How far can Scotland and England Go in the 2026 World Cup?

Now attention turns towards the 2026 World Cup which is going to be the biggest ever version of this football extravaganza. Forty-eight teams will compete for the honour of being the best on the planet, with Argentina having previously succeeded in 2022 when Qatar staged the first ever winter version of the tournament.

Clarke can lay claim to being the best Scotland manager of all time considering that he steered the team to Euro 2024 and they were also present at Euro 2020. In the former tournament, the Scots were soundly beaten 5-1 by hosts Germany before a 1-1 draw against Switzerland was followed by a 1-0 defeat against Hungary.

However, there’s now hope that the national team can give a better account of themselves in the US, Canada and Mexico, especially as they managed to finish top of a group that included Denmark, Greece and Belarus. They were able to claim four wins and a draw along the way and have players that can help them be successful.

Although bettingsites.ie take a dim view of Scotland reaching the business end of the World Cup, it’s realistic that they will make the knockout stage. This is especially considering that thirty-two of the forty-eight sides that line up will be competing in a newly-created extra round which ensures that there are more than 100 games in total at the event.

Group Stage qualification realistic for Scotland

Forty-eight teams across six different confederations will be lining up at the 2026 World Cup. It’s the biggest ever version of a football World Cup and that means we’ll have twelve groups of four teams competing for a place in the knockout phase. The leading two teams in each section automatically go through to the last-32 stage. That leaves eight remaining spots, so there’s a reasonable chance of a third-placed finish being enough to make it through.

Scotland will not be the lowest-ranked team in their group. They come in at 29th in the pecking order and will therefore be placed in Pot 3. Therefore, there’s a reasonable chance that they’ll be facing a weaker opponent in at least one of their group games. Jordan, Cape Verde, Curacao, Haiti and New Zealand are among the sides where the Scots would be big favourites according to BellBet.com.

There’s also the fact that the Scots could feasibly draw favourable opponents when it comes to Pot 1 and Pot 2. For example, the three host nations will appear along with Spain, Argentina, France, Brazil, England, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium and Germany in the former. The prospect of drawing Canada won’t be particularly daunting considering their modest big tournament pedigree.

Similarly, while the US and Mexico will also boast home advantage, there’s not much to be fazed about facing either of these sides based on their respective rosters. In Group 2, there are also several beatable opponents. Let’s not forget that Scotland were able to claim four World Cup qualifying points against Denmark and they would be facing teams on a similar level here.

Although Croatia, Colombia and Uruguay might be best avoided, Steve Clarke will surely be happy for the team to face the likes of Iran, South Korea or Australia. The team have proven themselves capable of claiming a draw away to Denmark and can realistically get positive results against most other nations.

Scots will have a big reliance on three key players

You can head to Ladbrokes and find out the betting for the top Scotland goalscorer when we get closer to the 2026 World Cup. It might be that the winning player(s) only scores one goal during the tournament depending on the total number of games that the Home Nations side manages.

Based on their seeding for the World Cup, it’s reasonable to assume that Scotland will play the sum of four matches. A last thirty-two exit is realistic and would represent a solid enough achievement. It’s actually going to be possible to bet on the stage of elimination that Scotland experience.

A last 32-exit would at least represent progress of sorts. In the 1954 and 1958 tournament, the Scots bowed out at the group stage. The same thing happened at five consecutive World Cup tournaments between 1974 and 1990. In 1998, it was a similar tale although the expanded format gives them a chance of being moderately successful.

Should the Tartan Army experience any kind of success, it’s likely to come down to the performance levels of certain players. Scott McTominay has scored fourteen goals during his sixty-seven appearances for his country. The Napoli midfielder has become more prolific for club and country as his career has worn out, with the former Manchester United player scoring a spectacular overhead kick against the Danes.

McTominay is one of the few top-drawer players in the Scottish squad and another is midfield partner John McGinn. The former Hibernian man has consistently commanded a place in the Aston Villa team despite the arrival of big money new signings, with various managers at Villa Park believing in a hard-working player who is still at the peak of his powers at the age of 31.

McGinn is the driving force of the team and has eighty-three caps under his belt. Just as pertinently is the fact that the player has scored twenty times for his country and perhaps he’s a good bet to be top Scotland scorer at the World Cup.

Then there’s captain fantastic Andy Robertson. The Liverpool man is also 31 and continues to operate for the Premier League champions on a regular basis. While his powers have slightly faded in the past season or two, the skipper is still an essential cog in this Scottish machine. His leadership will be essential if the nation is to do the people proud.

