Oli McBurnie Returns to Scotland Squad with Bold New Selections
Oli McBurnie is back in dark blue. Five years after his last appearance, the Hull City striker has been recalled to the Scotland squad as Sebastien Pocognoli stamps his authority on his first selection with a bold mix of recalls, reinventions and outright gambles.
McBurnie, now 30, remains a curious international story. Sixteen caps, no goals, and yet a key figure in one of the national team’s most significant nights of the modern era – he buried one of the penalties in the shootout that took Scotland to the delayed Euro 2020 finals. That memory, and his club form, have earned him another chance.
Pocognoli rips up the script
This is not a conservative first squad. Far from it.
Uncapped quintet Luis Binks, Colby Donovan, Jon McCracken, Josh McPake and Stephen Welsh all step into the senior set-up, while Stoke City defender Luke Graham and Sevilla forward Robbie Ure receive the long-anticipated promotions many around the game felt were coming.
The recalls are just as telling. Scott Bain, Kieron Bowie, Josh Doig, Lennon Miller and James Wilson are all back in the frame. Che Adams is not. Reports in Italy suggest the Torino striker is injured, and Pocognoli has moved quickly to reshape his forward line without him, leaning on Bowie, McBurnie, Ure and Wilson.
The message is clear: reputations alone will not carry anyone into this new era.
Dual nationals and decisive calls
Some of the most intriguing names in the list sit at the crossroads of international allegiance.
Brondby defender Binks, 25, has already worn the colours of both England and Scotland at age-grade level. Donovan, just 20, has seized his moment at Celtic, stepping in for injured Canada right-back Alistair Johnston and holding his place in a side with serious expectations. Like McBurnie, Donovan has under-19 and under-21 experience for Scotland; now he gets his shot with the seniors.
Then there is Robbie Ure. The former Rangers academy forward exploded in Sweden with Sirius, scoring 20 goals and adding three assists in 20 matches to drag the club to the top of the table and force a £5.5m move to Sevilla in the summer. La Liga has been a tougher stage; he is still waiting for his first goal in Spain. But Ure, 22, is also eligible for Ukraine, and Pocognoli appears intent on acting before any doubts creep in. This feels like a strategic cap in the making.
Graham’s rise, Bain’s return
Luke Graham’s inclusion has been coming. The defender used last season at Dundee as a launchpad, sweeping the club’s players’ player and young player of the year awards after a breakthrough campaign that pushed him into the national conversation.
He travelled with Scotland for the pre-World Cup training camp in May, sat on the bench as an unused substitute in the send-off win over Curacao – Steve Clarke’s final match in charge at Hampden Park – and then went back to club duty and kicked on. Now at Stoke City, the 22-year-old has started strongly in the Championship, ever-present in a Potters side unbeaten in their last four games. This time, the door has opened fully.
Behind him, the goalkeeping picture also shifts. Bain, now with Falkirk and capped four times, returns after previous involvement under Clarke, joined by Bradford City’s Jon McCracken, another familiar name to the old regime. Pocognoli has not torn everything up; he has simply chosen which threads to keep.
Hearts rewarded, others left waiting
At Tynecastle, Wouter Vrancken predicted his players would catch the new manager’s eye. He was right.
Hearts winger Josh McPake and his attacking team-mate James Wilson, who already has two caps, are both included after strong starts to the season. Their form has been impossible to ignore, and Pocognoli has clearly listened. Yet there is no place for fellow Hearts wide man Calvin Miller, whose omission underlines the level of competition in the attacking roles.
Swansea City defender Stephen Welsh stands on the verge of his first cap. Around him, a younger core continues to form: Sassuolo forward Bowie, left-back Doig and Udinese midfielder Lennon Miller all make the cut, bolstering a squad that suddenly looks fresher, hungrier and far less predictable.
A new edge to the attack
Up front, the shape of Scotland’s future attack begins to emerge.
McBurnie returns as the experienced option with a point to prove. Bowie offers direct running and energy. Wilson brings guile. Ure arrives with a reputation forged in Sweden and a price tag from Spain, even if the goals have not yet followed him to La Liga.
All of them benefit from Adams’ absence, but this is more than a stopgap solution. It feels like a deliberate widening of the pool, a manager testing combinations early rather than waiting for a crisis.
Pocognoli’s first squad is not about nostalgia or sentiment. It is about decisions – on dual nationals, on form players, on those who have waited on the fringes. McBurnie’s recall will grab the headlines, but it is the cluster of new and returning faces around him that hints at where Scotland might be heading next.
