Scotland v Curacao ended as a comfortable 4-1 home victory. We profile the players who enhanced their Scotland selection prospects the most from that game.
Lawrence Shankland
Spotlighting Shankland last month, we pointed out that his 4 goals in his 524 minutes playing for the Scotland Men’s National Team (SMNT), equate to a goal every 131 mins that he plays. Further, his 2 strikes in the 77 mins he played on Saturday now means he has 6 goals in 601 mins; a tremendous average of a goal every 100 mins. His goals were well taken; a 1 touch & a 2 touch finish respectively, trademark stuff from Shankland. Shankland cemented his reputation as the best finisher currently available to Steve Clarke.
Findlay Curtis
19-year-old Curtis subbed on for his 2nd full cap to replace the injured Billy Gilmour after 42 mins. Then, 3 mins later he scored his 1st SMNT goal. An extraordinary 6 months for the fresh-faced youngster. He loaned from Rangers to Kilmarnock in January where he was instrumental in keeping Killie up. Then a Scotland debut in March & now this goal as the cherry on top of a lively performance on Saturday.
As per our previous article, mighty Brazil are potentially not so mighty at FB. Curtis along with Ben Gannon-Doak could be among Scotland wide attacking players to capitalise on that Brazil relative weakness. Especially with Alisson Becker’s biggest weakness being his unconvincing dealing with crosses. Does Ross Stewart‘s potent aerial threat make him the optimal forward to benefit from crosses from Curtis & others? If the regrettably injury-prone Gannon-Doak re-injures, would that open the door further for the ever more impressive Curtis?
Tyler Fletcher
This article has been updated to include the above subsequently taken image.
19-year-old Fletcher’s performance on Saturday has proved to be the most consequential for World Cup selection. The unfortunate Billy Gilmour subbed off on Saturday with a knee injury. Subsequently, a scan later that evening revealed the heartbreaking news for Gilmour, that his injury means he will not travel to WC 2026. Fletcher subbed on as one of 5 Scotland half-time substitutions and took the position vacated by Gilmour’s injury.
Fletcher oozed composure & maturity in the 1/2 game he played, completely unflustered in making his full international debut. That was despite only having played 17 mins in his 2 appearances of league football to date. He had already attracted plaudits from teammates, based on how much he impressed in training during the week leading up to the Scotland Curacao game. Hence the big news on Sunday that Steve Clarke boldly selected Fletcher to replace Gilmour in the Scotland World Cup squad.
