backdrop of these finals, while the milk required for the tea and coffees won't cost 34p, either. But, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

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ShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleBen PhilipBBC Scotland NewsA Scotland football fan has told how he found out an hour before flying to the World Cup finals in the US that his travel permit had been revoked. Michael Wright had been due to head off to the States for a dream 30th birthday trip with his brother and had tickets for Scotland's group stage games against Haiti and Morocco. But he ended up having to send his brother through the security gates at Manchester Airport on his own when his visa status switched from "approved" to "pending" and finally to "travel not authorised". Michael, who is from Greenock but now lives in Australia, told BBC Scotland News: "I don't think I've ever felt that bad." He added: "I sent my brother through security because I still wanted him to go and enjoy his holiday. And I didn't want him to see me ready to break down." UK citizens who want to go to the United States for up to 90 days without a visa need to apply to the country's Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). But dozens of fans who filled out the form have said on social media that their application status had changed in the days leading up to the World Cup kicking off on Thursday. Some supporters have now been told to make last-minute trips to the US Consulate in Belfast to secure approval of their visas. First Minister John Swinney said he had contacted US officials over the issue and would do "all I can to help" those affected. He said: "I have asked officials to convey our hope that they can resolve this so that Scotland's fans do not miss out." Michael, who emigrated to Australia nine years ago, applied for his ESTA in March. He travelled home to Greenock to spend two weeks with his family before preparing to head off to the US with no concerns about his visa status. "In my eyes, there's no valid reason for them to decline it," he said. "I live in what most people would say is the second hardest country in the world to get a visa. I've been living there nearly 10 years, reapplying for visas and completing police checks. "They (the US authorities) granted it originally so I'm not sure why they've decided to look back into it." Acting assistant secretary of US Homeland Security, Lauren Bis, previously told the BBC that the tightening of granting ESTAs was because "the Trump administration is enforcing immigration laws". "Under the Visa Waiver Program, all ESTA applications are continuously vetted against law enforcement and security databases," she said. "Travellers must provide complete and truthful information, including all criminal history." Michael Wright said the late U-turn had left him feeling "very raw" - as well as thousands of pounds out of pocket. He said: "You're talking about £4,500 to £5,000 and the only thing I'm ever going to get the money back on is the match tickets. "But at this point I don't even want to take the money back on them – I'll probably just give them away." However, he still insists on "taking the positives" from his World Cup experience. "I made the trip home and spent about two-and-a-half weeks back in Scotland with all the family who I obviously don't get to see every day. "Now I'll just go back to Australia and watch the games with my mates." A spokesperson for the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office said: "The US government sets ESTA and visa requirements. We encourage applicants to follow instructions set out by the US Embassy. "We continue to engage closely with the US embassy regarding entry requirements for British nationals traveling to the World Cup." In order to travel to America, applicants must complete a form, pay a fee, and receive approval before travel. An approved ESTA is usually valid for two years and allows multiple short visits. UK citizens with certain criminal convictions or immigration issues are usually not eligible. In December, the White House said it wanted to make social media checks part of the process of applying for the permissions. Anyone who does not qualify for an ESTA has to apply for a US visa instead, but this can be a lengthy progress. Scotland kicks off its World Cup campaign on 13 June. BBC Scotland News has approached the US Embassy in London and US Customs and Border Protection for comment.