Scotland 250/1 to achieve unthinkable World Cup success

We’ve had big shocks in the past. Greece at Euro 2004 were 150/1 shots to claim a tournament victory. The Greeks were able to finish second in the group stage behind Portugal despite only having a victory, a draw and a defeat. Let’s not forget that this was a sixteen-team tournament, although there was a shock quarter final win over France which set them up for a semi-final appearance against Czech Republic.

That defensive approach continued to serve Greece well and they came through the tie by scoring an extra-time winner before a 1-0 success against the Portuguese in the final. Twelve years later, Leicester City achieved a monumental success when landing the Premier League title and the Foxes were sent off at odds of 5000/1.

Now we have Scotland who are at odds of 250/1 according to freebets.ie. This means that Steve Clarke’s side have an implied probability of around 0.5% of winning the 2026 World Cup. In turn, this means that if the tournament was played 200 times, then the Scots might achieve a success on one of those occasions!

You will hear the usual cliches about Scotland not going there to make up the numbers. Right now, England supporters will be glad that their northern counterparts are participating in the tournament but will hope to enjoy misfortune that befalls them at the group stage where an exit has been commonplace at major tournaments.

But we know that stranger things have happened. Indeed, Wales were able to navigate their way to the semi-final stage of Euro 2016 and it wasn’t a team littered with world-class players. Through some inspiration from Gareth Bale, the Red Dragons were able to make a little go a long way and they actually finished top of a group that included England, Slovakia and Russia.

Chris Coleman’s side then overcame Northern Ireland at the last sixteen stage before a surprise quarter-final win over Belgium. That 3-1 success will go down as one of the greatest in their history, with the team then succumbing to a Cristiano Ronaldo-inspired success in the semi-final. Portugal would go on to beat France in the final of that tournament.

Will it be England’s time to shine in America?

While Scotland are available at 250/1 to win the World Cup, you can get much shorter odds about an England success. The Three Lions have once again turned to a foreign manager in order to try and bring about an international triumph, with Thomas Tuchel having replaced Gareth Southgate on a big-money contract. The former Chelsea boss made short work of steering the team to qualification although he’ll be under the microscope next summer.

According to the freebet.com site, England are the second most likely team to prosper at the summer tournament. Spain have been installed as favourites, although Tuchel’s team come next and they’re ahead of many leading nations in the betting. This includes the two 2022 finalists Argentina and France who played out that exciting 3-3 draw before La Albiceleste were able to win on penalties.

It's hardly a surprise that the bookies have the English among the favourites. After all, the squad is dripping with world-class talent. Arsenal trio Declan Rice, Ebere Eze and Bukayo Saka are all looking the part for the Gunners domestically and might hold the key to making their country tick on the big stage.

They also have one of the world’s leading strikers in Harry Kane. If you thought his numbers for Tottenham and England were good, the forward has then broken all kinds of records in a Bayern Munich shirt and remains at the peak of his powers. We know all about the ability levels of Real Madrid pair Jude Bellingham and Trent Alexander-Arnold too.

England less than 15% likely to win 2026 World Cup

However, betcalculator.com implies that England have a 14.3% chance of succeeding across the United States, Mexico and Canada. Therefore, the bottom line is that they statistically are unlikely to succeed. There are a few reasons for this. The main one being the level of competition that exists at the top of international football.

Beyond European champions Spain, we also have sides such as France, Portugal and Germany from that continent. There is also the South American duo of Argentina and Brazil. They should be able to cope well with the warm climate of an American summer, with that being another factor why the English players might struggle.

There is also history that is against Thomas Tuchel as he aims to go further than Gareth Southgate, Fabio Capello, Steve McLaren, Sven-Goran Eriksson, Bobby Robson and Terry Venables. Not since 1966 have we seen England prove successful at a major tournament. On that day of the extra-time final success over Germany at Wembley, few would have predicted that there would be a sixty-year tournament drought thereafter.

We’ve had so-called golden generations in recent times and many fans lament that a 2000’s England side featuring Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Paul Scholes, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, John Terry, Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen was unable to win any of the competitions in which they participated. However, a mixture of bad luck, injuries and questionable tactics have put paid to England’s chances each time.

England likely to reach quarter final stage according to odds

The stage of elimination betting provides customers with a chance to wager on England’s stage of elimination. While GambleAware.org will always recommend responsible gambling, this has been a popular market with fans and many of them have been based in Scotland! There are going to be several different options for punters and it all comes down to how the draw pans out.

In recent times, England have only suffered one World Cup group stage exit. That came in Brazil in 2014 when the Three Lions were handed a Group of Death. As soon as the draw was made, there were concerns over the prospect of facing Italy and Uruguay, even if Costa Rica were not regarded as viable contenders.

