The Manchester United star turned down the chance to represent Scotland at the country's first World Cup since 1998.
The Scottish team made a mistake, but also a rich rotation ahead of the World Championship. The team's key player, Billy Gilmore, will miss the tournament, and the final bidder will be 19-year-old Tyler Fletcher..
The fatal incident for Gilmour occurred in the first half of Saturday's friendly match against the Curacao national team at Hampden Stadium (the game ended with the Scots beating the Scots 4:1). The patient of the Italian Napoli injured his knee, and that same evening the doctors delivered an unexpected verdict about his participation in the emergency. Fletcher himself, replacing the injured Gilmour on the field, who made his official debut after the break and made his official debut for the national team.
Following the confirmation of Billy's injury, head coach Steve Clarke looked at alternatives to Connor Barron (Rangers), Endy Irving (Sparta Prague) and Lennon Miller (Udinese), but decided to trust the place of the candidate himself.
The son of ex-team captain Darren Fletcher has been involved in the training camp over the past year with Garths James Wilson and Liam McFarlane and Dundee captain Luke Graham. Now he is heading to the World Cup, with more than two players playing for the national team of Scotland, less for the first team Manchester United (whose season has been in the reserves for more than two years).
The replacement of Gilmour with Fletcher in the middle of the team in Curacao impressed the coaching staff. Steve Clarke didn't show his satisfaction with the young man's performance:.
" “I was really thinking about letting him out onto the field immediately when Billy came out of the game, but just thinking a little bit about how the game was developing, first of all I would like to introduce him at halftime,” Kermanich said.
Norwich City senior Kenny McLean, who just recently began his international career side-by-side with Tyler’s dad, also praised his new partner:.
“After the first training session, I told the boys that I was learning in a new way, so that I could achieve success. At the hour of my first session with Scotland, Darren became completely angry. Luckily for us, Yogo Sin is very similar. “He has great potential, let’s talk about him correctly,” the Gravec voiced.
Regardless of the successful integration of Fletcher, the loss of Gilmour is a major blow for the team. Steve Clarke said:.
" The moment of this trauma is so cruel, and we all feel it. I can’t keep my words down, but I can’t sing that Billy is expecting a lot of great tournaments in the future,” the Fahivets respected.
Gilmore's teammate Scott McTominay supported his colleague on Instagram: " Football is a joke, and you don’t deserve anything, hold your head high. Love you, the coaching staff and the country,"
The Scottish team is completing preparations for the tournament: the team flies to the training camp in Florida this week. 6 hearts will play a sparring match against Bolivia in New Jersey. At the group stage of the Emergency 2026, Scotland plays in Group C, where Brazil, Morocco and Haiti will be the opponents.