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The Scotland squad for the 1982 World Cup was the most internationally adept the nation had ever assembled. Ten European Cup winners' medals between them from the previous five years, three Uefa Cup winners and four European Super Cups. Within another two seasons, they would have amassed another two European Cups, two more Uefa Cups, four Cup Winners' Cup winners and five more Super Cups. Throw in a collective 63 domestic honours and 503 caps and a legendary European Cup-winning manager in Jock Stein. Even if this assembly of tartan talent only added up to the sum of its parts, then BA Robertson's paean to hope, 'We have a Dream', trumped the blind faith of 'Ally's Army' four years previous. This was their time. Scotland at their third straight World Cup finals. Cracked it. What could possibly go wrong in Spain? Joe Jordan, Gordon Strachan and John Wark look back... John Wark: "It must be the best squad we've ever taken to a finals - and the best manager. "We had players who'd won everything in the game, they needed someone who commanded their respect and big Jock [Stein] did it just by walking into the room. To this day I believe that was our chance." Joe Jordan: "I had gone from Man United to Italy that year and I spoke to Jock to make sure I would still be part of the Scotland scene at Milan. "I'd had an injury towards the end of the Serie A season but he involved me in the Home Internationals so I figured he was trying to get me fit to go to Spain. I didn't get my chance until the third game - but I was ready." Gordon Strachan: "It wasn't easy being away in those days. We got one phone call home a week from the SFA. There was no internet, no social media to keep up, the only telly was Spanish telly, and Willie Miller was the room-mate who just wanted to sleep 24/7. "The room was the first I'd ever been in that had the harling [rough plaster] on the inside. And Jock used to berate me every time he saw me outside because he thought the sun would kill the wee ginger guy - never mind the fact I might have to acclimatise to play three games in it!" Wark: "When you score five, you come off the park thinking you've done pretty well. You know you have to beat the minnows - and we did. "Personally, I was a wee bit annoyed because I had a great chance to score a hat-trick, I had a header I should have put away. "We gave them two goals for nothing and you don't think about it at the time but they come back to haunt you. Two balls over the top, the first one Danny McGrain and [goalkeeper Alan Rough] Roughie get mixed up, the second Allan Evans gets caught." Jordan: "It's easy in hindsight but I felt it at the time on the bench as well, 100%. If you're being professional, you just don't give these goals away. That was a regret. I instantly felt it could come back and bite us. And that's borne from experience. "I go back to Zaire in '74 and the fact we never scored enough goals. We settled, and it cost us. This was the same." 18 June, Seville. (Narey 18) Scotland 1-4 Brazil (Zico 33, Oscar 48, Eder 63, Falcao 87) Wark: "It's incredible to think that Brazil team didn't win the World Cup. "The heat didn't help. During the anthems, the sweat was lashing off us, then I looked along their line. Not a single drop on a single forehead and I just thought, 'uh-oh'." Strachan: "The other problem was the pitch - we never had a clue what studs to wear because the grass was so long, which was the way the Brazilians liked it. There was actually a lot of physical engagement to their play, it wasn't as much about moving the ball quickly as it is now. "In the end it didn't matter too much - we never saw the ball when they got going anyway." Wark: "Our goal [Scotland took the lead through Dave Narey] just got them annoyed. I was playing on the right - we had so many good centre mids I never got to play in my best spot - and I headed it down for big Sash [handsome Narey's nickname after singer Sacha Distel] to score that famous goal of his. "He didn't have a clue what to do. He obviously hardly ever scored so he ended up running around like a wee boy who didn't know what day it was! "After that, though? It was an education." Strachan: "They were good, but what you don't realise was their height and strength was incredible. Their midfield three - Socrates, Falcao and Cerezo - they were all 6ft 3in. "I thought I was pretty strong, and I'm eyeing up wee Junior for a challenge, maybe knock him over when I'm taking the ball off him, and bang. I went down like a cartoon character, I just crumpled. "They're the best team never to have won a World Cup. Probably the best team I ever played, actually - except the big striker Serginho, to be fair, he wasn't that great. I actually swapped strips with him, which means there'll be a Scotland number seven shirt somewhere in a loft in Sao Paulo." Wark: "Their goals were class. I was the end man in the wall for Zico's and Roughie was giving it, 'perfect, John', with the big thumbs up. Two seconds later it's round me and in the top corner. Two keepers couldn't have stopped it. "At the final whistle, Kenny [Dalglish], who'd come on as a sub, went to Zico and tried to get his shirt. Big [Alan] Hansen sprinted over to try and get it too - it was probably the closest he got to him all night. "But Zico fobbed them both off and came over to me instead. 