How about Scotland making it to the World Cup? It’s their first time at the big dance since the turn of the century, and big tournaments are always more fun when the Tartan Army shows up to cheer on their guys. They made it in style, too, with spectacular stoppage-time goals from Kieran Tierney and Kenny McLean to give the Scots the win over Denmark and the automatic qualifying spot that came with it. Watch those goals on YouTube and you’ll get a hit of serotonin even if you’re not Scottish.
Of course, that means that a lot of Celtic players will be at the World Cup who might not have been otherwise. (The same goes for Rangers, but if you’re reading this site, you likely don’t care about them.) Nevertheless, the Hoops still have players who figure to be watching the big tournament from their couches. Let’s take a look at those players whose summer will be free.
Celtic players who might not make the World Cup trip
Kelechi Iheanacho
Look up and down Nigeria’s roster and ask yourself, “How did this team miss the World Cup?” It’s embarrassing enough that the Super Eagles failed to finish better than South Africa, which has inferior talent at every position. They still could have made the tournament, but they lost a penalty shootout to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (and Celtic’s Michel-Ange Balikwisha, who has yet to score for Hoops this season). Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman, Wilfred Ndidi, and company couldn’t make the expanded 48-team tournament. All you can do is shake your head.
Viljami Sinisalo
Even if Finland had qualified for the World Cup, Celtic’s backup keeper would have had little hope of dislodging Lukas Hradecky, just as he is second choice behind Peter Schmeichel.
Yang Hyun-jun
South Korea has qualified for the World Cup, but with only six caps for his country, the Celtic right-winger / right wingback would appear to be buried on the depth chart underneath a bevy of names. These include but are not limited to Lee Kang-in, Lee Jae-sung, Kim Moon-hwan, Seol Young-woo, Na Sang-ho, and a bunch of other guys you haven’t heard of in South Korea’s domestic league or other corners of Asia. He did score against Feyenoord in the Europa League, which will help, but he’ll need to catch fire to get on Coach Hong Myung-bo’s radar.
Arne Engels
Another case of his country having too much depth. The Belgian who wears Number 27 for Hoops can fill in at right-back or central midfielder, but those positions for Belgium are locked down by Thomas Meunier, Axel Witsel, Timothy Castagne, Youri Tielemans, and Amadou Onana. Unless a rash of injuries happens to the Belgians, Coach Rudi Garcia looks likely to leave him off the plane to North America.
Reo Hatate
Maybe the diciest situation. Celtic fans love the midfielder from Mie Prefecture, but as always seems to be the case, Japan has ball-playing midfielders up the wazoo: Wataru Endo, Takumi Minamino, Ritsu Doan, Daichi Kamada, Kaoru Mitoma, Takefusa Kubo, Junya Ito.
Where does that leave Hatate? He does have experience playing as a right-back, so maybe he can convince Coach Hajime Moriyasu to play him in defense. Given that Moriyasu left him at home for World Cup 2022, any avenue might be worth exploring.
Jota and Paulo Bernardo
Bernardo especially is enjoying regular playing time in the Prem, but neither player has ever been capped by Portugal’s senior team. With Bernardo playing in midfield and Jota playing on the wing, their country has too much talent at their positions for them to have much hope. Bernardo is only 23, so perhaps he can represent his country at World Cup 2030.
Ross Doohan
Scotland’s goalkeeper position is a battle between Craig Gordon and Angus Gunn. Doohan has one solitary cap for the Scots, so it’s going to be tough for him to be even his country’s third netminder.
Odin Thiago Holm
Fun fact: He legally changed his name to Thiago because his favorite player is Thiago Alcântara. He has no caps for Norway, and couldn’t get regular playing time for Los Angeles FC’s reserve side. Ominous.
Callum Osmand
Has played precisely one game for Celtic this season. He played for the Welsh youth sides, but FIFA changed his eligibility because he was born in the Channel Islands. Since he has no family in Wales, he can only play for England now. Them’s the breaks.
Maik Nawrocki
We’re cheating a bit here, because the central defender is currently out on loan to Hannover 96. Still, he fits the criteria. Poland may get into the World Cup, but he has neither ever been capped by Poland’s senior team, nor has he seen the pitch for the 2. Bundesliga side.
Of course, he could still switch nationalities. Then again, he was born in Germany, and his chances of cracking their side are even dimmer. Unless he can dig up another nationality, he should aim to play for Poland in the next cycle.