{"id":5452,"date":"2026-06-28T07:34:04","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T07:34:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5452"},"modified":"2026-06-28T07:34:04","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T07:34:04","slug":"scotland-coach-steve-clarke-leaves-after-world-cup-elimination-despite-new-contract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5452","title":{"rendered":"Scotland coach Steve Clarke leaves after World Cup elimination despite new contract"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Scotland head coach Steve Clarke reacts following the World Cup Group C soccer match between Scotland and Brazil in Miami Gardens, Fla., Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo\/Rebecca Blackwell)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

CHARLOTTE, N.C. \u2014 Scotland coach Steve Clarke is stepping down after the team was eliminated from the World Cup<\/a> even though he signed a new four-year contract only a month before.<\/p>

Read more Russell starts on pole for Austrian Grand Prix aiming to reignite F1 title challenge<\/a><\/p>\n

Clarke announced he was leaving in an emotional letter to Scotland\u2019s \u201cTartan Army\u201d supporters shortly after Croatia’s 2-1 win over Ghana<\/a> on Saturday ensured Scotland could no longer qualify for the round of 32<\/a> .<\/p>\n

His seven years in charge saw Scotland reach its first World Cup since 1998 and qualify twice for the European Championship, having not done so since 1996.<\/p>\n

Scotland\u2019s players \u201cdeserve all the praise and adulation that they receive and it was truly an honor to be called their Gaffer (boss),\u201d Clarke wrote. \u201cThanks for having me and good luck to my successor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scotland played its last game Thursday in a 3-0 loss to Brazil but had to wait for days<\/a> to see if it would end up as one of the third-place teams with the best records, and get a spot in the knockout stage.<\/p>

Read more Messi subs in and scores again as defending World Cup champ Argentina beats Jordan to sweep group<\/a><\/p>\n

Its opening 1-0 win over Haiti<\/a> was Scotland\u2019s first victory at any men\u2019s World Cup since 1990, but that narrow margin of victory ended up hurting Clarke\u2019s team after its subsequent losses to Morocco and Brazil.<\/p>\n

Goal difference was the tiebreaker among the third-place teams with three points and Scotland\u2019s minus-3 goal differential left it well adrift of Senegal, whose +2 goal differential saw it clinch the final spot among the eight qualified teams.<\/p>\n

The contract Clarke signed<\/a> at the end of May had seemed set to take him through to the 2030 World Cup, and his letter didn\u2019t explain why he\u2019d seemingly changed his mind.<\/p>

Read more Congo rallies to a 3-1 win against Uzbekistan to seal place in the World Cup knockouts<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

See more of AP\u2019s World Cup coverage here<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scotland coach Steve Clarke is stepping down after the team was eliminated from the World Cup even though he signed a new four-year contract only a month before<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5450,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nScotland coach Steve Clarke leaves after World Cup elimination despite new contract - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5452\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Scotland coach Steve Clarke leaves after World Cup elimination despite new contract - 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