'Swap?' he says. Turns out he just collected number 10s - so when I got back into the dressing room I was waving it in Hansen's face. I actually ended up giving it away to a charity in Ipswich and it made a lot of money at an auction." 22 June, Malaga. (Jordan 15, Souness 86) Scotland 2-2 USSR (Chivadze 59, Shengelia 84) Jordan: "It was my first start - and what turned out to be my last cap - but I got the goal we needed. Stevie Archibald got on to a mistake from their centre-half but I had a good 35 yards to go. I still had a decent turn of pace for a 30-year-old and although I didn't like having that much time to think, the keeper left me just enough room at the near post." Wark: "I watched the game a few weeks ago on BBC Scotland and I'd forgotten how much we battered them. We just had to win, any win, and we were good enough to win three games against them, honestly. "The first one's horrible, we've got about four defenders round it, but [Aleksandre] Chivadze sclaffs [mishits] it off the ground and it bounces up and over Roughie. "And the second, the infamous mix-up between Miller and Hansen, even watching it again, even knowing exactly when it's coming, you can't stop yourself shouting 'what the **** are they doing???' at the telly." Strachan: "That's a footballer's life sometimes, though, all the great things you do and you get talked about for the one mistake. If Steven Gerrard hadn't single-handedly won Liverpool a European Cup in Istanbul, he'd only be remembered for that slip against Chelsea." Jordan: "The goals we lost were hard to take. When you get to that level and you're playing the best, you should still make them work for it, to score with quality the way Brazil did, say. "The thing is, the goal Graeme [Souness] scores to pull us level again is a cracker as well, but it almost made it feel worse - touching distance again." Strachan: "Scottish football was in a seriously good place at the time as well. There have been better teams but the overall quality in our own top division was the best ever, when there were four teams properly going at it. "And the fact the Anglos [English-based players] were the best as well. Six of them played every week for the two best teams in England." Wark: "Yes, we had the talent - but the bottom line is we still didn't qualify for the next stage, which we should have done. End of story." Goalkeepers: Rough (Partick Thistle), Wood (Arsenal), Leighton (Aberdeen) Defenders: McGrain (Celtic), Gray (Leeds United), Burley (Ipswich), Hansen (Liverpool), Narey (Dundee United), Miller (Aberdeen), McLeish (Aberdeen), Evans (Aston Villa) Midfielders: Souness (Liverpool), Strachan (Aberdeen), Wark (Ipswich), Hartford (Man City), Robertson (Nottingham Forest), Provan (Celtic) Forwards: Dalglish (Liverpool), Brazil (Ipswich), Jordan (AC Milan), Archibald (Tottenham), Sturrock (Dundee United).

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241 Comments When Glenn Hoddle's England started their World Cup campaign in France in 1998, Thomas Tuchel was still working a student job at a bar in Stuttgart. Almost 30 years later, Tuchel is now the England manager tasked with doing what Hoddle and so many others failed to do - win the World Cup for the Three Lions. The Three Lions face Norway on Saturday in the quarter-finals knowing victory would set up just their second World Cup semi-final since 1990 and fourth in total. The 52-year-old German is known as one of the game's keenest minds, a coach obsessed with detail and blessed with a special gift for analysis. It is hard to imagine that in the late 1990s, Tuchel was working at the wildest parties in Stuttgart and hanging out with some of Germany's biggest hip-hop stars. Yet it was there, having almost given up on football entirely, that Tuchel began his journey to World Cup management. Last year, respected German coach Ralf Rangnick recalled the story of how he launched Tuchel's career as a coach. "When I found out that he was working in a bar in Stuttgart to earn his living, I could hardly believe it," Rangnick told the BBC, external in an interview with former Germany and Aston Villa midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger. "I called him and I said, 'what are you doing?' He said 'I have to earn my living there'. I said to him, 'Thomas, please, why don't you come to us in Stuttgart and work as a youth-team coach?' "I brought him together with the academy director and that's how his coaching career started." Tuchel had played under Rangnick at SSV Ulm and the two had long admired each other. At Ulm in the early 1990s, Rangnick was laying the groundwork for a tactical revolution in German football