(02-12-2026, 09:43 PM)Old Fart Wrote: assuming he gets picked.    

From the Times 

The long dance between Harvey Barnes and Scotland is finally over. The Newcastle United player has told Scotland manager Steve Clarke he intends to try to play his way into England’s squad for the World Cup rather than switch his international allegiance north of the border.

The news is disappointing for those Scotland fans who had hoped to welcome the exciting 28-year-old, who has scored 12 times in 39 games for Newcastle this season. Barnes was capped once by England in a friendly against Wales in 2020 but because that was not a competitive fixture he could still have switched to represent Scotland, the country where his maternal grandparents were born.

Speculation that he would play for Scotland began when he was a Leicester City player in 2019 and intermittently flared up again as he privately expressed an interest while being overlooked by England. The issue arose once more when Scotland secured qualification for the World Cup last November. Clarke consistently said he was prepared to wait and see how the matter unfolded. He would have been open to Barnes had the player committed.

(02-12-2026, 10:10 PM)SW4Baggie Wrote: Fair play to him for having the ambition, but there are a lot of players in his position and he’s just not as good or as consistent as them, had he been, he wouldn’t have been waiting 6 years for his second cap.

Would love to see the lad go to the US, but think he will regret not taking Scotland’s offer when he’s watching the tournament from a sun lounger in Dubai.