The Scottish FA have published that the first Scotland squad of new boss, Seb Pocognoli, will be announced tomorrow. 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 MF players we next ask, which forwards will Poco call up? Below we run through the forward candidates for what is the first Scotland squad for the 2026-27 UEFA Nations League campaign. Stats are as per time of article publication. Players are listed alphabetically.
Ché Adams
| Age | 23 |
| Current FotMob rating | 6.99 |
| Full Scotland caps | 50 (13 goals, 3 assists, 3136 mins) |
| Year of last full cap | 2026 (Neutral venue v Brazil) |
| Current club | Torino |
| Current club division | Italian 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 85.2 (4th globally) |
When Adams subbed on in stoppage time for Lawrence Shankland against Brazil at the World Cup, he became the 44th Scotsman & first non-white among those 44 to reach 50 full Scotland caps.
He has played 193 mins this season in Torino’s 3 Serie A games. His 2 goals in those 193 mins includes the worldie at 1.36 mins in the video of this 2-1 defeat at Milan 3 weeks ago. He has scored 17 times in 72 Serie A games. With Oli McBurnie & Robbie yet to score this season in the EPL & Primera División respectively, & Oli Burke injured so far this season, no Scotsman has scored as many goals in such a highly ranked division this season as Adams. However, his place in the forthcoming Scotland squad is in serious doubt due to an Adductor injury yesterday.
Kieron Bowie
| Age | 23 |
| Current FotMob rating | 6.8 |
| Full Scotland caps | 2 (zero goals, zero assists, 13 mins) |
| Year of last full cap | 2025 (home v Belarus) |
| Current club | Sassuolo |
| Current club division | Italian 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 85.2 (4th globally) |
Bowie needed his first Sassuolo goal after his Summer transfer there from Hellas Verona. Yesterday in his 6th Sassuolo games and 4th for them in Serie A, he broke that threshold, scoring with a composed low finish winning 3-2 versus Juventus. He subbed on in the 71st minute after producing unconvincing numbers in his prior Sassuolo games.
He similarly needed 6 games at Verona before his first goal after joining them in January. That goal in January though was the first of 4 goals in 9 games in which Juventus were also on the receiving end. Like Adams, no Scotsman has scored in a higher Opta ranked division this season than Bowie.
Oli Burke
Burke was featured in this article earlier today profiling wingers.
Tommy Conway
| Age | 24 |
| Current FotMob rating | 6.92 |
| Full Scotland caps | 8 (zero goals, 1 assist, 253 mins) |
| Year of last full cap | 2026 (neutral venue v Cote d’Ivoire) |
| Current club | Middlesbrough |
| Current club division | English 2nd tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 80.5 (10th globally) |
Conway was unfortunate to miss out on the World Cup selection due to injury when he appeared firmly in Steve Clarke’s plans in the March internationals.
Conway missed the first Boro games of the season with an ankle injury. He has since played no more than 67 minutes in any of the 5 games he has played in since coming back. Boro boss, Kim Hellberg, continues to play Conway at wide left of the attack, utilising hardworking Conway’s pressing abilities. Conway’s unconvincing numbers since his comeback were boosted by 2 assists in the 63 mins he played in the 4-3 home win against Norwich City on Saturday. Has that been enough to tip a Scotland squad place in his favour tomorrow?
Lyndon Dykes
| Age | 30 |
| Current FotMob rating | 7.04 |
| Full Scotland caps | 53 (10 goals, 5 assists, 2955 mins) |
| Year of last full cap | 2026 (neutral venue v Morocco) |
| Current club | Millwall |
| Current club division | English 2nd tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 80.5 (10th globally) |
Dykes for all his hard work & similarly to Adams, has been criticised for lack of goalscoring. Many were tipping Dykes to be omitted from Pocognoli’s first Scotland squad tomorrow, with upcoming players such as Bowie taking over. However, Dykes has responded in the best way possible for a striker with 3 goals in his last 3 Millwall games. That gives him 3 goals from the 299 mins he has played across 6 Millwall league games this season.
Ryan Gauld
| Age | 30 |
| Current FotMob rating | 7.59 |
| Full Scotland caps | 6 (zero goals, zero assists, 107 mins) |
| Year of last full cap | 2024 (away v Poland) |
| Current club | Vancouver Whitecaps |
| Current club division | USA/Canada combined first tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 78.9 (17th globally) |
Among the players happiest with the consolidation of 4 games into 1 international break is Ryan Gauld; it’s a long return flight from Vancouver to Scotland. Will he though be selected for the Scotland squad?