as one of the first managers to introduce zonal marking. As Tuchel later told Sky Sports, the coach "changed the way I watched football on television". Rangnick, meanwhile, quickly earmarked the young defender as a possible future coaching talent. "He was always interested in why we play the way we play," Rangnick told the BBC. "After a couple of weeks when you are a head coach you can always pretty precisely tell which players could become a coach." Tuchel's playing career was cut short by injury. Damage to the cartilage in his knees was causing such severe pain that he could barely walk up and down stairs. He had an operation at the age of 23 in a bid to save his career, but eventually realised he would have to retire. The knee issue ended his dream of playing in the Bundesliga, and as he told Die Zeit, external in an interview in 2017, it left him strapped for cash because his insurance had not covered the operation. Having given up his first degree in sport and English to focus on football a few years earlier, Tuchel was now back to square one. "I still had nothing in my bank account. I felt like I was a professional footballer, but I still had to go looking for a job," he told Die Zeit. Tuchel moved to Stuttgart to study business administration and found work in a bar. This was not just any bar, however. Tuchel's new workplace was located in the famous Radio Barth building on Stuttgart's Rotebuhlplatz. Originally a huge music department store which sold records and instruments, the building had been slated for demolition after the store filed for insolvency in 1995. For a few years before it was torn down, however, the venue was rented out to young artists, who briefly transformed it into an iconic nightlife and culture venue. Located on the ground floor of the building, the Radio Bar where Tuchel worked became a hotspot for Germany's burgeoning hip-hop scene. In an interview, external with a student-made documentary in 2008, the bar's former manager Carlos Coelho recalled how popular it became. "We had so many people coming that we had to shut the doors because nobody else could fit in the space," he said. "People just loved it, especially being in this historic Radio Barth building. Everyone who came would say, 'this is where I bought my first record'." Tuchel began collecting empty bottles and glasses, before graduating to table-waiting and eventually serving cocktails at the bar. "I wouldn't want to have drunk the cocktails I was making at the beginning," he told Die Zeit. Yet aside from how to make a mojito and carry a tray of glasses above his head, the England manager said his time at the bar taught him valuable lessons for his future career. "Shift by shift, night by night, I slowly built up my confidence working in the bar," he told Die Zeit. "I overcame my inhibitions about asking strangers if they needed my help, and I realised that people liked me for who I was, that they had no idea that I was an ex-footballer." One of the people Tuchel befriended at the bar was Max Herre, a Stuttgart musician who would go on to be one of Germany's most popular rappers. Speaking to the podcast, external Und was machst du am Wochenende (And what do you do on the weekend) in 2024, Herre recalled how Tuchel became part of his "clique" and would often turn up to his concerts. "On one occasion, he even came all the way to a gig in Vienna," said Herre. When Rangnick called him up to offer him a position, Tuchel was initially reluctant. Yet in 1999, he had a moment when his former club Ulm were promoted to the Bundesliga. Tuchel heard about the promotion during one of his bar shifts and it knocked him sideways. "I was really annoyed because I thought, 'I always wanted to get to the Bundesliga, and now they are living my dream,'" he told Die Zeit. "I worked another half an hour and then I told my colleagues that I had to leave." Radio Bar's loss was VfB Stuttgart's gain, as Tuchel threw himself into his new life as a youth coach. He initially took charge of the under-15s, before later becoming assistant to Stuttgart's legendary youth coach Hans-Martin 'Hansi' Kleitsch with the under-19s. Like Rangnick, Kleitsch had been an instrumental figure in the shift to zonal marking, and he was also credited with making Stuttgart into a conveyor belt of world-class youth talent. Among those who came up the ranks under Kleitsch were Sami Khedira and Mario Gomez. World Cup winner Khedira was also part of the under-19 team crowned German champions in 2005 with Kleitsch as coach and Tuchel his assistant. In an interview, external with German website Spox in 2020, Kleitsch said Tuchel made an impression on the young players with his fashion sense. "Thomas used to wear an old military parka that a lot of the players liked," he said. "A few of them also started going to Thomas' hairdresser, but I think in the end it was too expensive for them." Above all, it was Tuchel's abilities as a coach and in particular his talent for analysis that marked him out. Kleitsch described Tuchel as "the man with the X-ray vision". "His match plans always worked. He would dissect the opponents and always find solutions with his analysis. It was phenomenal," he told Spox. England fans will be hoping that Tuchel's X-ray vision is still as sharp as ever as they sit potentially three matches away from greatness. Three decades after he left his bar job to return to football, the German now faces what could be the toughest test of his career - to bring the World Cup back to England. I've changed my mind, we might actually be able to win this thing - Shearer Quansah banned for two games after Mexico red card Norway's Haaland wants 'pressure' put on England

