Scotland World Cup squad: Manchester United starlet named as Billy Gilmour replacement

Manchester United midfielder Tyler Fletcher has been added to Scotland's World Cup squad.

During the first half of Saturday's 4-1 victory over Curacao, Billy Gilmour needed to be withdrawn with a knee injury.

After Steve Clarke conceded that he feared the worst over the Napoli midfielder's issue, it was confirmed that the 46-cap international would be ruled out of the World Cup.

With Clarke lacking experienced alternatives to Gilmour, he was left to decide on a number of younger options.

On Sunday morning, it was announced that Fletcher had been selected as Gilmour's replacement.

Following the news of Billy Gilmour's injury we can confirm that 19-year-old Tyler Fletcher has been added to our @FIFAWorldCup squad after making his debut against Curaçao yesterday.

Welcome aboard, Tyler ? ?? pic.twitter.com/WiYnptGg5f

— Scotland National Team (@ScotlandNT) May 31, 2026

Who is Tyler Fletcher?

Fletcher - the son of Man United and Scotland legend Darren Fletcher - was only introduced for his international debut at half time of Saturday's game.

Furthermore, the 19-year-old only has one outing for Scotland's Under-21s under his belt, emphasising his lack of know-how on this stage.

A total of 17 minutes have been accumulated across two Premier League appearances for Man United, with a 16-minute outing coming on the final day of the campaign against Brighton & Hove Albion.

Meanwhile, Fletcher racked up 18 appearances in Premier League 2 during 2025-26, and completed the 90 minutes in all three of the Red Devils' fixtures in this season's EFL Trophy.

Clarke will view Fletcher as backup for the defensive-midfield, central-midfield and attacking-midfield roles.

© Iconsport / Action Plus

What next for Scotland and Fletcher?

Scotland are due to fly to the United States over the coming days ahead of a pre-World Cup friendly against Bolivia on Saturday.

There will then be a week until their first World Cup fixture for 28 years, a potentially-pivotal showdown against Haiti.

Games with Morocco and Brazil following that opener as the Tartan Army bid to earn a spot in the last 32.