Gauld had a 6 months knee injury in 2025. A 9 game comeback at the end of that year was merely punctuation before knee injury ruled him out until May this year. After a slow start coming back, he has increasingly found form & is now yet again a major creative spark in the Whitecaps attack. He has 2 goals & an assist in his last 4 games among a plethora of impressive attacking stats (see for yourself at the above FotMob link or at here on Flashscore). A blemish though his penalty miss yesterday in the 2-1 home defeat by FC Austin. He recently scored his 50th career Whitecaps goal.
His injury difficulties mean he hasn’t been in a Scotland squad since November 2024. All 6 of his full caps were sub ons in the Nations League that Autumn.
George Hirst
| Age | 30 |
| Current FotMob rating | 6.34 |
| Full Scotland caps | 10 (1 goal, zero assists, 373 mins) |
| Year of last full cap | 2026 (neutral venue v Bolivia) |
| Current club | Stoke City |
| Current club division | English 2nd tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 80.5 (10th globally) |
Hirst was one of the few to emerge from the March internationals with an enhanced reputation. That though was 6 months ago. He is the only one of the 5 strikers in the World Cup Scotland squad not to play any match time there.
After successfully helping Ipswich Town to promotion to the EPL last season, he transferred in the Summer to Stoke City, again in the 2nd tier in England. In all 7 Stoke games in which he has played so far, he has either subbed on or off. On 5 September he got off the mark with his first Stoke goal, winning 4-0 at home versus Charlton. He is yet to convince, though, so far with his numbers since joining Stoke.
Fraser Hornby
| Age | 27 |
| Current FotMob rating | 6.67 |
| Full Scotland caps | 0 |
| Year of last full cap | N/A |
| Current club | Wolfsburg |
| Current club division | German 2nd tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 76.9 (30th globally) |
13 goals & 9 assists last season in his 27 Darmstadt league & cup games as a supporting striker earned Hornby a Summer transfer to Wolfsburg, staying in Germany’s 2nd tier. Those 27 league & cup appearances regrettably, though, tell part of the Hornby story; his durability against injury is poor. Injury ruled out any outside chance of a late call-up for the World Cup. At Wolfsburg he subbed off at HT at Hannover in the 2nd league game of this season. He hasn’t yet recovered to subsequently appear in a matchday squad. He thus won’t be named in the Scotland squad tomorrow.
Kyle Joseph
| Age | 25 |
| Current FotMob rating | 6.57 |
| Full Scotland caps | 0 |
| Year of last full cap | N/A |
| Current club | Middlesbrough |
| Current club division | English 2nd tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 80.5 (10th globally) |
Joseph is yet another Summer transfer in this list, in his case from Hull to Middlesbrough. His as yet unconvincing stats at Boro means that tomorrow, he won’t receive his maiden call up to a senior Scotland squad.
Oli McBurnie
| Age | 30 |
| Current FotMob rating | 7.03 |
| Full Scotland caps | 17 (0 goals, 0 assists & 764 mins) |
| Year of last full cap | 2021 (home v Faroe Islands) |
| Current club | Hull City |
| Current club division | English 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 92.1 (1st globally) |
It’s should he or shouldn’t he time for Pocognoli with regards to McBurnie. McBurnie more than any other will feel Steve Clarke’s resignation opens the door to international football rejuvenation. Despite McBurnie’s excellent 2025/26 season winning promotion with Hull City to the EPL, he was omitted by Clarke for the World Cup squad. Was McBurnie an (unfortunate?) victim of some kind of Steve Clarke no dickheads policy ?
McBurnie’s stats in the rarefied air of the EPL aren’t what they were last season when a division below. Hull though as a team are high flying currently 3rd in the EPL table, unbeaten with 2 wins & 2 draws at this early stage of the season. Tigers boss, Sergej Jakirovic, earlier this month endorsed McBurnie for a recall:
“This is a question for the new head coach of the Scotland team. But he deserved to be at the World Cup already because he had great numbers last season and he is very important as a team player. Even in our two games this season, he just missed scoring a goal and didn’t have a lot of chances because he worked a lot for the team and his presence is very valuable to us and the team. He is a leader without being captain. He’s important to us and I expect that he will get the invitation for September.”
Kevin Nisbet
| Age | 29 |
| Current FotMob rating | 6.44 |
| Full Scotland caps | 11 (1 goal, 0 assists, 178 mins) |
| Year of last full cap | 2023 (home v Georgia) |
| Current club | Aberdeen |
| Current club division | Scottish first tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 74.7 (37th globally) |
Not since the March 2025 Nations League playoffs v Greece has Nisbet been in a Scotland squad. He has a headline 10 goals to his name so far this season. However, in terms of a Scotland recall, that goals tally is less impressive when considering 6 were in the League Cup against lower division opponents. Nisbet was on the scoresheet on Saturday in Aberdeen’s 10 man, League Cup quarterfinal win at Kilmarnock.
