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BackAndy Robertson reaches 100 Scotland caps, closes in on Kenny Dalglish's record
Andy Robertson reaches 100 Scotland caps, closes in on Kenny Dalglish's record
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BBC Sport58 minutes agoSports2 min readUnited Kingdom

Andy Robertson reaches 100 Scotland caps, closes in on Kenny Dalglish's record

Quick Look

  • Andy Robertson became only the second Scotland player to earn 100 international caps, achieving the milestone in a Nations League match against North Macedonia.
  • At 32, he is closing in on Kenny Dalglish's all-time record of 102 caps and could surpass it by November if he plays in Scotland's remaining Nations League games.
  • Robertson has been a constant presence since his 2014 debut, captaining the side 30 times more than any other player under four different managers, and has started 98 of his 100 appearances.

AI-generated summary

Why It Matters

Andy Robertson made his Scotland debut in 2014 under Gordon Strachan and has since become a mainstay of the national team, earning the captaincy in 2018. He has played under four different permanent managers and is approaching Kenny Dalglish's long-standing appearance record.

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Andy Robertson has become only the second man to win 100 caps for Scotland in more than 150 years of international football.

The national captain hit the century mark in Saturday's Nations League game against North Macedonia as he closes in on the all-time cap record.

A constant presence since Gordon Strachan handed him his debut in 2014 when he was a fresh-faced left-back with Dundee United, Robertson has defined a generation of the Scotland national team.

Here, BBC Scotland charts the Tottenham Hotspur defender's international career in numbers.

The great Kenny Dalglish is the only man to have pulled on the navy blue of Scotland more times than Robertson.

'King Kenny' still tops the list on 102 caps, but that could be eclipsed by his friend come November should the 32-year-old feature in each of Scotland's remaining Nations League games this year.

It is fitting that it will be Robertson who surpasses that long-standing milestone, given the pair have forged a friendship over his time with Liverpool.

Not that Dalglish is having that.

"He always says 'you've got millions more games; Nations League, what's that? They didn't have that in my day!'" Robertson joked on the Stick to Football podcast recently.

"I think he might bring up a ratio for years-to-games-played so he's still on top."

"It's obviously something that's been on my radar for a while now. When you get to 80-odd caps, you start to look up."

Dalglish can console himself that his record of 30 goals - held jointly with Denis Law - is safely out of Robertson's reach.

Of current players, John McGinn is lurking only eight behind Robertson on the all-time list, though, so the Scotland men's centurion club could have three members soon.

Since being given the armband by Alex McLeish after Scott Brown retired in 2018, Robertson has captained Scotland 30 times more than any other player.

At the time, he had earned just 22 caps and was just 24 but had established himself as Liverpool's left-back as they reached the Champions League final.

Now, he is the only man to have lead Scotland out at three major finals, reaching the milestone at the World Cup this summer.

Scotland and Napoli midfielder Scott McTominay enthused: "He's such a great captain and he's got that good balance between being one of the senior players and saying you need to wake up if you're not playing well.

"Then he's also got the personable side, organising things with the manager, helping young players and stuff. He's brilliant with that, brilliant."

Robertson has played under four different permanent Scotland team bosses in his 12-year international career.

It was Strachan who plucked him from the under-21s to hand him his debut as a 19-year-old in a win over Poland in March 2014.

McLeish made him captain in 2018, calling Robertson the "outstanding candidate" and an "inspirational figure" - and now he has played twice for new boss Sebastien Pocognoli.

He even played one game under interim manager Malky Mackay in a friendly against the Netherlands at Pittodrie in 2017 as the Scottish FA searched for Strachan's replacement.

However, it is Steve Clarke's seven-year stint that Robertson will be mainly associated with, as the pair lead Scotland to three major tournaments.

Robertson played 68 times for Clarke, all of them as captain, and the recently departed head coach consistently praised his figurehead.

"He's been a fantastic captain for Scotland," Clarke said at the World Cup.

"He's worked ever so hard for the country and he leads the group like the leader he is - and he's very, very important to me and the squad."

Over the piece, Robertson's caps are spread fairly evenly among friendlies and qualification games.

Crucially, though, he has also played nine times in major tournaments. What will rankle with him is there is only one win among those nine - June's victory over Haiti in Boston at the World Cup.

Overall, though, Robertson's Scotland career can be characterised by consistency.

He has started 98 of his 100 caps, rarely ever being substituted. He has not missed a camp in three years.

The only question seems to be how many Scotland caps will Robertson end up with? At 32 and still playing in the Premier League, it appears there will be plenty more to come.

What to Watch

AI outlook — possibilities, not facts

  • Andy Robertson will surpass Kenny Dalglish's Scotland cap record of 102 by playing in Scotland's remaining Nations League matches in November 2024

    Likely · Within weeks

Open Questions

  • Will Robertson surpass Kenny Dalglish's cap record before retiring?
  • How many more caps will Robertson earn in the remainder of the 2024-25 Nations League season?
  • Who will be the third Scotland player to reach 100 caps if John McGinn continues his current trajectory?

Related Topics

This article was originally published by BBC Sport.

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