World Cup News

2840 Comments The World Cup starts in Mexico City's Azteca Stadium on Thursday and finishes in the MetLife Stadium near New York City on 19 July. Forty-eight teams will contest the tournament, which will be played out in 104 matches across three countries over 39 days, including the co-hosts - Canada, Mexico and the United States - plus holders Argentina. Who will get their hands on the famous gold trophy this time? Who are the other main contenders? And how will England and Scotland do? BBC Sport's TV and radio football pundits and co-commentators have predicted what will happen over the next five weeks, and we have asked AI and Opta's 'supercomputer' for their picks too. Play BBC Sport's new World Cup predictor game Who will win the World Cup? Alan Shearer: France, but there's a caveat that comes with it - only if there is no in-house fighting. With the ability they have in forward positions, two or three big players are going to be left out every game, so it will come down to whether they cope with that in the right way. Danny Murphy: It's hard to look past France with the firepower they have, when you think about extra time in hot weather against tired legs. The likes of Rayan Cherki, Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue can't all start, but they can be gamechangers if they come on after 70 minutes in 30 degrees heat. Olivier Giroud: For me the two strongest teams are France and Spain. But will they meet each other in the final or before? That will be the question, but I obviously hope France will win. Wayne Rooney: England and Spain will make the final, and hopefully England will win it. Thomas Frank: France are up there of course, and Spain too because they are very clear in how they play. That gives them a massive strength, although I still doubt them a little because they rely on Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams as the wingers and, if they don't have them, I am not sure they have enough individual quality to do it in the end. Along with Brazil, Argentina, England and Portugal, they are the main contenders. A lot of people are saying it is France or Spain, but for me it is between Brazil and England... and I am saying England! Micah Richards: How teams deal with the humidity is going to play a big part at this tournament, so the South American teams will be strong. But I just feel it's going to be a team who are really good at keeping the ball and that points me in the direction of Spain instead. Argentina will go close though, because of the way they work for Lionel Messi. I still think he can do something special, too. Steph Houghton: Hopefully it's England but, looking at other teams, France have so much quality right through their team - especially in attacking areas. Gael Clichy: France, Spain and England are the three for me who will do well. Spain seem to win everything, at every age group, so of course they are up there, but being French I am going for them to win it. Joe Hart: England. But I am not actually that bothered whether I am right or wrong. I just like to back my people and I want England to do it. Martin Keown: Looking at the draw, there will be some absolute blockbuster quarter-finals if the favourites win their groups, like England versus Brazil and Argentina against Portugal - or Messi against Cristiano Ronaldo. Is this the hardest World Cup there has ever been to win? Maybe. It feels very open. My head is telling me the best team is France, my heart is telling me that it could be England. Paul Robinson: The only thing that stops France from winning it is France. They will need a harmonious dressing room. Pat Nevin: This is a guess, but England have a real chance. Along with France, they are my favourites and it's a toss-up between the two as to who will win it. I also wouldn't be shocked if we get a left-field winner this time, and Morocco are the ones who jump out at me, because I covered most of their games when they reached the last four in Qatar. From what I hear, they might be better now than they were then - and they were great then. They will be used to the heat too, which always helps. Ellen White: Well, obviously I want England to win it. That's what I am going with, but if that wasn't to happen then France have a very good squad. Tony Pulis: It's ridiculous that there are 48 teams, and 40 more games