Fitting the right profile
Scotland playing in Liverpool against a team adopting it for a "home" fixture prior to World Cup finals has a familiar ring. As Steve Clarke's side face Ivory Coast on Tuesday, memories—at least for those with long ones—will flood back about a famous 1977 victory for the Scots over Wales in the same English city.
But just why have the two World Cup-bound sides ended up playing—both outside their homeland—the first-ever international football fixture at Everton's new Hill Dickinson Stadium?
In January, Scotland announced two friendlies at Hampden—Saturday's meeting with Japan, and against Curacao on 30 May—as warm-ups for the finals. Being from the same confederation as Haiti, Curacao were seen as ideal opponents to help prepare for their World Cup group opener in Boston on 14 June.
So, when the Scots were also offered a friendly against Ivory Coast, from the same confederation as another of their Group C foes, Morocco, the final bit of their preparation jigsaw was in place.
"We wanted to face African opposition before we play Morocco in the summer and I'm sure Côte d'Ivoire will give us a really stern test," Clarke said.
As for Ivory Coast, they had already arranged Saturday's match against South Korea at Stadium MK—ending in an impressive 4-0 victory.
Playing their next match at Everton's new stadium—another 'home' game for the Africans—meant they and the Scots both only needed a few hours of driving.
Scotland will also give Emerse Fae's side a taste of European opposition, given they have Germany in their World Cup group.
5000-mile journey for 'home' game
Hill Dickinson Stadium is just short of 5,000 miles, an 11-hour flight, 99 hours by car, or a 63-day walk away from the Alassane Ouattara Stadium, where Ivory Coast normally play their home fixtures in northern Abidjan.
Everton's new stadium is a mere 217 miles, just short of a four-hour drive, away from Hampden. Yet this is officially an away fixture for Clarke's side.
With none of their current squad playing in Ivory Coast, and only captain and Al-Ahli midfielder Franck Kessie based outside Europe, it made logistical sense for Fae to gather his squad outside Africa and "test our level against players from top clubs".
With Ivory Coast already playing in England, Everton keen to host their first international fixture at a stadium opened just over a year ago and due to be a host venue at Euro 2028, and Scotland seeking African opponents, it all came together.
Officially, it is part of the "Road to 26", a "series of international exhibitions leading into the 2026 Fifa World Cup" co-promoted by Pitch International, Unified Events, Florida Citrus Sports and Lions Media.
Initially billed as "bringing elite national teams to major American venues throughout 2026", it began with Thursday's 2-1 win for France over Brazil in Foxborough and Croatia's victory by the same scoreline over Colombia in Orlando but branched out to include Tuesday's game in England.
What happened in 1977?
There is also a bit of symmetry about Tuesday's first-ever meeting between these two sides.
Ivory Coast, at 35th, are five places above Scotland in the world rankings and are returning to the World Cup finals for the first time in 12 years.
With a 52,600 capacity, Hill Dickinson Stadium is just above Hampden's 51,866.
Considering the distances involved for both sets of fans, will the attendance get close to that, or even the average of about 24,000 Ivory Coast usually attract to their games at the 60,000-capacity Alassane Ouattara Stadium?
Scotland are no strangers to playing in neutral venues, recently facing Gibraltar in Portugal, Ukraine in Poland and, in September, beating Belarus 2-0 in Hungary in a World Cup qualifier also switched because of Russia's invasion.
However, the most famous might be the 1977 win over Wales.
Because of capacity restrictions and safety concerns at other grounds, the match was moved to Liverpool's Anfield Stadium—Wales' first home match held outside the country since 1890.
An infamous handball by Joe Jordan won Scotland a controversial penalty, with Don Masson slotting home the opener before Kenny Dalglish's late strike settled the tie to send Scotland to the finals in Argentina instead of their heartbroken hosts.
Additional context and questions
Scotland's preparation includes facing African opposition to ready themselves for their World Cup group matches, while Ivory Coast benefits from playing European teams ahead of their tournament.
Both teams' choice of venue reflects logistical considerations and strategic planning ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Other recent neutral venue matches involving Scotland include games against Gibraltar, Ukraine, and Belarus, reflecting the team's adaptability to playing outside their home country.
For further insights, questions such as "Who can still qualify for the World Cup?", "Have all home nations ever played in the same World Cup?", and "Why is Northern Ireland's World Cup play-off in Bergamo?" are relevant to the broader context of international football.
