Steve Clarke's nightmare becomes reality as Billy Gilmour ruled out of World Cup after limping off in Scotland win

The 24-year-old sparked immediate concern when he went to the ground with no one around him towards the end of the first half. Despite receiving treatment, Gilmour was unable to continue and was immediately substituted, casting a dark cloud over Scotland's final preparations before they depart for the United States.

Steve Clarke confirmed after the final whistle that the former Chelsea and Brighton man was sent for medical imaging to determine the extent of the damage. With Scotland's World Cup opener against Haiti in Boston just over two weeks away, the timing could not be worse for a player who has become a vital component of the national team's engine room, and the Scottish Football Association has since confirmed the bad news.

A statement read: "We regret to announce that the knee injury sustained by Billy Gilmour in today's win over Curaçao will rule him out of participation in FIFA World Cup 2026.

"Everyone involved with the Scotland Men's National Team wishes Billy a speedy recovery. He will now return to his club, SSC Napoli, to commence rehabilitation."

Clarke said following the confirmation: "I am devastated for Billy because he has been an integral part of our World Cup qualifying campaign. The timing of this injury is so, so cruel and we all feel for him.

"He knows what we all think of him as a footballer and a person and while no words will give him any comfort tonight, I am certain Billy will have many major tournaments ahead of him in the future."

Before the news was announced, Clarke did not attempt to downplay the severity of the situation when speaking to the press. "One big disappointment is the injury to Billy, and we are just waiting on it being assessed, and we'll find out how bad it is," the Scotland head coach said. "He has gone for a scan so I haven't had a chance to speak to him, but I am 100 per cent worried."

The manager explained that Gilmour was proactive in acknowledging he could not carry on, which often signals a significant issue. "He hurt himself in the tackle, then decided to take himself off – he knew it wasn't right. There's no point speculating; let's wait and see what the medics say. I'm sitting here hoping and praying he's on the plane," Clarke added.

The injury somewhat soured what was otherwise a productive afternoon at Hampden. While Scotland eventually ran out 4-1 winners, they did not have it all their own way against Dick Advocaat’s side. Tahith Chong had given the visitors a shock lead before a red card for Jurgen Locadia seven minutes before the interval turned the tide in favour of the hosts.

Findlay Curtis, who came on to replace the injured Gilmour, netted his first senior international goal to equalise. A brace from Lawrence Shankland and a Ryan Christie penalty eventually ensured the Tartan Army enjoyed a winning send-off, though the performance was secondary to the news regarding their star midfielder.

Despite the comfortable scoreline, Clarke suggested he would have preferred a more rigorous test against eleven men. "The red card obviously changed the whole dynamic of the game, and from there, at least, against the 10, we managed to start creating chances and got a few goals," the manager reflected as he looked ahead to the group stage.

He continued: "It is obviously nice to win any international game, but I think it would have been better if it had stayed 11 vs 11 and then we'd have been asked more questions about finding the spaces on the pitch – could we create the chances that we created against 10 men against 11? That would have been a better exercise for us."