Lawrence Shankland
| Age | 31 |
| Current FotMob rating | 7.52 |
| Full Scotland caps | 22 (7 goals, 2 assists, 833 mins) |
| Year of last full cap | 2026 (Neutral venue v Brazil) |
| Current club | Rangers |
| Current club division | Scottish 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 74.7 (37th globally) |
Shankland has moved this Summer from Hearts to Rangers, where after a slowish start he was coming into form. However, on 5 September versus Motherwell at home, he subbed off with a recurrence of the hamstring tear he suffered in January when still at Hearts. He is projected to be out of action for 4 months and thus has no chance of being in the Scotland squad tomorrow.
Barney Stewart
| Age | 22 |
| Current FotMob rating | 6.24 |
| Full Scotland caps | 0 |
| Year of last full cap | N/A |
| Current club | West Bromwich Albion |
| Current club division | English 2nd tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 80.5 (10th globally) |
Barney Stewart is finding out that the 2nd tier in England is much more competitive than the top tier in Scotland, even to get into the team. In the 9 games since he joined West Brom in the Summer he has accrued only 149 mins of playing time. He thus won’t be named tomorrow in the Scotland squad.
Ross Stewart
| Age | 30 |
| Current FotMob rating | Unrated |
| Full Scotland caps | 4 (0 goals, 0 assists, 63 mins) |
| Year of last full cap | 2026 (Neutral venue v Morocco) |
| Current club | Swansea City |
| Current club division | English 2nd tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 80.5 (10th globally) |
Stewart managed to convince Clarke he was worth the injury risk of taking to USA. Subsequently, he joined Swansea in the Summer after leaving Southampton. He debuted for Swansea on 15 August in a comeback attempt from his latest injury, subbing on in the 81st min. Regrettably injury recurrence means he has not made it into a match day squad since. Hence, he has no chance of being in the Scotland squad tomorrow.
Stewart is a dangerous forward & natural goalscorer when he gets game time. His injury record though is regrettably dire. His international career could be over.
Robbie Ure
| Age | 22 |
| Current FotMob rating | 6.42 |
| Full Scotland caps | 0 |
| Year of last full cap | N/A |
| Current club | Sevilla |
| Current club division | Spanish 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 85.9 (3rd globally) |
His sensational 20 goals in 20 games this season took Sirius to top of the league in Sweden & earned Ure a big money move to Sevilla in Spain. He though is another finding life tougher at a higher standard of football. Consequently, hard working Ure is yet to convince in his 5 games in Spain as he settles in there. In some ways he is similar to Bowie after Bowie’s moves to & within Italy; namely, he needs a goal to get himself off the mark at his new club.
Ure is widely tipped for his maiden Scotland squad call up tomorrow. Also, he has dual eligibility with Ukraine via the grandparent rule. Since he is over 20, one second of competitive game time for Scotland will eliminate that dual eligibility.
James Wilson
| Age | 19 |
| Current FotMob rating | 7.05 |
| Full Scotland caps | 2 (0 goals, 0 assists, 30 mins) |
| Year of last full cap | 2026 (home v Curaçao) |
| Current club | Heart of Midlothian |
| Current club division | Scottish 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 74.7 (37th globally) |
An encouraging start to the season for young Wilson with 4 goals in his last 6 games, including a long range stunner against Inverness CT. Such has been his form, some are advocating he is worth a Scotland squad recall. Given his youthful years though, would he be better in the U21s where he’d not just get more game time? He’d help there in the attempt to turn Scotland into a competitive force again at age group level.
Rory Wilson
| Age | 20 |
| Current FotMob rating | 6.95 |
| Full Scotland caps | 0 |
| Year of last full cap | N/A |
| Current club | Aston Villa |
| Current club division | English 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 92.1 (1st globally) |
The youngster from Girvan needs to find his mojo again. 50 goals in a season in the Rangers youth setup, earned him a transfer to Aston Villa. He scored 24 goals in 22 Villa U18 Premier League games. Additionally, he similarly scored 16 goals in 19 games for Scotland U17s. Yet from there, though, things have tailed off for him & he hasn’t had the first team breakthrough many hoped for.
A bone spur meant he was out of action for a year, punctuated midway by an unsuccessful comeback attempt. Pursuing first team football, in February he went on loan to Sturm Graz. That though yielded only 23 mins of 1st team action from only 4 first team appearances. This season he has played 4 games for Villa U21s and notched 2 goals.
While it is by no means time to abandon hopes of him becoming a prolific international goalscorer in future, he isn’t yet the international goal machine many hoped he would become. He won’t be named in Poco’s Scotland squad tomorrow.
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