Newcastle United forward Harvey Barnes could yet feature for Scotland at next summer’s World Cup.
Following Scotland’s dramatic qualification for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico, Barnes has been mentioned as a potential option for the Tartan Army.
Indeed, Barnes is eligible to play for Scotland through his maternal grandparents.
While the Newcastle United forward has played for England, his only cap came in a friendly against Wales in 2020, so he could feasibly switch and represent Scotland.
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Barnes has been in fine form this season but selecting him would be controversial.
The winger has so far shown little interest in playing for Scotland, so rewarding him with a World Cup spot could ruffle a few feathers.
Scotland manager Steve Clarke, however, has refused to rule it out entirely.
Scotland boss Steve Clarke open to calling up Harvey Barnes for the 2026 World Cup
Clarke, who was part of the Newcastle United coaching team under Ruud Gullit and Sir Bobby Robson, was speaking to Sky Sports.
He was asked about the prospect of turning to Barnes, who has scored seven goals in 26 club games this season.
Though Clarke admitted the situation between Barnes and Scotland hadn’t developed much recently, he did suggest that was “open” to the idea.
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“It’s just pretty open, that’s how it is,” he said.
“Harvey was asked about it in an interview; he was pretty non-committal. I’ve been asked about it in an interview, and I’m going to be pretty non-committal.
“You never know how these things are going to pan out.
“I spoke to Harvey a couple of years ago about possibly coming and joining the Scotland squad. At the time, he’d moved to Newcastle, he felt he had a chance of being involved with England, and we decided just to leave it there, and that’s the situation.”
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Clarke has previously called up players in the kind of position Barnes is in now.
Back in 2021, he turned to striker Che Adams ahead of the delayed Euro 2020 tournament despite the fact he hadn’t previously played for the Tartan Army.
If Barnes does make the Scotland squad, he could travel across the pond with former Newcastle defender Grant Hanley.
Hanley, who now plays for Hibs, spent a year at Newcastle between 2016 and 2017 under Rafa Benitez during the Championship-winning campaign and remains a part of the international set-up.
Though it’s easy to see why some Scotland fans may be cautious about suddenly turning to him, Barnes is playing well for Newcastle this season and could surely offer them something.
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