Craig Gordon

At 43, Craig Gordon is the oldest player in any of the 2026 projections — and the fact he is here at all is its own kind of miracle. In December 2021, playing for Hearts, he suffered a compound double fracture of his leg so severe that many assumed it was the end. He was 38. Most keepers that age would have taken the medical retirement and the standing ovation.

Gordon came back instead. Two decades earlier he had been the most expensive goalkeeper in British history, leaving Hearts for Sunderland; he had won titles at Celtic and survived a knee problem that kept him out of top-flight football for years. Each time the game seemed to be done with him, he answered by playing on.

Scotland have not appeared at a World Cup since 1998 — a generation of supporters has never seen it. For Gordon to be on the plane after everything his body has been through would be the longest of long roads finally arriving somewhere. He is listed as recovering from a shoulder problem; even now, the comeback is not finished.