than last time. Fair play to all the countries that are going, everyone will enjoy it, but football at this level is now being used as a cash cow. I've got Argentina, Brazil, France, England, Morocco, Portugal, Spain and Senegal as my quarter-finalists. My pick to win it? France. Chris Sutton: Spain are an outstanding team but I've gone for France to win the past two World Cups and I wasn't far wrong. I am not going to change my mind now - they didn't really click at the last Euros but I look at their frontline and think they will be hard to stop. Who will win the 2026 World Cup? Total votes France (9): Scott Brown, Gael Clichy, Rachel Corsie, Olivier Giroud, Danny Murphy, Paul Robinson, Tony Pulis, Alan Shearer & Chris Sutton England (7): Thomas Frank, Joe Hart, Steph Houghton, Martin Keown, Wayne Rooney, Sue Smith & Ellen White Thomas Frank: To win the World Cup you need individual quality, and England have definitely got that. Their midfield is very strong and if they can put the right defence together it is strong enough. They have a real chance. The team will be well structured because Thomas Tuchel is a top coach, plus they have experience in these tournaments and I am sure they will get their togetherness right because they seem to have some fantastic characters and leaders in the group. Ellen White: We've got an unbelievable squad, and I feel like Tuchel will create a nice blend in our team. We also have some great players, who have a lot of momentum - like Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka who have just won the Premier League with Arsenal. Steph Houghton: As well as experience, we've got some quality young players coming through. The only thing that worries me is a lack of game time for some players in our defensive unit, like John Stones or Reece James. Alan Shearer: I don't think we will win it, but we can make the semi-finals because of the ability we have, plus we have a manager who is not going to be afraid to make big decisions and leave certain players out. I am not sure that has always been the case. Hopefully he can get the best out of Harry Kane, like Bayern Munich have done this season when they have had players running past him. My guess is that Morgan Rogers, Saka and Marcus Rashford will play, and there are more goals there for England - they have all scored goals all season. Wayne Rooney: I'm going with Kane to get the Golden Boot. Chris Sutton: I worry a bit about England's defence, but you go through their team and they don't have too many weaknesses. Sue Smith: England have an elite manager who knows how to win things. The team is picked on togetherness and balance, but still has the star quality to succeed. Danny Murphy: It would be a disappointment not to make the semi-finals with the quality we have got. I think we are a bit too reliant on Kane. Lots of great teams are reliant on one goalscorer but when you look at the other players in the squad, none of them have been prolific or even consistent for England. At the back, I wouldn't have us down as being as good as France and Spain either. But being weaker defensively than we are offensively doesn't mean that we are not capable of winning it, if the luck goes our way. Martin Keown: England have potentially got the toughest of any last-16 tie, if we end up playing Mexico at the Azteca Stadium [if both teams win their groups and beat third-placed teams in the last 32]. Talk about advantage Mexico, taking into account altitude and climate and what that might take from the England team. Then we've probably got Argentina or Portugal in the semi-finals if they progress as expected too. But, whatever happens with the draw, I feel like the chemistry and balance of the group will be the important factor. Winning the World Cup always seems to come down to a piece of brilliance, and Tuchel has left out one or two maverick players who are capable of that because of his focus on the group, but that doesn't mean we can't still win it. England are very much in this fight. We are going to a World Cup which is probably the most open in living memory, because of the quality on offer, and we have a team now that dominates the ball. Micah Richards: For England to win it, everyone is going to have to be at their best, and it feels like other countries have got players in better form right now. I actually think we are best placed to win the next Euros, in 2028. All our top players will be in their prime then, apart from Kane who will probably have retired. Paul Robinson: There are players in this England team now that have played in these big games before, so that might just be the missing ingredient that gets us over the line this time. We say it every time we go to a tournament - that on their day we are capable of beating anyone, but something has been missing. Now? That big-game mentality is there. Joe Hart: England are 100% in the conversation. They are a top team, and they have made good progression - hopefully this tournament will be the one. Pat Nevin: The worry