Scotland fans start planning World Cup party after Hampden rollercoaster | UK News

Scotland supporters are already starting to plan their World Cup party after the men’s team qualified for the tournament for the first time since 1998.

Steve Clarke’s squad wrote themselves into national folklore with a 4-2 win over Denmark.

Goals from Scott McTominay, Lawrence Shankland, Kieran Tierney and Kenny McLean in a rollercoaster of a game mean the Tartan Army will be on the march to Canada, Mexico and the US next summer.

Travel experts advised fans to start looking at the potential routes to North America now, more than two weeks before the draw for the competition is made.

For those who were lucky enough to be inside Hampden for Tuesday night’s match, it is a memory they will never forget.

“I was crying, I was weeping, I looked around at other people crying,” Scotland fan Hamish Husband told Radio Scotland’s Lunchtime Live.

His son, Elliott, added: “I’m still struggling to comprehend it.

“My voice is gone since the fourth one went in. The stars really aligned, didn’t they?”

Those able to tear themselves away from the highlights have already started planning their routes across the Atlantic.

There are 16 host cities spread over the three countries and the Tartan Army will not know exactly where they are heading until the group stage draw on 5 December.

However, Simon Calder, travel correspondent for the Independent, said it might be worth booking in advance and navigating elsewhere from there.

“It’s never too early to start planning travel to a big sporting event,” he told Radio’s Good Morning Scotland programme.

“Sixteen days from now… all of this will be revealed at least at the group stages, at which point prices for flights and accommodation will go stratospheric.

“You could – and this is my strategy – take a guess on a transatlantic flight now.”

The last time Scotland played a World Cup match at France ’98, the Scottish Parliament was yet to exist. Google had not been founded.

Three of the players who started against Denmark – Aaron Hickey, Lewis Ferguson and Ben Gannon-Doak – were not born.

Few of the Scotland fans who witnessed a 3-0 defeat by Morocco at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in St Etienne on 23 June 1998 would have expected it would take 28 years for them to return to the sport’s biggest stage.

Darren Jackson, who played in that game, told Radio’s Good Morning Scotland: “The resilience, the attitude, the desire and commitment of this squad is beyond belief.

“It was an incredible night.”

James Mcilkenny lived in Paris with his family during the ’98 World Cup and still has memories of being on the Champs Elysees with the Tartan Army and Brazil fans the night before the opening game.

“Eleven-year-old me thought this would be a regular feature for Scotland,” he told Scotland News.

“Last night at Hampden was something that I don’t think I’ll every experience again.

“It was an emotional rollercoaster and after witnessing so many heartaches in the past, this felt so incredibly special.”

Politicians were united in paying tribute to Steve Clarke’s team as the victory was celebrated in the Scottish Parliament.

There have been calls for the Scotland manager to be knighted, for pubs to be given special late night licences, and for a holiday on the day of the opening match.

Since 1978, Archie Gemmill’s name has been a byword for a great Scotland goal.

His mazy run and finish in the 3-2 win over the Netherlands in Argentina has long been lauded as one of the best ever scored in dark blue.

Somewhat remarkably, Tuesday’s game featured three more contenders for that crown.

McTominay’s overhead kick and Tierney’s brilliantly-placed effort were already on the podium when McLean, despite the pleas of his manager to head for the corner, spotted Kasper Schmeichel off his line from inside his own half.

That last-minute goal was enough to make Scotland commentator Alistair Lamont lose his voice and sparked a celebration the national stadium had not seen for quite some time.

John Collins, who scored 12 times in 52 Scotland caps, said: “You’ll never watch another game and see three fantastic goals like that.

“If there was a World Cup given for spirit and determination we’d have it on the shelf just now.”

A total of 42 teams have qualified for the World Cup already.

Six more will follow in a European and inter-confederation play-off scramble scheduled to take place in March.

Four-time world champions Italy, regular qualifiers like Poland and Sweden and neighbours Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Wales will all be involved in that.

For Scotland though, this time, none of that matters.