The absence of any Scottish footballers from the Team of the Tournament line-ups which will be drawn up after the World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States finishes tomorrow will be neither a surprise or a disgrace.
The likes of Lewis Ferguson, Ben Gannon-Doak, Jack Hendry, John McGinn, Scott McTominay and Andy Robertson, who were unable to help the national team reach the knockout rounds at these finals, are all outstanding professionals.
They are not, though, in the same league as global superstars like Jude Bellingham, Casemiro, Matheus Cunha, Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi, Michael Olise, Ismael Saibari or Vinicius Jnr.
But should the fact that not a single Scot made it into the Gamechanging XI – a symbolic line-up of players from refugee or displacement backgrounds which the United Nations Refugee Agency unveiled a few weeks before the tournament got underway – be a source of concern and indeed embarrassment for this country?
Alphonso Davies (Canada), Antonio Rudiger (Germany), Ali Al-Hamadi (Iraq), Ermedin Demirovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Mohamed Toure (Australia), Awer Mabil (Australia), Asmir Begovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Eduardo Camavinga (France), Victor Moses (Nigeria) and Nestory Irankunda (Australia) all made the team.
They have all overcome difficult upbringings, carved out good careers for themselves at the highest level of the game and inspired millions around the globe in the process. Many of them have served their adopted homelands with both pride and distinction on the international stage, including at the World Cup.
Is Scotland being held back by a failure to assimilate members of the asylum seeker, refugee, immigrant and ethnic minority communities into the professional game in the same way that many other countries have so successfully?
Could they make more of an impact at major tournaments in the future if they followed the lead of their rivals and tap in to the undoubted talent of diaspora players in an increasingly multicultural society?
Just one non-white player - Paul Wilson of Celtic, who won one cap in a European qualifier against Spain in Valencia in 1975 - represented the national team during the 20th century.
Not many more have done so during the past 26 years. Che Adams, Ikechi Anya, Jordan Archer, Liam Bridcutt, Jacob Brown, Chris Iwelumo, Liam Palmer, Matt Phillips, Nigel Quashie all come from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds. But only Anya and Iwelumo were born and raised here.
Other countries have far higher immigrant and ethnic minority populations than Scotland, both in numbers and on a per capita basis, and that is unquestionably a major factor.
Approximately 19 per cent of the 59 million population in England identified as being non-white in the 2022 census compared to 12.9 per cent of the 5.5 million people who live in Scotland. In Germany, meanwhile, 26.3 per cent of their 86.5 million residents are either immigrants or the children of immigrants.
There are numerous worthy initiatives being run in this country - which are made possible by financial backing from both the Scottish government and the SFA – which are designed to encourage youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds to play football.
First Minister John Swinney last month launched The World Cup Fund, which will make £500,000 available for boys and girls youth programmes, and pledged £275,000 of Scottish government money to Street Soccer Scotland, who provide free drop-in sessions and off-field support for refugees and asylum seekers.
In addition, the Extra Time programme, which the SFA run in conjunction with the Scottish government, provides free activities for up to 5,000 kids from low income families before school, after school and during holidays.
There has been a rise in anti-immigration rhetoric in politics in the United Kingdom in recent years. But no professional or grassroots team on these shores would ignore a gifted player because of the colour of their skin. Many clubs, United Glasgow, AfroScots United, Dreams United and Scoutable United, have been set up in an attempt to provide a pathway into elite football.
There have been success stories. Hibernian this month signed Azeem Abdulai, the defender cum midfielder who was born in Glasgow to a Sierra Leonean father and has played for Swansea City, Leyton Orient and Scotland Under-21. There are others like him.
Abdulai started out at the Jimmy Johnstone Academy, a club which has run numerous programmes, including one that was specifically designed to help torture survivors, in conjunction with the SFA and UEFA in an attempt to unite people and break down prejudices, as a seven year old.
But could Scottish football do more? Are leading club sides as well as the national team being held back by a failure to bring through more players who hail from migrant families? What are the issues which need to be addressed? And could the gap with foreign rivals be narrowed if they were?
Colin Kampschoer of the United Nations Refugee Agency believes the performances of many countries at the World Cup in the past five weeks have underlined there are many benefits to integrating plyers who come from displaced backgrounds into their professional set-ups and ultimately their national sides.
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“The success of many teams at the World Cup has shown what can happen if refugees are given the opportunity to play sports when they arrive in a new community,” he said. “It can help the performance of a football team when you have talent from different parts of the world. It shows what can be done if you nurture talent in the best way.
“Some countries are really standing out when it comes to this area. Australia is an amazing example. They have four refugees (Aziz Behich, Irankunda, Mobil and Toure) in the current national squad. They are their best players. Traditionally, they aren't a major football nation, but they finished second in their World Cup group and got to the last 32. Maybe that says something.”
Kamschoer continued, “Not every person who is forced to flee from their country will become a top footballer. It's the same as for anyone in society really. It takes talent, grit, really hard work.
“But sharing the stories which the members of this symbolic team have is a really powerful way to show what's possible when refugees are actually given support. Not just support to survive, support to succeed in life. Sport is a very powerful way to communicate that, to showcase that.
“These people come to countries with their talents and can absolutely contribute and add value to society. That's the power of the Gamechanging XI. When these players speak about how proud they are to represent their country now it underlines they are giving back to the people who helped them directly or their parents after they fled from conflict in the first instance.
“They were taken in, they grew up in safety and they are now representing their country. Alphonso Davies is an amazing example because he's the captain of the Canadian team and the best Canadian footballer in my opinion.
“But I've met with a few of the Australian players as well and the sense of pride they have being able to play at the World Cup, despite their background, despite their parents' experience, is really powerful.
“Not every person who plays football will become a top professional. It’s so hard to reach that level. But what's important is that refugees are given the opportunity to have that safety and then to succeed in whatever ambition they have and contribute to society in a meaningful way.”
Kampschoer and his colleagues at the United Nations Refugee Agency understand the Gamechanging XI is more important now with right wing factions gaining support in the United Kingdom and across Europe.
He knows that playing football can help to break down cultural barriers, dispel misinformation and allow incomers to both integrate into and contribute to society.
“Sport is a way for anyone who is dealing with trauma to be able to forget about their experiences for a short while and to build friendships,” he said. “That is especially true for youth.
“Alphonso said that when he first arrived in Canada as a kid football helped him to make new friends even though the language was tricky at the start. You don't need to speak the language if you play football together. Giving refugees the opportunity to play sports can help to integrate them into society and their new communities.
“I definitely believe sharing these really incredible journeys is even more important than ever. The number of displaced people worldwide currently is at more than 117 million. It's an unfathomable number. It's hard to grasp for people. So it comes back to the individual stories about what these players have experienced.
“Alphonso is a goodwill ambassador and advocates for refugees. He shares his story and his experience of being born in a refugee camp, being resettled to Canada and then making it to the very top in football. That is really powerful and shows what can happen when you support people who really need it. Football can be such a unifying force in society.”
