Steve Clarke insists quitting Scotland was NEVER an option after Euro 2024 as he admits last World Cup chance

Steve Clarke insists it never crossed his mind to quit after Scotland’s Euro 2024 flop.

The national team manager says he wants to get to a World Cup - and accepts the upcoming qualifying campaign is his last chance. Clarke came in for heavy criticism from supporters after Scotland’s latest group stage failure saw them limp out of Germany with one point from three games. In particular a negative showing in the must-win final game against Hungary saw the 60-year-old come in for flak.

But Clarke, whose contract with the SFA takes him through to the end of the World Cup 2026 cycle, insists he will take the criticism on the chin as he challenged his players to bounce back and qualify for a first World Cup since 1998. The build-up to that begins with the Nations league opener against Poland at Hampden next Thursday. Clarke began the refresh from the summer by handing Ryan Gauld a first call-up in 10 years along with uncapped Ben Doak, Max Johnston and Robby McCrorie.

But quizzed on whether he ever thought he’d reached the end of the road after Germany, Clarke said: “No. I’ve always said I’d love to go to a World Cup with my country. I have a group of players who are determined to go to a World Cup.

“Some of them it will be their last chance. It will certainly be my last chance. There’s your motivation. We were all pretty flat (after the Euros). Too many little things never came together.

"Everyone's disappointed. We didn't achieve what we wanted to achieve in the tournament. I think the biggest thing is you have to learn in football to move on.

“That's most important. The last time we had a disappointment would be on this level when we failed to get to the World Cup. We went away, we reset, we came back and we managed to