Steve Clarke urges Scotland fans not to get into debt for World Cup tickets

Steve Clarke has urged the Tartan Army not to push the financial boat out too far to see Scotland at the World Cup next summer.

The national boss described the country as gripped by “World Cup fever” since qualifying for the finals for the first time in 28 years with an unforgettable 4-2 win over Denmark at Hampden Park in November.

Scotland will play Haiti and Morocco in Boston and Brazil in Miami but there has been uproar at some of the ticket prices which range from £134 to £524.

Fans who do not receive any through the Scotland Supporters Club will have to deal with FIFA’s dynamic pricing model and resale costs and the Association of Tartan Army Clubs (ATAC) branded the costs “disgraceful and disgusting”.

“Tickets are going to be tight,” said Clarke, who will not rule out the recruitment of Newcastle attacker Harvey Barnes.

“The Scottish FA have taken the full allocation of eight per cent of capacity. I’m sure it’ll be used.

“My biggest wish is that the fans who travel everywhere, who go all the far-flung places, can afford to get the tickets and get the chance to get the tickets so they can be there because those supporters deserve to be there.

“Some of the figures are eye-watering, if you look at them.

“One of my biggest wishes is that people don’t put themselves too much into debt trying to buy tickets. Even the cheapest ones look to be pretty pricey.

“But listen, it’s a World Cup, FIFA will tell you they’ve had five million applications for two million tickets, which shows you the will is there, people want to be there.

“If you go on holiday to America, it’s expensive. It’s going to be expensive, just make sure people don’t put themselves into too much debt. That’s one thing I would say.”

Barnes, born in Burnley, has been capped once for England when he featured in a friendly against Wales in 2020 but remains eligible to represent Scotland through his maternal grandparents.

After Scotland’s historic win over Denmark, the 28-year-old Newcastle player was asked by Sky Sports if the door had closed on potentially playing for Scotland and said: “No, of course it’s not. I’ve obviously played for England, I know the eligibility side is still there.”

Clarke said: “Well, if he’s kept the door open, then the door’s open, so let’s see what happens.

“It’s just one of those things that it’s probably too difficult to talk about because you don’t know what’s going to happen.

“Maybe Harvey thinks he’s going to get picked for England. He’s in a really good vein of form at the moment so let’s see what happens.

“Obviously, people know I’m quite loyal to the players in the squad, that’s what we’ve built.

“We’ve tried to build that across the years, but there are always spaces.

“The squad size will be 26, which always gives at least three extra spaces to the normal 23-man squad.

“There’s always injuries and loss of form to take into account.”

Scotland will confirm in January where they will be based in the USA while a game against Japan could be one of the friendly matches to be arranged for March.