Charlie's World Cup pride - and envy - over Scotland's long-awaited victory in USA
Former Blackpool and Scotland ace Charlie Adam hoping the Tartan Army can make it two wins from two when they face Morocco on Friday
Proud Scotsman Charlie Adam admits he is both proud - and mildly envious - watching his countrymen perform in the World Cup 2026.
The Tartan Army are making their presence felt both on and off the pitch in the competition which is being jointly staged in the USA, Mexico and Canada.
It’s been 28 long years since Scotland last featured in the competition, having last appeared at the 1998 tournament in France.
Indeed, it had been 36 years since Scotland won a game at a World Cup when they defeated Sweden 2-1 at Italia ’90.
The players on the pitch certainly made up for lost time by winning their opening group match last weekend, beating Haiti 1-0 courtesy of John McGinn’s first-half effort in the Boston Stadium, in Foxborough.
And the victory was celebrated wildly by supporters who now turn their attentions to Friday night’s second game against Morocco (kick-off 11pm) before their final group match against five-time champions Brazil next week.
Former Blackpool captain Adam won 26 caps for his country and one of the biggest regrets of his career is that he never got the chance to play in a major tournament.
The nearest he got was finishing third behind the Czech Republic and the great Spain team in the group qualifying stages of the 2012 Euros which were held in Poland and Ukraine.
The Spanish - who boasted legendary midfielders Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and David Silva in their ranks - went on to win the tournament and they were imperious in qualifying, winning all of their group matches.
However, they were handed a scare at Hampden with Adam entering the fray at half-time in what turned out to be a thrilling second half.
Goals from David Villa and Iniesta gave the Spanish a commanding 2-0 lead only for the Scots to draw level courtesy of David Naismith and a Gerard Pique own goal.
Unfortunately, Fernando Llorente broke the hosts’ hearts with the winner 12 minutes from time.
It was Spain who ultimately ended Adam and Scotland’s Euro 2012 qualification hopes, winning 3-1 in the return fixture in Alicante.
"They were special that Spanish team," Adam said on behalf of 2026 World Cup odds from Netbet UK.
“We were 2-0 down and managed to bring it back to 2-2 but we lost a goal late which was really disappointing.
“I was very fortunate to play against that Spain team - I think they went on to win it. So very special team.”
Being a midfielder, Adam came directly up against Iniesta, Xavi and Silva.
He said: “You’d think that you were getting near the ball but they would just move it so quickly.
“The space and awareness of where they were, they linked the play and thought about the next pass before they had even received it.
“But that was the elite, the top of the tree; to come up against these boys is very difficult but you want to give a good account of yourself.
“We did okay in that game at Hampden but they were world class players; I can always look back and say I played against these players.”
Adam will be cheering his countrymen on against Morocco on Friday.
The group is wide open after the Moroccans drew 1-1 with Brazil on Saturday.
The Scots were arguably not at their best in their opening group game against Haiti, although Adam could empathise with the weight of expectation on the players’ shoulders.
“There was a lot of pressure on the players from the outside,” said Adam.
“There’s been that history of not being at a World Cup for a long time.
“The players will have felt it, known about it, they will will have read social media.
“They will have spoken about, the manager Steve (Clarke) would have spoken about, ‘Can we be the first team in a long time to win a game and write your name in history?’
“For us as supporters, it was an incredible evening.
“The performance was okay; we could have done better with the ball and Haiti had a couple of opportunities but to win the game was the most important thing.
“We know the pressure of what we are going to put on them to play Morocco, who got a brilliant point against Brazil and were magnificent for half-hour.
“We just didn’t keep the ball as well as we could or tried to. That was probably nerves and the fact that Haiti were a lot better than what we thought they were going to be.