Norway football manager Solbakken slams ‘unprofessional’ Scotland for friendly cancellation

Norwegian manager Stale Solbakken heavily criticized Scotland counterpart Steve Clarke on Monday, branding Scotland «unprofessional» after unexpectedly canceling a planned training match behind closed doors, citing player injuries.

The match, scheduled for Monday at Scotland’s training camp in Charlotte, North Carolina, was arranged months in advance to give fringe players match training ahead of the World Cup.

However, the Norwegian camp was informed of the cancellation late on Friday evening after the final training session, forcing Solbakken to change his tactical approach for Sunday’s 1-1 friendly draw against Morocco in New Jersey.

“It was just as surprising to me, and it’s unprofessional of Scotland,” Solbakken told the Norwegian broadcaster NRK.

«It’s unprofessional that their manager didn’t call me personally, that they used their team manager to tell us this after we finished training. I don’t believe the injuries they are blaming for happened in their last session,» he added.

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Scotland head coach Steve Clarke played down the disruption on Sunday evening, telling the newspaper BBC that the match was only intended as an hour-long training ground exercise. Clarke added that his side had suffered some minor injuries during the week and decided not to complete the match, just over a day after Scotland romped to a 4-0 friendly win over Bolivia.

“Last week we ran into one or two hiccups and decided it wasn’t worth the risk,” he said.

The sudden cancellation has drawn sharp rebukes from senior Norwegian figures and players, including striker Alexander Sorloth, who called the decision «a great shame and quite unprofessional.»

Norway opens its World Cup campaign against Iraq on June 16, while Scotland opens against Haiti on June 14.

Published on June 8, 2026