Scotland 4-1 Curacao

Home > Tyler Fletcher > Scotland 4-1 Curacao, 2026

In the build up to the send off match against Curacao, talk was about the squad Steve Clarke named, with the inclusion of Ross Stewart, and Findlay Curtis, and the exclusion of Oli McBurnie, Keiron Bowie and Lennon Miller. As people's seasons ended at different points, the squad met up at different points. This led to John McGinn, and the Serie A players (except Billy Gilmour) being excluded. There was also the news that Steve Clarke had his contracted extended up to 2030. 

The first chance fell to Andy Robertson who hit a powerful shot past the post. Then came the unthinkable, Curacao took the lead after 17 minutes. A long pass was received by Chong, who ran through on goal and beat Gordon. Seven minutes before half time Curacao went down to ten men when VAR turned a yellow card into a red, when Hickey received a smash in the face from the shoulder of Locadia. A couple of minutes later Gilmour went down holding his knee, things did not look good as he was substituted for Curtis. The substitute made an instant impact just before half time, as he played a one-two with Kenny McLean before hitting a low shot past the keeper to make it 1-1. At half time there were plenty of substitutions including Dykes on for Hirst, and this made a big impact as it pushed Shankland further forward. Just before the hour mark Shankland put Scotland ahead. A short corner from Christie was played to McLean, who played it back to Christie, and his ball into the box was met by the foot of Shankland who shot past the keeper. Five minutes later Shankland got his second. A great move started when Christie passed to Dykes and he played a first time pass across goal for Shankland to put a low shot past the keeper, giving Scotland a comfortable lead. With ten minutes remaining, Curtis was fouled in the box. The referee pointed to the spot, and up stepped Christie to send the keeper the wrong way and make it 4-1. A few minutes later Dykes had a shot tipped over the bar. Kenny McLean also had a shot saved, before the referee blew the whistle. The fact that Curacao played most of the game with 10 men was no help with building up for the Haiti match, but a few players probably played themselves into the starting 11. The bad news after the game was that Gilmour's injury ended his World Cup, and his place was filled by youngster Tyler Fletcher, son of Darren.