Scott McKenna believes Scotland are no longer talking like a team satisfied just to be there. The centre-back says the squad now thinks it can get out of a World Cup group for the first time in the national team's history, with Haiti, Morocco and Brazil waiting in the group stage.
McKenna's 50th cap came in Saturday's 4-1 friendly win over Curaçao at Hampden, but the milestone also underlined how far he has come with this squad. He has moved from the transitional, hopeful Scotland sides of earlier years to a dressing room that now sounds convinced about its own ceiling.
Why McKenna thinks this group is different
Speaking to BBC Sport, McKenna said: "I think we've shown that in the qualifying campaign. If we get it right on the night and this group sticks together and plays the way it can, then we can definitely try to progress to places we've not been before."
That is a big statement, and it is not empty one-upmanship. Scotland have never reached the knockout stages at any major finals, so even the basic target here is clear enough. McKenna also put it bluntly: "It's there for everyone to see that it'd be a great accomplishment for Scotland to qualify out of the group."
Clarke's loyalty sits behind the belief
McKenna has also been direct about the role Steve Clarke has played. "I think he's been so loyal to us and everything we've achieved is largely down to him," he said. In another interview he added: "The gaffer has obviously been very loyal to us and tried to build that squad feeling."
That matters because Scotland's confidence is not being built on hype, it is being built on continuity. McKenna sees that togetherness as one of the main reasons the group now sounds comfortable talking about knockout football rather than just survival.
His own route into that conversation says a lot too. McKenna has become a senior figure, and he heads into the summer after a league and cup double with Dinamo Zagreb. The squad around him has changed, but the message from the defender is that the shared base is stronger than it used to be.
The next test is obvious. Scotland face Haiti on 13 June, Morocco on 19 June and Brazil on 24 June, and McKenna is not pretending those are anything other than proper group games. Dominic Hyam said it will be competitive, with Scotland likely seen as a side the others will fancy taking points from, which only sharpens the challenge.
McKenna's point is still the more interesting one. Scotland are not claiming guarantees, and nobody serious should. But after years of building under Clarke, this is a squad talking like one that expects to compete for a place in the knockout rounds rather than simply hope for a decent showing.
Written by Sam Whitfield with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 2 outlets. How we work →
