The Scottish FA have announced that the first Scotland squad of new boss, Seb Pocognoli, will be announced on Tuesday. With the new broom picking the first squad of the post-Steve Clarke Scotland era, there’s much anticipation to see how different the squad looks, under the new era of modernity promised by the SFA’s Chief Football Officer, Craig Mulholland. Following our piece on FBs we next ask, which CBs will Poco call up? Below we run through the CB candidates for what is the first Scotland squad for the 2026-27 UEFA Nations League campaign. Stats are as per time of article publication.
Luis Binks
| Age | 25 |
| Current FotMob rating | 7.45 |
| Full Scotland caps | 0 |
| Year of last full cap | N/A |
| Current club | Brøndby |
| Current club division | Danish 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 79.7 (12th globally) |
Binks’ move to Denmark in the Summer of 2025 has gone well for him; regular first team football & this season also the on-field captaincy (Daniel Wass was announced as taking on a new role as club captain, to help mentor Brøndby’s upcoming leaders). Binks is turning out good numbers such as that in his FotMob rating above, while playing in a division with a good standard of football.
Born in England with a maternal grandfather from Dunbar, Binks represented Scotland & England at age group level. As a sign of his increased confidence since moving to Denmark, he has spoken numerous times of his ambition to represent Scotland as a full internationalist. Going by the standard of his club performances, he could well be named in the Scotland squad next week.
Stuart Findlay
| Age | 30 |
| Current FotMob rating | 6.79 |
| Full Scotland caps | 1 |
| Year of last full cap | 2019 (home v San Marino) |
| Current club | Heart of Midlothian |
| Current club division | Scottish 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 74.7 (37th globally) |
Findlay is generally perceived as having been a solid performer at CB for Hearts since joining Hearts in the Summer of 2025. Now on the cusp of his 31st birthday this month, his sole full cap was 7 years ago. With younger emerging prospects in this list looking genuinely realistic prospects for a first call up, Findlay would be lucky to make the cut for the Scotland squad announced next week.
Luke Graham
| Age | 22 |
| Current FotMob rating | 7.22 |
| Full Scotland caps | 0 |
| Year of last full cap | N/A |
| Current club | Stoke City |
| Current club division | English 2nd tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 80.5 (10th globally) |
Graham is hoped by many to have a bright future ahead of him in a Scotland jersey. He transferred from Dundee to Stoke in the Summer & will be understandably hoping for a call up next week to the Scotland squad.
Craig Halkett
| Age | 31 |
| Current FotMob rating | 7.26 |
| Full Scotland caps | 0 |
| Year of last full cap | N/A |
| Current club | Heart of Midlothian |
| Current club division | Scottish 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 74.7 (37th globally) |
Halkett earning a place in the 2025/26 PFA Scotland Team of the Season speaks much of the form he was in. However, a ruptured Achilles has him sidelined until 2027. He won’t obviously be considered for a Scotland squad before then.
Grant Hanley
| Age | 34 |
| Current FotMob rating | 6.72 |
| Full Scotland caps | 70 |
| Year of last full cap | 2026 (Neutral venue v Morocco) |
| Current club | Hibernian |
| Current club division | Scottish 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 74.7 (37th globally) |
34-year-old and in the twilight of his career, Hanley’s committed, over-my-dead-body penalty box defending made him a favourite of Steve Clarke. With Pocognoli now the boss though and with comments made about bringing younger players through, it’s very unlikely Grant Hanley will be in a Scotland squad again.
Hanley is 12th in the Scotland Men’s National Team all time appearances list with 70 caps. He was one of the few Scots playing at Euro 2024 to emerge with credit. He can also look back on a Scotland career that included playing at a World Cup.
Jack Hendry
| Age | 31 |
| Current FotMob rating | 6.79 |
| Full Scotland caps | 41 |
| Year of last full cap | 2026 (Neutral venue v Brazil) |
| Current club | Al-Ettifaq |
| Current club division | Saudi 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 74.4 (39th globally) |
3 years on from his money-spinning move to Saudi, Hendry continues to play for Al-Ettifaq. A wholesale clear seems unlikely with the Scotland squad announced next week. Hendry will be hoping to keep his Scotland squad place.
Dominic Hyam
| Age | 30 |
| Current FotMob rating | 6.77 |
| Full Scotland caps | 4 |
| Year of last full cap | 2026 (Neutral venue v Bolivia) |
| Current club | Wrexham |
| Current club division | English 2nd tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 80.5 (10th globally) |
Arguably the player to have suffered most by overloyalty in player selection in the 2nd half of the Steve Clarke reign, is Dom Hyam. Hyam’s trademark was durability against injury combined with churning out consistent, solid stats in performance after performance. No Scotsman was playing CB at a higher club level than him, finishing 1 place out of the English 2nd tier playoff spots in 3 of the last 4 seasons.
And so the irony of life. A new Scotland boss comes in meaning a clean slate for everyone, and with data set to play a bigger part of the Scotland setup. However, Hyam’s performance stats for his club have dropped. He is still Wrexham club captain. He was though benched for Wrexham’s visit to West Ham United last night. Hyam subbed on in the 67th minute in a 6-0 loss as high-flying West Ham moved to top of the table. The Scotland squad on Tuesday could well be minus his name.
