Ian Wright hammers Scotland bosses for ‘letting down the country’ amid brutal comparison
Ian Wright has launched a scathing attack on the state of Scottish football as the Tartan Army struggle at the 2026 World Cup, urging executives to do more.
Ian Wright has hit out at Scotland bosses(Image: ITV)
Ian Wright has claimed that Scotland bosses are “letting the country down” with a lacklustre approach to football despite an “amazing” backing. The Tartan Army have qualified for the knockout stages of the World Cup in North America with a game to spare, given that Group C offers three places in the round of 32.
While Steve Clarke’s side managed a 1-0 win over Haiti in their opener, it was a far from convincing state of affairs against one of the tournament’s lowest-ranked sides. When they came up against Morocco last Friday, meanwhile, Scotland walked away with a 1-0 loss to show for their efforts, hardly threatening Yassine Bounou’s goal in the process.
To which, the Arsenal legend – stone faced – replied: “Well, when you look at it Pougs, I probably feel that when you said what is it, two shots on target? In two games, and none in the Moroccan game…
“I feel sorry for Scotland, I feel sorry for the fans, I feel sorry for everything. Laura (Woods) asked me a question the other day about Scotland – what can they do next? And I think it goes a lot deeper than that.
“When you look at Norway, a country the same size as Scotland – six or seven thousand they’re averaging on a weekly basis in attendance. Scotland’s averaging 16 thousand, but Norway have managed to get a broadcast deal that’s £25million more a year than Scotland.
“Obviously they’ve got a better commercial outfit than them, but at the same time, you look at Scotland and their raw materials. You’re looking at amazing attendances, talents, you’re looking at storylines, you’re looking at grassroot participation.
“Somebody in Scotland is letting down this country on a massive scale. Very proud of them, all over the world, tourists…they’ve got to do more. There’s got to be a bolder, braver vision for Scottish football for me.”
Patrick Vieira, meanwhile, added: “I think you have some individual talent in this team. (Scott) McTominay, (Billy) Gilmour are doing really well in Italy, and when you look at those players individually, they’re quite doing well for their club. So the question, Mark, is how they don’t manage to perform at that level in the internationals – especially in the World Cup?”
Duncan Ferguson then explained that Scotland have historically struggled for firepower up top, before making a brutal comparison between his nation’s struggles and England’s lacklustre goalless stalemate with Ghana on Tuesday evening.
“England couldn’t get a goal against Ghana because they sat in a low block. There’s nothing wrong with sitting in a low block, there’s many facets to a football match. So Scotland can sit back in a low block, fine, but we need that threat. I’m not questioning that, we definitely need a threat going forward.”
Firm in his belief, however, the former Arsenal skipper responded: “I believe that they have more than what they showed against Morocco. I hope that they have more, and I believe they have more.”
Scotland take on Brazil at 11pm on Wednesday evening in their final Group C clash of the tournament. Morocco play Haiti at the same time.
