Tag Archives: 2026 world cup

Good luck Scotland and England

By Caron Lindsay | Sat 13th June 2026 - 8:43 pm

In less than 6 hours’ time, Scotland will play their first World Cup match against Haiti in Boston.

I’ll be honest. I struggle to care about football unless it involves Inverness Caledonian Thistle or Ross County, and even then I don’t actually have to watch it.

I knew so little about this World Cup that it was only last night that I realised that the Scotland game was in the middle of tonight. I’d previously assumed that because the Scottish Government had made Monday a bank holiday (which only 6 of the 32 Scottish local authorities are taking) that the match had to be in the middle of Sunday night.

My first experience of the World Cup was in 1978, when Scotland qualified to go to Argentina and I was totally caught up in the hype of Ally’s Tartan Army. I also had a monster crush on Kenny Dalglish. I was incredibly disappointed at the outcome – typically, we beat Holland, but lost to and drew with teams who were below us in the international rankings.

Fast forward nearly 50 years and here we are again. Several of my friends are over there in Boston – some staying for the whole tournament. Some people have spent thousands on travel and accommodation. You would have to have a heart of stone not bo be moved by the sight of the Tartan Army in Boston’s hostelries and squares. When an American reporter described them as “perfectly unhinged” last night, I seriously had never been prouder.

I would like nothing better than for the Scottish team to fight their way to the Final and then, after a brilliant game in which every single player excelled themselves, score in the last minute to take the trophy. But I can dream that without needing to watch a single game.

I hope that everyone who is sitting up tonight has a marvellous time. And I know that there are people of many nationalities reading this. Let’s just hope we have a tournament that brings joy.

Anyway, newly elected Scottish Lib Dem MSPs Sanne Dijkstra-Downie and Adam Harley had a chat about the World Cup the other day.

Sanne describes a recurring nightmare of the Dutch team that will be familiar to England fans too. Let’s hope that we don’t end up with too many blood-pressure busting penalty shootouts.

Happy World Cup everyone!

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged football | 10 Comments

The World Cup and the Olympics should not be showcases for Trumpism or America First

By Samuel Jackson | Fri 23rd January 2026 - 2:00 pm

In January of this year alone, Donald Trump has undermined the international rule of law and the postwar global order, all in the name of ‘Making America Great Again’. He ordered the capture of President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela to combat America’s drug problem and potentially to access Venezuelan oil and raised the prospect of an intra-NATO war to obtain Greenland.

While I and others are grateful that UK and European leaders have been able to stand up to Trump and get him to back down over Greenland, the wider international community needs to be more assertive. This year, the United States will host the FIFA Men’s World Cup in tandem with Canada and Mexico, while in 2028 Los Angeles is scheduled to host the Olympics for a third time. In light of the Trump administration’s actions, there is a case that the US should not host either event and that they should be relocated. While it would only make sense for the World Cup fixtures to be hosted by another CONCACAF member, we should not argue that Britain is the only possible alternative for the Olympics.

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A cross-party group of MPs including Liberal Democrats has proposed that the US be expelled from FIFA over American actions in Venezuela. While perfectly understandable, I fear that this course of action may unduly punish a future America that has managed to shake off Trump and Trumpism. Relocating sporting fixtures to be held in his America would be the more direct and proportionate response. With both England and Scotland taking part in the World Cup, I am inclined to ask who would support both teams boycotting the tournament?

Recent American immigration policy has shown no regard for the wellbeing of American citizens, let alone foreign nationals. Trump has pushed for the revocation of birthright citizenship – a right enshrined in the Fourteenth Amendment as part of the abolition of slavery – and aggressive immigration enforcement has led to the deportation and bodily harm of Americans and the death of the blameless Renee Nicole Good.