Scotland’s last male World Cup scorer looks
back on France ’98 and ahead to world cup 2026.
Callum McFadden
Cumnock’s own Craig Burley has given Ayrshire Magazine a fascinating look back at Scotland’s last men’s World Cup campaign in 1998, when he scored against Norway in France. Nearly three decades later, Burley remains Scotland’s most recent male World Cup goalscorer and now watches the national side from a different vantage point as an ESPN pundit in the United States. Reflecting on Craig Brown, France ’98 and Scotland’s hopes of progression at the 2026 World Cup in North America, Burley offers insight, humour and honesty in equal measure.
Asked about Craig Brown’s claim that he wanted Burley to play in midfield but was moved to right wing-back, he laughed and said the former Scotland manager had “embellished” the story.
“I like Brownie a lot and I wouldn’t say a bad word against him. I’ve got no issues with him at all. But he did embellish a couple of those stories.
“I knew deep down I’d be playing wing-back. My frustration was that I’d just had the best season of my career with Celtic, scored 15 goals from midfield, won the title and won the Football Writers’ award. I felt I was in the best form of my life as a goalscoring midfielder.”
Burley admitted he did speak to Brown and assistant Alec Miller during the tournament when he remained in the wing-back role for the Norway match.
“He basically said, ‘You’ll be playing wing-back.’ That was that. He was the manager and you got on with it.”
Despite accepting the decision, Burley said the role was demanding and far from natural.
“Playing wing-back is not easy. You’re a winger and a full-back rolled into one. In Brownie’s 3-5-2 system, you had to cover the whole side of the pitch.
“I remember Alec Miller shouting from the touchline at Hampden, ‘Get up, get back, get in, get out.’ I was six foot two when I started the game and five foot eight by the time it finished.
“It was a graveyard shift at times, but Brownie thought I did a good job there, God knows why.”
Turning to the opening game against Brazil in Paris, Burley said the Scotland squad were not frightened, but there was definitely apprehension.
“We were about to face the world champions in the opening game of the World Cup. There were nearly 100,000 there, it was boiling hot, and you’re looking at Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Cafu, Roberto Carlos, Bebeto and the rest.
“Nobody wanted to admit to another player that they were nervous, because we had experienced lads who had played at the top level. But I think a lot of us were apprehensive.”
“You didn’t want to let people down. You didn’t want to have a bad game or get embarrassed, because against a team like Brazil that could happen.”
He also recalled Brown’s famous team talks, where the Scotland boss often tried to downplay the quality of world-class opponents.
“Brownie used to come out with brilliant lines nobody believed. He once said Didier Deschamps was a poor man’s Stuart McCall.
“Before Brazil he told us Bebeto had once been offered to Jim Jefferies at Hearts and turned down. We were all sitting there thinking, ‘Don’t talk stupid.’”
Burley said the most memorable moment came in the tunnel before
kick-off.
“We were standing there with all the music, pyrotechnics and streamers going off. You could see the gold of Brazil and the blue of Scotland. It was some occasion.
“The Brazilians were standing holding hands in a chain across from us. Then Brownie walked down the middle of the teams, looked at them, turned to us and said, ‘Lads, look at the Brazilians. They’re shi**ing themselves.”
“We all just looked at each other and thought, ‘Aye, right enough.’ That was Brownie. He loved a line and he always made you chuckle.”
Although Scotland failed to progress from the group, Burley still looks back on the squad fondly and regrets they could not become the first Scotland side to reach the knockout stage.
“We had a good team and a really good dressing room. We believed we could get out of that group, so it remains a regret that we didn’t.”
He also reflected on the cruel blow suffered by Gary McAllister, who missed the finals through injury.
“It was a shame for Gary. After everything that happened at Euro ’96, he was going to captain Scotland at the World Cup. Nobody was prouder than Gary to lead the country there. Then he did his cruciate and missed it. In football terms, it was a real shame.”
Burley remembers the tournament as much for the friendships as the football. He roomed with Scott Gemmill at Euro ’96 and with Celtic teammate Paul Lambert in France.
Those memories even include one bizarre episode after his equaliser against Norway, when his missing front teeth became front-page news in Scotland.
“The papers had a big picture of me celebrating with no front teeth and the headline was ‘Fangs. He’s a Million.’
“The next morning the phone rang in the room. Lambo answered it. It was a dentist from Munich offering to fix my teeth in return for some publicity.
“I thought it was a wind-up, but it was true. Only football can produce things like that.”
Now based in the United States working as an analyst for ESPN, Burley hopes Scotland can end the long wait to progress from the group phase at the World Cup in 2026.
“I never thought we’d be sitting here in 2026 talking about Scotland not having been back at a World Cup since 1998. That’s the disappointing part.
“But hopefully this group can make an impact now that they’ve done the hard bit by getting there. Scotland supporters deserve to be at another World Cup, and I wish Steve Clarke and the players all the very best. I hope they make a positive impact on the tournament when it gets underway.”
Behind the Curtain of the Beautiful Game by Callum McFadden takes fans beyond the pitch with unforgettable stories from football’s biggest names. A must-read for any football fan and available from all good book stores.
Find out more about Callum at
www.cmfootballwriting.com
