Which Scotland centre backs could be added to the next squad?

The Scotland World Cup 2026 campaign is over, as is the reign of Steve Clarke. Some players have likely played their last game for the Scotland Men’s National Team (SMNT). However, which players seem like options that the soon-to-be-appointed new boss could call-up? Following our look at potential Scotland fullback call-ups, we next look at possible Scotland centre backs for call-up.

Scotland centre backs in the World Cup squad

Before the main part of the article, this is a brief summary of Scotland centre backs who went to the World Cup.

Grant Hanley

34 years old, Hanley now has a tally of 70 SMNT caps. Also, with a new campaign cycle about to begin & an inbound new boss, this is surely finally the end of the international road for the wholehearted defender. Or is it?

Jack Hendry

31-year-old Hendry now has 41 caps. With some CBs having the greatest longevity of outfield footballers, Hendry will be keen to stay in contention when the Nations League campaign begins in late September.

Dom Hyam

Hyam has played at the highest level in recent seasons of CBs selected by Steve Clarke. Is 30-year-old Hyam’s 4 full SMNT caps thus an indication of Steve Clarke over loyalty to others?

Scott McKenna

29-year-old McKenna is easily young enough to continue being considered for selection. His cap v Brazil at the World Cup took him to 51 for the SMNT. Zvonimir Boban, high-heid-yin at Dinamo Zagreb, has stated there has been much interest in McKenna from other clubs. For the moment though at least, McKenna seems about to start his 2nd season there.

John Souttar

Souttar, like Hyam, didn’t make it off the bench at the World Cup. The serious injury issues of earlier in his career seem to be behind him for the moment at least, given the number of club games he has played in, during the last 3 seasons. Also, reports indicate Souttar is about to depart Rangers to move South of the border. 29 years old, Souttar has 24 SMNT caps.

Additional Scotland centre backs to call-up?

Below are some likely & less likely possible call-ups to the squad should the incoming new boss seek to replace any of the above. Stats are as at 13 July 2026 unless otherwise indicated.

Luis Binks

Age	24
Full Scotland caps	0
Age group Scotland caps	Disputed
Year of last full cap	N/A
Current club	Brondby
Current club division	Danish 1st tier
Club division Opta rating	81.1 (12th globally) *

At time of writing, Transfermarkt lists Binks as never having played for Scotland at any level. However, at least one other source states Binks represented Scotland 6 times at youth level. Binks is eligible for Scotland via his maternal grandfather originating from Dunbar.

Despite being only 24, Binks is much travelled. Specifically, he has already played first team football in Serie A (Bologna as a teammate to Aaron Hickey & Lewis Ferguson), MLS (Montreal), & England’s 2nd tier (Coventry City), before his move to Denmark last season. Fotmob rated him impressively at 7.25 in his debut season in Denmark.

Subsequent to original publication of this article, Binks on 18 July was announced as on-field team captain at Brondby. Daniel Wass was announced as taking on a new role as club captain, to help mentor Brondby’s upcoming leaders.

Ibane Bowat

Age	23
Full Scotland caps	0
Age group Scotland caps	7
Year of last full cap	N/A
Current club	Portsmouth
Current club division	English 2nd tier
Club division Opta rating	81.9 (7th globally)

Bowat is eligible for Scotland via his maternal grandfather originating from Fife. He is also eligible for Cameroon, England & France. Bowat played 17 games in England’s 2nd tier last season for Portsmouth, sometimes covering for injuries at LB. Also, boss John Mousinho has gone public that Bowat has made it clear to him that he feels he should be playing much more regularly. Hence they have agreed that Portsmouth are now open to offers for Bowat. Thus, it remains to be seen if next season he is playing regularly enough & well enough to seriously merit a squad call up.

It seems unlikely Bowat will do enough in competition with others in this article, for him to be called up in September. Going by the snow in the above image, it seems Bowat would be OK playing for a club in Scotland.

Jeremiah Chilokoa-Mullen

Age	22
Full Scotland caps	0
Age group Scotland caps	27
Year of last full cap	N/A
Current club	Wigan Athletic
Current club division	English 3rd tier
Club division Opta rating	75.5 (39th globally)

To supplement our previous article on Chilokoa-Mullen, he has moved in the Summer from Dunfermline to Wigan. As usual, Opta rates England’s 3rd division as very close to the same level as the Scots top flight. Others in this article will likely keep him out of the SMNT squad until he is playing at a higher level. He will though be all the wiser from his decision to move from the Leeds United youth setup to Dunfermline, from the first team experience he subsequently accrued there.

Josh Feeney

Age	21
Full Scotland caps	0
Age group Scotland caps	0
Year of last full cap	N/A
Current club	Aston Villa
Current club division	English 1st tier
Club division Opta rating	91.6 (1st globally)

While Feeney is at Villa, there’s no smoke signals there suggesting he is close to a first team breakthrough. He spent though last season on loan at Huddersfield in England’s 3rd tier, playing over 2,300 minutes including in 24 league games. His stats last year suggest the 21-year-old could do a job for someone on-loan this season, including in the Scots top flight.

However, Feeney is an age group international for England. He is though eligible for Scotland via his father. It remains to be seen if/when Feeney junior defects to play football for the land of his dad. There’s too many improbabilities needed to happen for him to be called up by Scotland in September.

