Scotland head coach Steve Clarke believes qualifying for the next World Cup would “put right” the lingering disappointment of their failed bid to reach the 2022 finals.
The Scots are level on points with Group C leaders Denmark in the current qualifying campaign and are expected to boost their hopes further when they host bottom side Belarus at Hampden Park on Sunday.
Clarke, who guided Scotland to their first major men’s tournament since 1998 by reaching Euro 2020 and repeated the feat for last summer’s Euros, remains determined to make amends for the 3-1 play-off defeat to Ukraine which ended hopes of a place at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
“It’s something we’d like to put right, for sure,” said Clarke.
A victory over Belarus, along with a defeat for Greece in Denmark later on Sunday, would guarantee Scotland another play-off place and significantly strengthen their bid to reach a first men’s World Cup in 28 years.
In the last qualifying campaign, Scotland finished second behind Denmark, losing only to the group winners. A similar scenario could be developing again, with the Scots potentially facing the Danes in a decisive final group fixture next month.
Sunday’s match will also mark Clarke’s 72nd in charge of the national team, surpassing Craig Brown’s previous record. Despite his success in returning Scotland to major tournaments, the memory of the Ukraine loss remains painful.
“It was on the back of what I felt was a really good campaign,” Clarke said, referring to the semi-final, which, if won, would have set up a play-off final against Wales.
“Everybody forgets that game should have been played in March, when we would have had more people fit. You get to the game in June and the build-up was very, very strange and we’d lost two or three key players – and it didn’t go for us on the night.
“Disappointment, yes. Something we’d like to put right, yes.
“But also, when you’ve been in the game as long as me, you accept that there will be negative results and there will be difficult moments. That was certainly one of them because we felt that we had done enough in the qualifying campaign.”
