Meeting of the Parliament 10 December 2025
I, too, thank Keith Brown for lodging the motion for debate, which I was delighted to support. As was mentioned earlier, a number of motions were lodged the day after Scotland qualified—I think that there were more motions lodged than we scored goals against Denmark.
Scotland’s qualification has united the Parliament and the country, and rightly so. It has been a long 27-year wait, but we finally have a world cup to look forward to, in 2026, when we can cheer on our men’s national team.
This is a massive achievement, and huge congratulations must go to Steve Clarke, the whole squad and the coaching staff for their incredible effort. The team were fantastic, topping group C and scoring 13 goals. I have no doubt that Scott McTominay’s overhead kick, Kieran Tierney’s screamer—I agree with Keith Brown that that was the best goal of them all—and Kenny McLean’s ridiculous goal from the halfway line against Denmark are moments that we will be talking about for many years to come.
It is absolutely right that we celebrate our home-grown talent and our achievements. Like George Adam, I think that we need to give a special nod to former St Mirren players John McGinn and Kenny McLean, who both played an invaluable part in that success.
There is no doubt that all the men on the park and those behind the scenes played their part, too, but, as others have said, we also need to pay credit to members of the tartan army and all the fans who continue to back the team following years of ups and downs. They never gave up and have given the team and the manager fantastic support.
To see the celebrations of the fans being shared across the world was something special. That is why I was disappointed by UEFA’s initial decision to remove social media videos of fans celebrating. Quite often, there is an ugly side to social media, so to take down such content was wrong. I called out UEFA for that decision and asked it to think again. Thankfully, it has seen sense and has apologised to Scotland fans.
Last Friday, most of us were glued to our televisions watching the world cup draw. Maybe the less said about the event side of the draw the better, but I have to say that, with Brazil, Morocco and Haiti, we are in a good group. We should look forward to that, and I know that the current squad has nothing to fear.
I add my voice to the growing concerns about ticket prices. Dynamic pricing should have absolutely no place in our game, and tickets should be affordable, because football without fans is nothing.
This tournament is more than just a sporting event; as we have heard, it is a profound cultural moment. For every Scot under the age of 30, this will be the first world cup that they remember our men’s team competing in. As Brian Whittle rightly said, it is an opportunity to inspire a generation. We must use it as a catalyst to invest in our young people in order to match their ambition with a lasting legacy. It would be helpful to hear from the minister whether the Scottish Government intends to keep its commitment to double the sports budget to £100 million in this parliamentary session, because that would enable this event to leave a lasting legacy for future generations of Scots.
To make this a truly shared national celebration, we must also facilitate participation for fans who will not be able to travel to North America. Although the kick-off times are late here—or early in the morning—I urge local authorities and licensing boards to consider what they can do to bring people together to watch the games here. This is a moment for our nation to come together, to unite, to celebrate and to enjoy. Let us ensure that the world cup next year is open to everyone, whether at home or abroad.
All that is left to say is to wish Steve Clarke and the whole team the very best ahead of next summer.
18:23