It’s back to domestic matters and the crazy world of Celtic after a whirlwind week for Kieran Tierney.
The Celtic hero can breathe easy because he will be playing on the World Cup stage for the first time in his career next summer, and he will be coming up against some familiar faces.
One of the favourites for the 2026 World Cup will be Spain, after they won Euro 2024, and one of their key players is Tierney’s former Arsenal teammate, Mikel Merino.
The duo played alongside each other last season, before Tierney’s return to Celtic, as several players with Arsenal connections reacted to the left-back’s moment of magic on that Tuesday night at Hampden.
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Kieran Tierney celebrates his winning goal for Scotland against Denmark
Photo by Ulrik Pedersen/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Current and former Arsenal players on Kieran Tierney reaching the 2026 World Cup
You just know Tierney is a very popular figure just by how others view him, whether that’s supporters, managers, or, in this case, players.
When Tierney reacted to helping Scotland reach the 2026 World Cup by scoring that wonder goal in stoppage time, he was lauded in the comments section of his Instagram post.
Arsenal duo Riccardo Calafiori and Merino showcased their class by sending these one-word messages, as the likes of Ian Wright and Sunderland’s Granit Xhaka reacted with emojis.
Riccardo Calafiori: ‘Deserved ❤️’
Aaron Ramsdale ‘Sue per sir ❤️’
Mikel Merino: ‘Legend.’
Granit Xhaka: ‘❤️❤️’
Ian Wright: ‘❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️’
Jurrien Timber: ‘😍😍😯’
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The problem facing Tierney at Celtic after the highs of Scotland…
As many would have seen, Celtic have major injury issues, and some big stars are out of action for a lengthy period of time.
Summer signing Marcelo Saracchi is currently sidelined, which leaves Martin O’Neill with one bona fide left-back option in Tierney.
The issue here is that the FA Cup winner with Arsenal, following injury issues in recent years, is still getting used to putting his body through 90 minutes of action.
But if Saracchi isn’t available to Celtic in the near future, then Tierney will go through his most gruelling physical test yet because there is no midweek rest until the end of December.
90 minutes completed by Tierney this season from 17 matches: 5