for Scotland is that two of the favourites, for me anyway, in Brazil and Morocco are in their group. It means their whole plan depends on beating Haiti in their first game. Everyone in Scotland knows it, and the manager does too. So, they cannot start pragmatically - they have to hit the ground with an absolute sprint. Can they do it? Well they have had a good build-up and the big reason I am very hopeful is that when we played against Germany in the first game of the 2024 European Championship we looked exhausted, and some of our best players weren't fully fit. That is not the case this time. John McGinn is flying. I've watched Scott McTominay and he is in extraordinary form for Napoli just now, and Lawrence Shankland is firing in the goals. OK, we have lost Billy Gilmour to injury but, in reality, Scotland look to me as if they are the strongest they've been since Steve Clarke took charge in 2019 and that is down to injuries, or players being left out and getting rest. Andy Robertson looks in brilliant nick because he has only played half a season at Liverpool. It's exactly the same with McGinn, who was out for a few weeks at the start of the year. Chris Sutton: Scotland will beat Haiti - it is just how Steve Clarke goes about it and whether he goes with two up top, which I think is worth the risk in this game. Ben Gannon-Doak is going to be important for them - he didn't start a Premier League game for Bournemouth last season but he gives them that bit of dynamism when everyone will be focusing on McTominay in the middle of the park, and McGinn. Most people are thinking Brazil and Morocco are nailed-on to be the top two in Group C, but I actually think Scotland could nick a point off one of them too. It might sound far-fetched but they could finish higher than third. Alan Shearer: If you win one group game then the likelihood is you are going to make the last 32, and Scotland's chance is against Haiti. With their fans behind them - they will have a crazy following as usual from the Tartan Army - they can do it. Tony Pulis: Scotland have got a record of doing things they shouldn't do at World Cups, but they can't fail against Haiti... surely? Scott Brown: We will get three points and get out of our group. The first game against Haiti would be a good one to get that done, but it won't be as easy as everyone thinks. Steph Houghton: It's a tough group for them but I think they will make it out of there, and they will believe they can do something special. They have real individual quality in a few positions and, as a group, they know what kind of team they are and play to their strengths. Rachel Corsie: We will get out of our group, and I think we will get through one more game after that. Then, who knows? Ellen White: If they can put in a big performance against Haiti and give themselves some momentum and confidence then that can get them into the knockout rounds. Thomas Frank: I am going for Norway. They have some well-known Premier League players like Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard but they also have others who can change games - Alexander Sorloth of Atletico Madrid, Antonio Nusa at RB Leipzig and Oscar Bobb of Fulham, who is a really top talent. It is their first World Cup since 1998 so they will come with a drive and a hunger too. I know everyone will do that when they come to this tournament, but it is just different when you have not been there for so long. Scotland will have that enthusiasm too, but they do not have the same individual quality. Paul Robinson: Saudi Arabia will surprise a lot of people. I cover the Saudi Pro League every week and I know their players inside out. We saw what Al-Hilal did at last year's Club World Cup, beating Manchester City and drawing with Real Madrid, and I can see Saudi Arabia bringing that to this tournament. Turkey will be tough to beat and while I know Belgium and the Netherlands are not exactly outsiders, they are not among the favourites either. No-one is really talking about them but they both have a mix of experience and younger players and they will be happy going under the radar at the moment. Ellen White: I am looking forward to watching Norway, and Japan did well when they beat England in March. Rachel Corsie: Turkey could be tricky for some, and I don't know if this is really a surprise but I think Japan could go beyond where their world ranking of 18 suggests. Steph Houghton: Japan. I really liked the way they played at Wembley. Olivier Giroud: One of the African teams. Maybe Ivory Coast, Senegal or Ghana - all dangerous on their day. Alan Shearer: Morocco could upset some of the big-hitters, like they did when they beat Spain and Portugal to reach the semi-finals in 2022, but my concern for this World Cup is that the number of teams could dilute the quality in the early stages. There could be a lot of tedious games, until we get to knockout football. Danny Murphy: The underdogs who do well are usually based on a strong defence, like Morocco were last time. Ecuador have