Scotland hosted Curaçao in a friendly at Hampden Park on Tuesday in the side’s last home match before the World Cup, with Andy Robertson winning his 93rd cap and taking part in the pre-match coin toss while Craig Gordon started in goal and Lyndon Shankland and George Hirst led the attack.
Fans searching for scotland vs curaçao were looking for one thing: a final home glimpse of a squad bound for the United States. Scotland had trained at Little Hampden during the week and will now fly to Florida, based at Inter Miami’s Florida Blue Training Center before a final friendly against Bolivia in New Jersey, then head into the tournament camp at Charlotte FC’s Atrium Health Performance Park.
Manager Steve Clarke used the fixture to manage workload rather than to field his strongest possible XI, leaving John McGinn and Scott McTominay out of the match to allow them more recovery time after the domestic season. Clarke said it was important those players had at least five nights to relax and decompress, a decision that trimmed midfield muscle from what many would have expected at a Hampden send-off.
That call underlined the match’s double purpose: a farewell for supporters and a controlled piece of tournament preparation. Clarke stressed that the choice was about recovery and timing; he also warned that Curaçao would not be an easy warm-up, noting the visitors know how to play and would present a significant challenge. The Caribbean side arrive at the finals having climbed to 82nd in the world and arriving as one of the smallest nations ever to qualify for the finals.
Clarke made other selection choices with an eye on fitness. He confirmed Ross Stewart had felt something in his knee but expected him to train in America next week, and said Craig Gordon had trained well and it felt right to give him the game because he had been out and was still catching up. Younger squad members, including Tyler Fletcher, were available on the bench after impressing in training, Clarke added.
For George Hirst, the start was another chance to build an international ledger — he had eight full caps and one goal before this match — and for Robertson it was a personal milestone that tied the night to the bigger campaign. Yet the most immediate question from Hampden remains unresolved here: the verified account of the match does not include the final scoreline, leaving a clear gap between the send-off atmosphere and any assessment of whether Clarke’s rotation hindered or helped the side.
What comes next is concrete. Scotland will complete their US preparations at Inter Miami’s facility, play Bolivia in New Jersey and then open their World Cup group in Foxborough against Haiti on Sunday 14 June, face Morocco in Foxborough on Friday 19 June and meet Brazil in Miami on Wednesday 24 June. The pressing issue for Clarke is whether the rest afforded McGinn and McTominay, and the minutes given to players like Hirst and Shankland, deliver fresher legs for those fixtures — a calculation that will only be answered once the team’s stateside run and the group stage begin.