Liam Lindsay
| Age | 30 |
| Current FotMob rating | 6.45 |
| Full Scotland caps | 0 |
| Year of last full cap | N/A |
| Current club | Preston North End |
| Current club division | English 2nd tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 80.5 (10th globally) |
Lindsay’s solitary Scotland squad call-up was for Nations League games in October 2024. Underwhelming performances this season led to his benching for Preston’s 2 most recent games. He subbed on in neither of those 2 games. Like Findlay & Halkett, age isn’t on his side in terms of breaking into the Scotland squad.
Scott McKenna
| Age | 29 |
| Current FotMob rating | 7.16 |
| Full Scotland caps | 51 |
| Year of last full cap | 2026 (Neutral venue v Brazil) |
| Current club | Dinamo Zagreb |
| Current club division | Croatian 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 78.0 (21st globally) |
Dinamo Zagreb have strategically benched McKenna three times this season. He did not feature in any of those 3 games. All 3 of those games were immediately before Dinamo had a Champions League game to play. Like Hanley, McKenna now being above the 50 cap mark, has his name in the Scotland International Roll of Honour. He likely has many more Scotland squad appearances in him.
Liam Morrison
| Age | 23 |
| Current FotMob rating | 6.62 |
| Full Scotland caps | 0 |
| Year of last full cap | N/A |
| Current club | Queen’s Park Rangers |
| Current club division | English 2nd tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 81.9 (7th globally) |
Liam Morrison last season was inconsistent for QPR & then inconsistent in his 1/2 season loan to Aberdeen. In 7 QPR games this season, the best Morrison has managed is twice being an unused sub. Otherwise, he hasn’t made the matchday squad this season. Morrison needs a move before he is realistically considered by Pocognoli for a Scotland squad.
Ben Nelson
| Age | 22 |
| Current FotMob rating | 6.69 |
| Full Scotland caps | 0 |
| Year of last full cap | N/A |
| Current club | Leicester City |
| Current club division | English 3rd tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 73.8 (46th globally) |
6 foot 5 tall, big Ben was on the lookout for a transfer following Leicester’s relegation last season to the English 3rd tier. Leicester were reported rejecting a bid from Torino in Serie A, with interest in Nelson from both Manchester City & Manchester United. The obvious Man City connection is new boss Enzo Maresca, who reportedly was impressed while managing Nelson at Leicester.
Nelson has age group caps for England, subsequent to his solitary age group cap for Scotland. He won’t though be switching back or named in a Scotland squad soon. Nelson captained Leicester throughout their pre-season. Against Genoa in their final warm-up game, Nelson ruptured his ACL & is out of action until 2027.
Ryan Porteous
| Age | 27 |
| Current FotMob rating | 7.07 |
| Full Scotland caps | 13 |
| Year of last full cap | 2025 (away v Greece) |
| Current club | Los Angeles FC |
| Current club division | American 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 78.9 (17th globally) |
Ryan Porteous was posting good performance stats until injury meant he missed the last 2 LAFC games. Porteous is reported to have protested his exclusion from their most recent squad. Hence it seems his injury is short term.
Porteous is something of an enigma. He has ability to pass the ball out of defence that few of his Scots peers can offer. However, he seems unable to stop himself intermittently making impulsive, dangerous tackles that risk him being sent off.
Somewhat infamously, he earned a straight red card & cost Scotland a penalty versus Germany in the opening game of Euro 2024. Steve Clarke trusted Porteous with match minutes only once after that, 9 months later in the Nations League playoff 1-0 win in Athens in March of 2025. Porteous subbed on in the 89th minute. 2 minutes later Porteous unleashed another of those impulsive dangerous tackles. Clarke in the rest of his time as boss, never again selected Porteous for a Scotland squad.
Porteous like Oli McBurnie likely saw the change of Scotland boss as an opportunity for international resurrection. Alan Irvine continuing as deputy boss from the Clarke era into the Pocognoli era, may or may not have something to say about that.
John Souttar
| Age | 29 |
| Current FotMob rating | 7.21 |
| Full Scotland caps | 24 |
| Year of last full cap | 2026 (Neutral venue v Bolivia) |
| Current club | Rangers |
| Current club division | Scottish 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 74.7 (37th globally) |
Info in the above table is potentially out of date as soon as published. Specifically, Souttar is reportedly in Greece this weekend for a medical with Aris Thessaloniki. Should the transfer go through in time, he could be in contention for the Thessaloniki derby game visit to PAOK on Monday. Souttar hasn’t been in a Rangers match day squad since Derek McInnes took the helm at Ibrox. The November Scotland squad seems a more realistic target for Souttar, when perhaps by then he has first team minutes to his name this season.
Stephen Welsh
| Age | 26 |
| Current FotMob rating | 7.41 |
| Full Scotland caps | 0 |
| Year of last full cap | N/A |
| Current club | Swansea City |
| Current club division | English 2nd tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 80.5 (10th globally) |
Welsh carried over his good form on loan last season at Jens Berthel Askou’s much admired Motherwell side, into the start of this season for Swansea. Swansea are currently 3rd after 6 games, ahead of their home game later today against Burnley. Welsh has been one of Swansea’s best players so far this season.
Welsh, Binks & Graham seem the likeliest of any new CBs in the Scotland squad to be announced on Tuesday. This of course though is Pocognoli’s decision.
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