got players like Chelsea's Moises Caicedo, Willian Pacho of Paris St-Germain and Arsenal's Piero Hincapie and they had an incredible defensive record in qualification, plus they will be used to playing in humidity. Wayne Rooney: Norway could do quite well, and I like Ecuador too. Martin Keown: Ecuador will take some beating. When I've watched them they always keep things very tight. Chris Sutton: I am not sure Ecuador will score enough goals with 36-year-old Enner Valencia leading their line but they are one of my picks, along with Japan. I became a bit of a celebrity in Japan when I correctly backed them to beat Germany at the last World Cup, or at least I appeared on TV over there to talk about it anyway. They have got some excellent technical players and will be dangerous, whoever they play. Joe Hart: I am not really a lover of dark horses. When it comes to any tie I always want the main team to win, and it will be a pretty similar feeling when I watch this tournament. I want everyone to go out there and express themselves, have a wicked time... but ultimately I don't want anyone to get in the way of England! Gael Clichy: Switzerland are a very dynamic group of young players, and their team and federation has progressed a lot in the past eight years or so. I have played there so I have been following them, and I'd like them to be the surprise of this tournament. Sue Smith: I am going for the US as the hosts who will go further than people think. Tony Pulis: Japan might have a good run at it and Norway, Morocco and Senegal are my other outsiders to watch. You've read what our expert humans think, but what about the machines? Opta's 'supercomputer' can tell you your team's exact chances of winning any competition at any given time. It is actually a complex algorithm that uses a model based on betting-market odds and the sports analytics company's own 'Power Rankings', which are calculated using past results. For this World Cup, it has simulated the outcome of the tournament 25,000 times - and has calculated Spain are the most likely winners (in 16.1% of the simulations). France (13%), England (11.2%) and Argentina (10.4%) are also given strong chances of glory. Scotland? Not so much. Clarke's side are down the list in 33rd place, with only a 0.2% chance of winning the World Cup according to Opta, but on the upside, in the same simulations they got out of Group C two-thirds (66.1%) of the time. AI has also had its say. Its prediction was generated using Microsoft Copilot Chat - we simply asked the tool 'who will win the World Cup and how will England and Scotland do?' Copilot Chat says Spain will win it, England will reach the semi-finals and Scotland will go out in the group stage, despite finishing third in their group. Do you disagree with our experts? Think algorithms are for boffins, not for football? You can pick your winners below.

World Cup News

ShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleRichard SteadNorth WestEngland World Cup-winning hero Sir Geoff Hurst has said "there are no words to describe" having a mural of him in his home town. Hurst's image has been painted on a wall in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, to honour the striker, who was born at Lake Hospital (now Tameside General) in December 1941. The West Ham legend, who scored a hat-trick in the 1966 World Cup final, told fans: "People think I'm from London or Essex but not many people know I'm from Ashton-under-Lyne and to see this mural is just incredible." The mural depicts Hurst's third goal against West Germany as fans streamed on to the Wembley pitch, immortalised in the famous "They think it's all over..." television commentary. The mural includes that quote from BBC commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme. The unveiling ceremony took place at the Street Life Festival, which is organised by a campaign called Make Ashton Great Again. It is funded by local entrepreneur Andy Kleek, who has supported community events in the Market Avenue area of Ashton-under-Lyne. Jason Stephenson, a local bar owner who has helped to organise events in the town, said: "There were hundreds of families here to meet Sir Geoff Hurst and there were so many young people who knew who he was." "It was incredible to see the artist use virtual reality to fill in the blanks and create a masterpiece." The mural is on a wall opposite a newly created fan zone on Wood Street, which includes benches and a giant screen for watching World Cup matches. Sir Geoff Hurst lived in Denton until he was aged six, when his family moved to Chelmsford in Essex. He went on to make 411 appearances for West Ham and is the last surviving member of England's 1966 team. The 84-year-old is president of Hyde United FC. His dad, Charlie Hurst, played for the Northern Premier League club in the 1930s. Two other World Cup winners have been born in Tameside: Jimmy Armfield, who was a member of the England squad in 1966, and Simone Perrotta, who won the competition with Italy in 2006.