On the subject of FIFA referees from Scotland, is there any referee who has a realistic chance of making say the 2024 Euros or 2026 WC? It seems to have been a while since any Scottish referee has really got to that level or done regular knockout stage CL games and so on.
Willie Collum refereeed at Euro 2016 and Craig Thomson at Euro 2012. We’ve not had a World Cup referee since Hugh Dallas in 2002.
Collum had been fairly regular in the CL and handled a QF in 2018 and also a Europa SF in the same year but since then has had a bit of a decline in appointments. This was partly because of the lack of VAR in Scotland and for a while UEFA weren’t giving CL games to anyone without VAR in their domestic leagues but also a bit of a dip in form from Willie and also some high profile errors. However Collum does remain an UEFA Elite for the moment.
Nick Walsh has been making excellent progress and has probably passed Collum as the top referee in Scotland but remains in the UEFA first category, it is very unlikely he will be at either Euro 2024 or WC 26. He’s only 32 at the moment so potentially could make Euro 2028 and WC 2030 if he keeps progressing the way that he has been.