The Players Trying to Break Into Scotland's World Cup Squad: Midfielders

Which five central midfielders could break into Steve Clarke's squad AFTER this international break?

World Cup fever has been hitting fever pitch ever since Scotland's dramatic win over Denmark back in November and preparations towards the finals have gone up a notch after the call-ups for this month's friendlies v Japan and the Ivory Coast.

In terms of the squad selection we can see that Steve Clarke has gone for high quality names and international tournament experience along with the addition of one of the most exciting players Scotland has produced, Udinese's Lennon Miller who has been in the full Scotland squad since March last year.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 𝐒𝐂𝐎𝐓𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐐𝐔𝐀𝐃 𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐃 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

First senior callup for Findlay Curtis in Steve Clarke’s 26 man Scotland team!

There’s recalls for the likes of Tommy Conway, Dom Hyam, Lennon Miller and Angus Gunn

Lawrence Shankland, Aaron Hickey, Ben Gannon-Doak and Craig… pic.twitter.com/I4YJeK2LgS

— Football Park Scotland (@FP_Scotland) March 16, 2026

Steve Clarke has previously referenced that he is prepared for anything to happen in the unfortunate scenario of a key squad player missing out on the tournament through injury. Scotland have been hampered by injury before a major tournament before; most recently when Lyndon Dykes missed out on Euro 2024 after a injury during a training session and Clarke called-up Scotland U21 international Tommy Conway, then of Bristol City in his place. Scotland had already lost the likes of Lewis Ferguson, Aaron Hickey and Nathan Patterson before Dykes' injury. Also loss of form could be key and as such every player has to be at their best in order to book themselves a seat to the East Coast of America.

In terms of Scotland's midfield; there is quality everywhere and room for new additions is very low. It could be argued that all but one of March's midfield call-ups is pretty much guaranteed, injury permitting. But there's always room for an outsider to come in and get that seat in the plane. Clarke has got form of calling up a player to the final squad who was in an excellent run of form but did not play a key in qualifying; in Euro 2020 those players included Billy Gilmour, Nathan Patterson and Kevin Nisbet, for Euro 2024 it was James Forrest who had an excellent end of the 2023/24 season for Celtic which gave him a place on the plane to Germany.

So which other five midfielders, that's not been named in this Scotland squad, COULD still get a place to the World Cup?:

Marc Leonard

The Hearts midfielder has been influential form since signing for the Scottish Premiership leaders since signing on loan from Sky Bet Championship side Birmingham City.

Leonard has been rumoured for a full Scotland call-up since earlier this season when his Blues' manager, Chris Davies, backed the midfielder for a call-up back in October.

The 24-year-old has put in a string of fine performances for the Jambos, with three goal involvements in his nine appearances for the club since signing in January and was rumoured to be in March's Scotland squad but has ultimately missed out. However with a number of big matches coming for the Jambos in their title pursuit, there is still enough time to convince Steve Clarke over a World Cup call-up.

Jordan Holsgrove

The 26-year-old, who was born in Edinburgh, has been impressing for in Portugal's for Primeira Liga side Estoril, who are managed under former Hearts head coach Ian Cathro.

Despite being born in Edinburgh and previously receiving youth caps for Scotland, including five at U21 level, Holsgrove wanted to keep his international options open as he was also eligible for England through his father Paul, who was himself a former footballer and played for Hibernian at the same time when Jordan was born in 1999, and through his grandfather John, who played for the likes of Wolverhamton Wanderers and Sheffield Wednesday in the 1970s. But Jordan confirmed his international allegiance to Scotland.

Holsgrove is currently joint second in terms of assists in Portugal's top flight along with being second top in terms of chances created in the division. His creativity could be a big plus point if Clarke would be willing to include him in the final World Cup squad.

Josh Mulligan

Hibernian's Josh Mulligan has been one of the Scottish Premiership's star performers this campaign, after leaving Dundee in the summer to join David Gray's side on a four-year contract. His form led to a full call-up to Steve Clarke's side in October, after Lewis Ferguson and Ryan Christie was suspended for their World Cup qualifying match v Belarus.

In total, Mulligan has eight goal involvements in 31 matches for the Hibees' and his form led to transfer speculation with interest from the likes of Leeds United, Lille, Nottingham Forest and Wolfsburg.

However, the 23-year-old picked up an ankle injury during Hibernian's Scottish Cup defeat to Dunfermline Athletic back on the 17th of January. His manager, David Gray, has recently confirmed that Mulligan is back in training for the club and should be available for selection once the Scottish Premiership splits, on the weekend of the 11th of April. More than enough time to impress Clarke and company for that spot to America.

Elliot Watt

Just like Marc Leonard and Josh Mulligan, Elliot Watt has also impressed in the Scottish Premiership after signing for Motherwell from Sky Bet League One side Burton Albion, after a loan spell at St. Johnstone last season.

The 26-year-old has played 27 matches for the Well in Scotland's top-flight this season and has scored four goals and assisted three times for the club and has put in string of excellent performances; including in a 2-0 win over Celtic on the 30th of December when he scored the second goal of the night for Jens Berthel Askou's side.

Jens Berthel Askou has declared that he was unsurprised that Watt did not get called up to Scotland's squad for this month's friendlies. But if the influential midfielder keeps up his performances between now and till the end of the season, then he might have caught the eyes of Clarke for the final Scotland squad.

Connor Barron

The Rangers midfielder may have only been capped once for Scotland, in first team senior level, but has been a regular in Steve Clarke's squads since being called up to September 2024's UEFA Nations League double header v Poland and Portugal.

The 23-year-old was in the best form of his Rangers career from November 2025 to January 2026 but picked up a knee injury during their 2-0 win over Aberdeen on the 6th of January, with Danny Rohl describing Barron's injury as "a big loss" to the squad.

Barron has returned from injury in Rangers last two matches v St. Mirren and Aberdeen and will be looking to fight his way back into their starting XI ahead of the likes of Nico Raskin, Tochi Chukwuani and Mohamed Diomande before looking to make a final push into Clarke's tournament plans.

With the squad submission deadline date pencilled in for May 30th, there is still lots of time for potential changes to the final squad to happen. With a maximum squad selection of 26 players allowed, every game and every performance between now and then will prove to be vital if these five, along with the eight selected for the March friendlies, will want to make it to the country's first men's World Cup finals in 28 years.