Piper describes ‘honour’ of playing at Scotland’s World Cup finals clincher

The piper who played on the pitch ahead of Scotland’s World Cup qualifying win over Denmark has said it was an “incredible honour” to do so.

Major Stevie Small, 60, performance director at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, played Flower Of Scotland ahead of the kick-off at Hampden Park on Tuesday evening.

Scotland secured their place at next summer’s World Cup in North America with a 4-2 win over Denmark in Glasgow.

It is the first time the country has qualified for the men’s World Cup since 1998.

Scotland’s Scott McTominay scored the opening goal during the win over Denmark (Andrew Milligan/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Andrew Milligan

Speaking after the match, Major Small said: “Leading the Scotland team in the national anthem on the night we qualified for the 2026 World Cup was an incredible honour.

“The atmosphere at Hampden was the best I’ve ever experienced, the crowd were so loud I could barely hear myself play.

“It took me right back to when Kenny Dalglish scored against Wales in 77 to send us to Argentina.

“Working with the Tattoo has opened the door to so many unexpected opportunities like this and I feel genuinely privileged.

“And yes… I’ll absolutely be following the team to the World Cup next year. C’mon Scotland!”

Major Small, who began playing the pipes aged eight, said he never lost faith in Scotland qualifying despite a long track record of falling short.

Asked if he expected the team to win, he said: “I did actually this time. I thought ‘they’re going to be up for this’.

“You could tell as the feeling in the stadium was very positive and I thought the team were going to do it this time, particularly three minutes in when Scottie McTominay put that overhead kick in.

“I can’t remember the last Scottish player to have done that, so I felt it was all going our way.”

He said Kenny McLean will be remembered “as a hero forever” and a “legend” for the last goal, just before the final whistle.

The piper said he hopes he or a colleague can travel to represent the country during next year’s World Cup, though he is unsure if they will manage due to other commitments.

He said: “I would love to go over there to at least see them playing in the World Cup, it would be amazing, but we’d have to be back for one of our own shows in August.

“So we’d have to be home for that, so I don’t know how the dates would turn out, but it’d be a great experience to go over there.”

Asked about how Scotland can win or at least perform well in the tournament, he said: “I think we go in positive. We’ve got talent in that team, they’ve got attacking threats now, they’ve got a good couple of midfielders that are forward thinking.

“I think the days of sitting back and expecting to grind out a draw or nick a goal and sit back are over. I think we should just go in and attack, it’s the way the Scotland team should be, it’s the way we used to be way back in the day when Kenny Dalglish was qualifying us for the 1978 World Cup, so let’s just have a go.

“Alex Ferguson used to always say, ‘I’d rather lose having had a go, rather than lose not having a go’.”