Scotland appoint Sebastien Pocognoli as new head coach

Scotland have announced the appointment of Sebastien Pocognoli as their new head coach. The 39-year-old Belgian, who won the league title in his homeland with Union Saint-Gilloise, has signed a two-year contract with the Scottish Football Association (SFA).

Pocognoli, a former Belgium international with 13 caps, succeeds Steve Clarke, who resigned in June after guiding Scotland to their first FIFA World Cup in 28 years and then exiting at the group stage in the United States.

A new era for Scottish football

Describing the offer as "an honour," Pocognoli expressed his excitement about taking the role. "When I first heard of the interest, I was immediately excited about the opportunity. Scotland’s supporters are famous for their passion – most recently at the World Cup in the USA - and I have experienced it myself as a player for Belgium when we played in 2013," he said.

"Along with my coaching staff, I will do everything I can to give them a team to be proud of and build on the success that has been achieved already by my predecessor. Since negotiations began, I have been doing a lot of research, asking a lot of questions and looking at areas that we can build on. I am hugely excited by the prospect and look forward to working with the players to achieve even more success."

Pocognoli also acknowledged the immediate challenges ahead: "We don’t have long until the first camp, so the coming weeks will be spent preparing for the UEFA Nations League and putting those plans into action on the training pitch when we meet up next month."

SFA backing for the new coach

Ian Maxwell, the SFA’s Chief Executive, praised Pocognoli's appointment, stating: "He was the standout candidate from a thorough process: a very impressive individual, with a real desire to take on the role and a clear vision for how he wants to go about it."

Maxwell also acknowledged the work of the previous regime: "Sebastien inherits a talented squad who just took us to a first FIFA World Cup in 28 years, and I’d like to reiterate my thanks to Steve Clarke and his staff for their work and the foundations they’ve put in place. I’m excited to see how we build on that ahead of a new UEFA Nations League campaign."

Upcoming challenges

Scotland will face North Macedonia, Slovenia and Switzerland in Group B1 of the UEFA Nations League, with Pocognoli set to take charge of his first matches in the coming months.