Whitecaps’ Gauld earns his first national team call-up in a decade
Vancouver Whitecaps star Ryan Gauld is finally getting the chance to represent his country again.
The midfielder was called up to the first Scottish side for two upcoming fixtures. It’s the first time the midfielder has been selected for the national team since 2014. Scotland head coach Steve Clarke named Gauld to the team for upcoming matches against Poland and Portugal.
The two UEFA Nations League games will take place on September 5 and 8.
It’s the first time Scotland will be participating in the top tier of the UEFA Nations League. Gauld is not the only MLS player on the team, as Lewis Morgan from the New York Red Bulls also made the roster.
Scotland is currently 48th in the world in the FIFA world rankings. They’re just ahead of Costa Rica and Norway and trailing Czechia.
While he’s been called up to the top squad before, albeit a decade ago, Gauld has never appeared in a match for his country at the highest level. As a young player, he’s played and scored for both the Scottish U21 team and the U19 team in the past.
Gauld has been a star since joining the Whitecaps in 2021. His dominance has led to many fans wondering when he would get recognized by the national team but the call-up never seemed to come.
He’s kept up his strong numbers this season with nine goals and nine assists in 24 MLS starts. He was selected as an MLS All-Star because of his impressive stats but was unavailable for the game due to injury.
Ryan Gauld from the parking lot WHAT 🔥 pic.twitter.com/MwTbAnEvyb
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) June 16, 2024
The club rewarded Gauld’s excellent MLS career thus far by giving him the richest contract in club history back in January.