Steve Clarke has declared that Scotland are at the FIFA World Cup 2026 to achieve something meaningful — not simply to fill a spot in the draw — as the nation returns to football's greatest stage for the first time since 1998.

Scotland open their Group C campaign against Haiti on Sunday at 2am UK time, before subsequent fixtures against Brazil and Morocco. Clarke's squad are targeting the knockout rounds, a threshold Scotland have never crossed at a World Cup.

The 62-year-old is the first Scotland manager to guide the nation to three major tournaments, and he made clear that experience has sharpened rather than satisfied his ambitions.

"It's great to be here, but we also want to do something special," Clarke said ahead of Sunday's opener.

Injury update ahead of Haiti

Clarke confirmed that Scott McTominay has recovered from an upset stomach and is available for the opening match. Scott McKenna, however, will miss the game against Haiti through injury.

Learning from Euro heartbreak

Scotland suffered difficult opening fixtures at both Euro 2020 and Euro 2024 — a 2-0 defeat to the Czech Republic and a 5-1 humbling against Germany respectively. Clarke has acknowledged those results weighed on him.

"I didn't enjoy the last two tournaments," he said, before addressing each setback in turn. "The Germany one's easy. Don't get humped. The Czech Republic one's a little bit different — that was a football game that just didn't go our way."

Clarke stressed that the Germany performance was the more damaging of the two, because Scotland failed to reach the standard they are capable of. He is determined that Sunday will be different.

Respect for Haiti

Scotland's opening opponents are themselves returning to the World Cup for the first time since 1974, and Clarke was careful to underline the challenge they represent.

"They're also a proud nation. They're going to be here 100 per cent committed, the same as we are," he said. "We know that they have qualities that can cause us problems on the pitch. We have to deal with those problems and then bring our best game when we have the ball."

Clarke added that, if Scotland perform to their potential, he believes they have every chance of starting their campaign with three points.