Hibs ace on a World Cup mission - how a text from Scotland boss Steve Clarke gave Kieron Bowie call-up hope
Scots face Denmark and Belarus away to start six-game qualifying sprint for place in Canada, Mexico and USA
Hibs striker Kieron Bowie has revealed how a text from Steve Clarke gave him a 24-hour heads-up on his inclusion in Scotland’s World Cup squad. And the 22-year-old is desperately hoping for a chance to press his case for the No. 9 jersey in the senior side as they face Denmark and Belarus in our opening two qualifiers.
The Scots kick off their qualifying campaign for next summer’s tournament in Canada, Mexico and the USA with a daunting away double-header. They play the Danes – ranked 26 places above Clarke’s men, at 21st in the FIFA world rankings - in Copenhagen on Friday night, before travelling to face Belarus behind closed doors in Hungary next Monday.
There is a growing clamour among fans, former players and expert pundits for Bowie to be handed a start in a sprint of a qualifying campaign, with the entire four-team Group C programme done and dusted by mid-November. With just six competitive fixtures crammed into three international windows, and a runners-up finish required to earn a place in the play-offs next March, there is hope that the famously cautious Clarke will take a punt on the in-form Hibs centre forward.
A stand-out in the Scotland Under-21s, former Fulham striker Bowie has earned rave reviews at the start of his second season at Hibs, having fully recovered from the hamstring surgery that interrupted his first campaign at Easter Road. The fact that he scored an absolutely world-class goal in front of a watching Clarke, in the UEFA Conference League home win over Partizan Belgrade earlier this month, can only have strengthened his case.
Former Fulham star competing with Lyndon Dykes, Che Adams and George Hirst
Bowie, who got 12 minutes of action against Liechtenstein after being called up for the summer friendlies, continues to say all the right things about competing for game time with the other three forwards in the squad – Che Adams, George Hirst and potential new Hibs team-mate Lyndon Dykes.
Asked if Clarke had called him to confirm his inclusion of the squad before it was announced at lunchtime on Monday, Bowie revealed: “No, I just got a text the day before just saying are you fit and stuff? And then yeah, you just know when you're in the squad.
“I mean, I've started the season well and I knew hopefully I could try and get in that squad. And I've managed to do that.
“So hopefully I can just do what I've been doing at club level and replicate that on the international stage. If I get my chance.”
Bowie has scored three goals in eight games for Hibs this season, with a double in the Scottish Premiership opener – a 2-1 away to Dundee – emphasising the £600,000 signing’s intent to make the most of this season. He was nursing a minor hamstring problem when he signed for Hibs in the summer of 2024, then suffered the more serious injury before he’d even made a first start for his new club.
Having built on a solid second half of the season, that performance against Dundee – his first full 90 minutes since April 2024, when he’d been on loan at Northampton – represented a major milestone. And, after being left on the bench by Clarke for the home loss to Iceland and given just a late cameo in the leathering of Liechtenstein, the powerful target man is eager to make a bigger contribution to Scotland’s qualifying hopes.
“I mean, obviously everyone hopes for minutes,” he said, adding: “So I just want to go there and just enjoy the experience and hopefully I can get a few minutes on the pitch.
“Oh yeah, definitely the season has started well for me. I mean, this is my first pre-season as I've mentioned a few times before. So I just feel I need to keep playing games and just build the momentum.”