Scotland midfielder Billy Gilmour ruled out of 2026 World Cup with knee injury

[p]The ‌24-year-old, who plays for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/napoli/69Dxbc61/"]Napoli[/a], ‌sustained the injury during [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/scotland/fZRU25WH/"]Scotland's[/a] final World Cup warm-up match and will return to his ‌club to begin rehabilitation.[/p][p][b]"I ⁠am devastated ‌for Billy because he has been ​an integral part of our World Cup qualifying ​campaign,"[/b] Scotland manager Steve Clarke said.[/p][p]"The timing of this injury ⁠is ​so cruel and we all feel for him."[/p][embed guid="299100ce-6aeb-42bc-a4e2-147f5290967a" url="https://x.com/ScotlandNT/status/2060800409892188655" social-type="twitter" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gilmour-billy/MPhh66QA/"]Gilmour[/a] featured prominently in Scotland's successful qualifying campaign ‌and had been expected to play a key role at the tournament.[/p][p][b]"He knows what we all think of him as a footballer and a person,"[/b] Clarke added. [b]"I am certain Billy will have many ‌major tournaments ahead of him ​in the future."[/b][/p][p]Scotland begin their ‌first [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/curacao-bLLGpOkQ/scotland-fZRU25WH/?mid=GvuTpll2"]World Cup campaign[/a] since 1998 against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/haiti/nk4v10Z1/"]Haiti[/a] on June 13 before facing [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/morocco/IDKYO3R8/"]Morocco[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/brazil/I9l9aqLq/"]Brazil[/a] in Group ⁠C.[/p]