Mick McArdle believes hosting World Cup can have ‘massive impact’ for Scotland

Interim head coach Mick McArdle believes being a co-host of the 2035 Women’s World Cup will have “a massive impact” on women’s football in Scotland.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino revealed on Thursday that a joint expression of interest in hosting the tournament from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales was the only valid one received.

Speaking ahead of Friday’s Nations League clash with Germany at Tannadice, McArdle, who is also Scotland’s head of elite women’s football, said: “We’re two and a half years into that cycle (of preparing to be a host). I think the association’s decision to have foresight to create the role that I’m the custodian for just now, the head of the elite game, is that we’ve already started that preparation.

“It’s exciting news that we could be hosting, then it’s up to us to obviously qualify for the tournament as well, if it’s not automatic. It’s an inspiration to us all, myself, the full pathway that players in the (Scotland) dressing room use now, it’s a massive inspiration that we could be hosting, but also get ourselves to a World Cup now as well.

“We saw how massive the hosting of the Euros in England was to the English game’s development overnight. It’s certainly something that would have a massive impact across the game.

“The future generations of players, boys and girls, can see that and be inspired by it, so hosting the World Cup will be a great inspiration, a great moment.”

McArdle, who was in charge for defeats against Austria and Netherlands in their opening Nations League fixtures in February, said conversations are “ongoing” about whether he will remain as head coach for the longer term.

For now, he is focused on the Tannadice clash with the Germans before turning his attention to the return match in Wolfsburg next week.

“It’s great, it’s the benchmark,” he said of the Germany test. “It lets you know exactly where you are. Certainly from a tactical perspective, there’ll be a few game plans going into tomorrow evening, and between the two games, those will change and adapt also.

“But certainly for us, the Netherlands at Hampden was a good opportunity for us to enjoy controlling a game without the ball and then having tactical moments in the game where we can be at our best as well and be a threat to the opposition, which is important for the group as we try and progress towards consistently qualifying for competitions.

“We’re not going out there just to show up and not have the ball. We want the ball. We want those moments to try and hurt Germany as well.”