Steve Clarke reveals why time was right to step down as Scotland boss after World Cup exit - 'In some respects, it was easy'
Updated 29/06/2026 at 15:10 GMT+1
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Steve Clarke has admitted the time had come for him to depart as Scotland manager after it was confirmed that his team would not advance to the knockout stage of the 2026 World Cup, with just one win in their three group matches.
Steve Clarke
Image credit: Getty Images
Scotland beat Haiti 1-0 in their opening game, but defeats to Morocco and Brazil meant they finished outside the top eight third-placed teams and were knocked out.
It was announced on Saturday that Clarke would step down after seven years at the helm, during which time he guided his country to three major tournaments.
He claimed that the decision was not a difficult one, despite being under contract until 2030.
"In some respects, it was easy, because I already had in my head what I wanted to achieve as a head coach," Clarke said in an interview on the Scotland National Team YouTube channel.
"I'd also ticked all the boxes. I wanted to go to a major tournament with my country. I did that with the Euros. The first Euros [in 2021] was a little bit not the Euros because it was Covid affected.
"The second Euros was great. The tournament didn't go as we wanted, but getting to Germany was fantastic.
"My lifelong ambition was to do a World Cup with my country. I've done that, so not a bad time to step aside."
Clarke signed a new four-year contract with the national team just a month before his exit, with the expectation that he would lead the qualification campaigns for Euro 2028 and the 2030 World Cup.
"What I wanted to make sure was that when I felt it was time to step away, it was time to step away," he said.
"Signing the contract before [the World Cup] was a case of trying to give a little bit of comfort to the players knowing that we could continue the journey.
"I always had in my head that, if we didn't come out of the group, which is something that we've tried to do across three tournaments now, then it was probably the right time to step away.
"Obviously if we'd managed to get that extra point and got out of the group then I'd probably have stayed on and tried to do another tournament."
There was a sense of disappointment in the aftermath of Scotland's 3-0 loss to Brazil, and Clarke has been criticised in some quarters for being overly cautious across the three matches.
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But the group was a difficult one, including Brazil and Morocco, who are fifth and sixth in the FIFA world rankings respectively, and Clarke insisted he will have fond memories of the tournament.
"I said I was going to enjoy it," he added. "Coming out for the Haiti game with the Scotland fans there in their thousands and my family in the stands was just the best moment.
"The next two games were tough. We played difficult opponents. Morocco and Brazil, both of them can go really deep in the tournament and we competed with them, no matter what other people might say. We showed a lot of character and we played some good stuff.
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"We didn't find the quality in the final third of the pitch, but I could maybe say that across the whole seven years we've always been chasing and trying to find that quality in the final third of the pitch - and I hope my successor manages to do that."
On his legacy as Scotland manager, Clarke said: "We'll become part of Scottish folklore as we move forward. People will be talking about some of these matches, some of these occasions right into the next century.
"Everybody keeps saying this core group's finished. They're not finished yet, because they can all make it for Euro 2028."
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