Billy Gilmour’s Scotland World Cup miss is about more than a squad change. The Napoli midfielder said the injury that ruled him out has been hard to process, after a knee problem in Scotland’s 4-1 warm-up friendly win over Curacao at Hampden Park on Saturday.

A scan later ruled him out of the tournament, and he left the team hotel on crutches with his knee in a brace. Scotland are heading to their first World Cup finals since 1998 without one of the players who would have expected to be in the middle of it.

What Gilmour said about the setback

Gilmour did not dress it up. Speaking to BBC Sport, he said: "I haven't got the words to describe how I'm feeling right now. Being so close to a childhood dream of mine, to play in a World Cup, and now it has been taken away from me with an injury. It's been a tough one to get my head around."

That line matters because it tells you where this sits for him. This is not just missing a tournament, it is missing the tournament he has thought about since he was young. He also thanked supporters for their messages and urged them to get behind the team, saying: "Your support and kind messages over the last few days mean the world to me and haven't gone unnoticed, so thank you so much. I'll see you all back doing what I love again soon, but until then, let's get behind the team and cheer them on. Come on Scotland!"

How Scotland have responded

The reaction around him has been immediate. Nathan Patterson, who knows the frustration of missing Euro 2024 through injury, told him: "Hard to put into words just now but if anyone knows what you're going through it's me. You will get through it. Wishing you all the best mate."

The Scottish Football Association also posted: "We're all with you, Billy."

Steve Clarke has already moved on to the replacement call, with Manchester United 19-year-old Tyler Fletcher coming in. That underlines how quickly Scotland have had to adapt, because Fletcher has only 20 Premier League minutes across his recent Manchester United appearances and just 2 Premier League appearances in 2025.

Scotland’s opener against Haiti is next on 14 June, and that is the game Gilmour will watch from the outside. The football side of the story is the squad reshuffle, but the human part is harder to miss: a player left in a brace and a team-mate base already trying to carry him with them.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 3 outlets. How we work →