Steven Naismith believes a combination of achievement and anger can help drive Scotland on to next summer’s World Cup finals in North America.
Steve Clarke’s side have qualified for the last two European Championships but lost 3-1 to Ukraine in the 2022 World Cup play-off semi-final at Hampden Park, meaning Scotland have not been on the biggest football stage of all since the 1998 World Cup in France.
After taking four points from six in their opening two 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Denmark and Belarus last month, Greece and Belarus are visitors to the national stadium this week in the short, sharp campaign of just six Group C fixtures.
Naismith, assistant to Clarke, senses something special is brewing with the World Cup finals in United States, Canada and Mexico on the horizon.
Speaking at Hampden, the former Scotland striker said: “Yeah, I do. I felt it when I came back out of camp.
“I think that combination of the schedule being tight, and we know what’s going to happen by November, we know where we’re going to be, the start we’ve had, the getting to major tournaments, that is massive.
“We’ve managed to do two Euros, we get to the play-offs for the previous World Cup, and narrowly miss out on that.
“But that all builds. It all builds on determination, an anger for not making the last World Cup, getting to tournaments, knowing that you can get there.
“It all feeds in on top of the players and individuals progressing at the clubs. That is that. But definitely the confidence is as high as I’ve seen.”
Naismith, however, remembers that Greece comfortably beat Scotland 3-0 in their Nations League play-off at Hampden in March to go up to the League A 3-1 on aggregate, while the Scots dropped down to the second tier.
The former Hearts boss said: “They were obviously excellent last time we played them, but then a surprise result against Denmark (0-3) last time around.
“If you watch the performance though, you look at the result and you think Denmark battered them, but the game wasn’t like that.
“The game was tighter. Especially two of Denmark’s goals were of real quality from what is a top team.
“It probably highlights the fine margins within the group, the squads.
“The away result against Greece and performance was excellent but coming home in the Nations League and the performance here wasn’t good enough.
“But I think we’ve got a clear idea of what needs to be better, what we’re really good at as a team, and as I said, the confidence is really high.”
