Scotland was due to play Norway in a behind-closed-doors friendly on Monday, but the pre-World Cup game has been canceled due to injury concerns within the Scotland camp
Daniel Orme Trends Writer
08:28, 08 Jun 2026
Andy Robertson is preparing for his first World Cup
Andy Robertson is preparing for his first World Cup(Image: Getty Images)
Scotland has been compelled to withdraw from a World Cup warm-up fixture just seven days ahead of the team's first match at the tournament.
Steve Clarke's players, which include Liverpool legend Andy Robertson, face Haiti in their Group C curtain-raiser in Foxborough next week. Robertson recently called time on his Liverpool career, joining Tottenham on a free transfer.
World Cup preparations are already well underway for Scotland, following Saturday's emphatic 4-0 demolition of Bolivia. The plan was then to meet Norway on Monday in an unofficial, closed-door practice match at Scotland's Charlotte training facility. However, it's now been confirmed that minor injury concerns within the Scotland camp have led to that fixture being scrapped.
Norwegian FA media manager Morten Morisbak Skjonsberg said: "It is a poorly kept secret that we were supposed to play a training match against Scotland on Monday.
"Today we learned that Scotland, unfortunately, had to withdraw from the agreement due to injuries. Instead, we will train at Greensboro."
Norway manager Stale Solbakken has also weighed in on the cancellation and said: "The cancellation means I will make more changes in our game against Morocco.
Robertson will captain Scotland at the tournament
Robertson will captain Scotland at the tournament(Image: Getty Images)
"The idea of playing Scotland was that we could get some minutes in the legs of the guys who don't play in the Morocco game."
The cancellation effectively brings Scotland's World Cup preparations to a close. Reflecting on his side's victory against Bolivia, Steve Clarke said: "We've got fantastic problems.
"Really good first half, then I turned round to my bench and the changes we were making were good. You lose a little bit of the rhythm of the game when you are making so many changes, both sides.
"We are as well prepared as we can be at this stage. Obviously, you don't always get everything you want in terms of preparation.
"We went to Florida for heat and humidity, and we got the humidity, but a lot of rain.
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"We probably didn't get the heat we expected, but we got that heat in the first half today, and I thought we handled it well.
"As much as we have done up until now then we have prepared as well as we can, and we will prepare well this week and make sure we start the tournament well."
Scotland will now shift its focus to its opening World Cup group fixture against Haiti, before facing Morocco and Brazil as it bids to progress beyond the group stage for the very first time.