Stuart Findlay

Age	30
Full Scotland caps	1
Age group Scotland caps	36
Year of last full cap	2019 (home v San Marino)
Current club	Heart of Midlothian
Current club division	Scots 1st tier
Club division Opta rating	75.3 (42nd globally)

Findlay is generally perceived as having had a solid season just ended, partnering with Craig Halkett at CB for Hearts. However, his sole full cap was 7 years ago.

31 in a few weeks, age & the division he plays in are unlikely to be on Findlay’s side to earn him a recall. What he does have in his favour though, is that he is likely to be playing regular first team football. Many other hopefuls in this list are much less sure to do so.

Luke Graham

Age	22
Full Scotland caps	0
Age group Scotland caps	8
Year of last full cap	N/A
Current club	Stoke City
Current club division	English 2nd tier
Club division Opta rating	81.9 (7th globally)

Luke Graham’s impressive form for Dundee earned him a move up the football money chain in the summer to Stoke City. Widely touted as a genuine SMNT prospect, he now though has to prove he can cut it at this higher level of club football.

22 years old, age is on Graham’s side even if he isn’t called-up in September.

Craig Halkett

Age	31
Full Scotland caps	0
Age group Scotland caps	1
Year of last full cap	N/A
Current club	Heart of Midlothian
Current club division	Scots 1st tier
Club division Opta rating	75.3 (42nd globally)

Halkett was enjoying a fine season last season, earning a spot in the PFA Scotland Team of the Season. Then it all went wrong for him, rupturing an Achilles & expected to be sidelined until 2027. Any hopes 31-year-old Halkett had of a full call-up seem increasingly faint.

Liam Lindsay

Age	30
Full Scotland caps	0
Age group 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	81.9 (7th globally)

Last season he was somewhat in & out of the team at Preston. He did though start 6 of their last 9 games of the season. Further, he donned the captain’s armband in 2 couple of their last 3 games. He has though been linked with a move away from Deepdale this Summer. Aberdeen & Celtic have been reported as interested.

Lindsay’s solitary Scotland squad call-up was for Nations League games in October 2024. He remains though uncapped at any level. Like Findlay & Halkett, age isn’t on his side in terms of breaking into the squad. The incoming new boss though may see that differently.

Liam Morrison

Age	23
Full Scotland caps	0
Age group Scotland caps	41
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’s inconsistent form for QPR last season resulted in a January 1/2 season loan to Aberdeen. And then, at the Dons, Morrison was… inconsistent. He may well loan or transfer away from Loftus Road this summer. He thus seems unlikely to receive a full call-up in September.

Ben Nelson

Age	22
Full Scotland caps	0
Age group Scotland caps	0
Year of last full cap	N/A
Current club	Leicester City
Current club division	English 3rd tier
Club division Opta rating	75.5 (39th globally)

6 foot 5 tall, big Ben has made it known that he feels his time is up at Leicester City following their relegation last season to the English 3rd tier. Further, the foxes have been reported as rejecting a bid from Torino in Serie A. Nelson is also reported as interesting both Manchester City & Manchester United. Specifically at Man City, new boss Enzo Maresca is reportedly an admirer of Nelson from managing him at Leicester.

Nelson has age group caps for England (in Nelson’s case, subsequent to his solitary age group cap for Scotland). Hence, similar to Feeney, it remains to be seen if/when Nelson defects to Scotland. Don’t hold your breath for him being called-up in September for the SMNT.

Ryan Porteous

Age	27
Full Scotland caps	13
Age group Scotland caps	21
Year of last full cap	2025 (away v Greece)
Current club	Los Angeles FC
Current club division	American 1st tier
Club division Opta rating	78.2 (18th globally)

Ryan Porteous offers something with his ability to pass the ball out of defence. It is regrettable that on the minus side, he appears to have a neuro-configuration rendering him unable to stop himself periodically making impulsive, dangerous tackles on his opponents.

For example, that impulse earned him a red card and cost Scotland a penalty at the opening game of Euro 2024. Subsequently, the only time Steve Clarke trusted him with match minutes after that, was in the Nations League playoff 1-0 win in Athens. After subbing on in the 89th minute, it took Porteous only 2 further mins to unleash another of those dangerous tackles. Clarke never trusted Porteous again in his time as Scotland boss.

Porteous like Oli McBurnie may well see a change of Scotland boss as an opportunity for international resurrection. Hence, let’s see if the new boss is aware of the serious downside in Porteous’ game.

Stephen Welsh

Age	26
Full Scotland caps	0
Age group Scotland caps	34
Year of last full cap	N/A
Current club	Swansea City
Current club division	English 2nd tier
Club division Opta rating	81.9 (7th globally)

Stephen Welsh impressed on loan from Celtic at Jens Berthel Askou‘s widely praised Motherwell team last season. So much so, the 26-year-old CB earned a Summer move to Swansea City in England’s 2nd tier. Further, Welsh will be very aware that good form there will give him an excellent chance of Scotland selection for the Autumn internationals. However, like others moving up to that level, he has to prove that he can cut it.

Which Scotland centre backs are likeliest to be called up?

Hanley is likeliest of the incumbents from the World Cup to lose his place. Additionally, the other 4 may well feel they will retain their place in the September squad if they retain first team club football. Of the others looking to break into the squad, again it depends on who plays first team football & at what level. Perhaps Binks & then Welsh are readiest? Graham is arguably the best long term prospect of those listed above. Things will become clearer after the season gets going.