Scotland’s long-awaited return to the World Cup, after a 28-year hiatus, has been marred by a contentious exchange with Norway. Following the abrupt cancellation of a training match scheduled for Monday in Charlotte, Norwegian officials branded the Scottish team as “unprofessional,” “embarrassing,” and “weak.” In response, the Scottish Football Association (SFA) expressed its astonishment at Norway’s reaction, prompting John McGinn, midfielder for Aston Villa, to encourage the Norwegians to familiarize themselves with Scotland’s injury issues.
With both teams stationed in North Carolina, the match was intended to provide crucial playing time for athletes in need of it. However, Scotland decided to cancel just a day before the game, primarily due to the injury suffered by Billy Gilmour during a recent friendly against Curaçao, which has sidelined him for the World Cup.
Norway’s head coach, Ståle Solbakken, was visibly upset by the cancellation. “It was unexpected, and Scotland’s actions are unprofessional,” he stated. “It’s unprofessional that the coach did not reach out to me directly; instead, they communicated through the team manager after our training session had concluded.”
Solbakken further asserted, “I don’t believe the injuries they are citing resulted from our last training. This situation is disappointing and unprofessional, but we must accept it.” The Scottish FA clarified that the arrangement for the match was never discussed directly between coaches, as it was set up by team administrators.
Brede Hangeland, Norway’s team manager, shared Solbakken’s frustrations, expressing, “We have been preparing for this match for months. It’s embarrassing to call it off just days before the event. We can’t change it now; we must move on and make the best of the situation. A lot of planning and informal agreements were made, and suddenly they backed out. I find that quite weak.”
As the tension escalated, a group of Norwegian journalists unexpectedly showed up at McGinn’s press conference on Monday afternoon. Naturally, McGinn defended the decision to cancel the match. He remarked, “I believe about 75% of the squad didn’t see Norway’s comments. I did, however. Our focus is on Scotland, just as theirs is on Norway. If they had done their homework, they would know we lost a key player just before this camp, which significantly affected us. We didn’t want to risk losing another player. We’ve had a few minor injuries, and not every player has been training. It’s professional to prioritize our players’ well-being. I’m confident every nation would do the same.”
McGinn added, “Norway is understandably frustrated because they had their own plans in place for the match. But if they lost Erling Haaland or Martin Ødegaard in the lead-up to the tournament, they would likely cancel too.”
Similarly, Clarke had expressed his indifference to the situation, albeit before Norway voiced its concerns. “It was only meant to be a short training match at our facility,” he noted. “We encountered one or two minor injuries last week and concluded it wasn’t worth the risk.” The Scottish FA released a statement criticizing Norway for making the issue public. They stated, “The closed-door training match was arranged between team managers, not the head coaches, and this is the same protocol we followed when we had to cancel last Saturday.”
“We have experienced injuries during our previous friendlies, and when it became clear that a training match posed more risk than potential benefit, we informed the Norway team manager as soon as we could. We believe this was the appropriate and consistent procedure.”
“Additionally, the game was meant to be private and not publicly announced, so we were surprised when news about it emerged through Norwegian media.”
Alongside Gilmour’s absence, Scotland’s Scott McKenna and Nathan Patterson have had their training minutes limited due to minor injuries. Ross Stewart dealt with a slight knee issue before the tournament but came on as a substitute during Scotland’s 4-0 victory over Bolivia on Saturday. Meanwhile, Norway ended up drawing 1-1 with Morocco the following day.