However, it was the latter who confounded the odds by finishing top of their section and it was England who finished bottom. They took just a solitary point from their three matches played, losing 2-1 against Italy in their opener before a Luis Suarez-powered Uruguay secured the same winning scoreline a few days later. The final clash against Costa Rica was a dead rubber and ended goalless.

That wasn’t pretty at all although some pride has now been restored in the English national team and perhaps Scotland fans will have to wait before they can enjoy their moment of hilarity when their arch-rivals exit the competition. At the 2018 tournament, there was a marked improvement in the team’s fortunes which saw Gareth Southgate restore plenty of national pride.

The Three Lions navigated their way to the knockout stage of the competition after finishing second behind Belgium in a group that also included Tunisia and Panama. There was then a penalty shootout win over Colombia before a straightforward 2-0 success over Sweden in the quarters. Then came a 2-1 extra-time semi-final defeat against Croatia.

The 2022 tournament in Qatar saw England sent off as one of the tournament favourites although a quarter final exit occurred against a French side who ended up losing in the final. Previously to that, the English had enjoyed a straightforward 3-0 success against Senegal.

Bookmakers expect betting records to be smashed at 2026 World Cup

According to the Gambling Commission, there have been more bookmakers applying for a UK betting license than ever before. It’s clear that operators are keen to enter what is already a crowded market knowing that customers will want to bet on the various World Cup games that take place.

Previous World Cups have seen the bookmakers announce record turnover for a sporting event and it’s clear that the 2026 tournament is likely to reach new heights. For starters, we’re dealing with forty-eight teams competing and that means that there will be a sum total of 104 games that take place.

For each of these games, the bookies will be rolling out the red carpet to customers. You can expect welcome bonuses designed to attract new players and these shiny new offers are likely to amount to deposit matches and free bets. There are also going to be lots of odds boosts when it comes to the games featuring England and Scotland. This means customers can potentially stand to generate extra winnings with their wagers.

In addition, we might see the 2026 World Cup as the tournament of the Bet Builder. This type of bet has now become hugely popular when it comes to Scottish Premiership and English Premier League matches. As opposed to an accumulator that might feature different matches and selections, a Bet Builder is a wager which applies to the same match.

For example, the Scotland v Denmark game might have seen a customer bet on Scotland to win, both teams to score and Scott McTominay to score at any time. All of the leading UK bookmakers now provide this kind of option and it’s great for customers who want to focus exclusively on one particular match. They can compile a same-game multiple and cheer on the various options.

Why a favourite is likely to win the 2026 World Cup

The bottom line is that the past few tournaments have been won by favourites. In 2022 competition in Qatar, Argentina were the well-backed 11/2 shots before triumphing in the first ever winter renewal of the event. Four and a half years previously, France were successful in Russia when a Kylian Mbappe-inspired team enabled them to prosper at 7/1.

Germany were a similar price at odds of 6/1 when securing the spoils at the 2014 World Cup. That success was famous for their 7-1 dismantling of Brazil at the semi-final stage, with the host nation bowing out in a humiliating fashion. That came four years after Spain’s maiden success in 2010 at odds of 7/1.

On that occasion, the Roja were fresh from winning Euro 2008 and produced a number of inspired performances thanks to the presence of Xavi and Andres Iniesta in the team. Sergio Busquets was also a big reason why the Spanish were able to succeed, with that coming after Italy were successful in Germany during the 2006 tournament.

Therefore, we can probably narrow down the field when it comes to the US, Mexico and Canada. All of these champions were sent off at single figure odds and the trend continuing in 2026 means that we can choose from one of five teams, namely, Spain, England, France, Brazil and Argentina.

La Roja are the reigning champions of Europe but only have one World Cup success to their name. England haven’t achieved a major success at a tournament since 1966. That leaves France and the two leading South American sides. We haven’t seen Brazil win a World Cup since Japan and South Korea in 2002 and perhaps a repeat of the 2022 final is on the cards.

It would be a big surprise if an outsider was able to win, even if Norway have significantly shortened during World Cup qualifying. The scoring feats of Erling Haaland and the way that they finished ahead of Italy have led many to think that the Nordic side might be able to go deep in the tournament. They are now regarded as likelier winners than Belgium, Colombia and Uruguay, all of whom have better big tournament pedigree.

We’re excited to see how Scotland and England perform and the bookies will benefit from higher turnover due to the participation of the Home Nations teams. How far they both go is open to question and there’s the outside chance that they meet somewhere along the way.

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