Another World of football, another World Cup for Scotland
Last night, a Scotland national side played their first ever game in a World Cup. This history-making event featured our National Cerebral Palsy football team, which qualified for the International Federation of Cerebral Palsy Football Men's World Cup in USA for the first time. And given that we, as a nation, have had a chequered history of qualifying for world tournaments, it’s only right that we applaud the efforts of everyone involved, especially as they have had to raise much of the money themselves in order to attend and play in the competition. Here’s how it happened, and I’ve also included a little bit more about how the game is played in a different format from ‘normal’ football.
Scotland gained a place in the group stage at the tournament by winning the World Championships (not the same as the World Cup), defeating Northern Ireland 4-0 in the final in 2024. As a result, we are now in group A, against hosts USA, and also Canada and Netherlands. Scotland are currently ranked 15th in the world, Canada 11th, the Netherlands 5th and USA 6th. In other words, there is some pretty stiff competition. The opening game demonstrated this, with Scotland losing 5-2 to the Netherlands. Our game against the USA will be extra special, as Stephen Sharp, the current USA coach, was previously the Scotland team coach.
The squad is made up of players from across the country, all with Cerebral Palsy, Stroke or acquired brain injuries. The national team was founded in 1995, in partnership with Scottish Disability Sport, and has competed across the world in many tournaments.
The format is different from ‘normal’ football in that the games are 7-a-side with a maximum squad size of 14), while the rules are also a bit different. The match duration is for two halves of 30 minutes and the playing field measures 70m x 50m (there is maximum size of 75m x 55m). The goals are smaller too, being 5m x 2m and, to make things easier (or more difficult?) the offside rule does not apply in cerebral palsy football. On a brighter note, there is no VAR!
Please do keep an eye on the team’s performance and post messages of support on their Facebook page, which you can find here
Michael McEwan, Ops Team, the SFU
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