Dalglish, Souness & Rod Stewart – Scotland’s World Cup ’86 remembered

​  Image source, Getty ImagesByRichard WintonBBC Sport Scotland11 June 2026On a veranda at the Scotland squad hotel, captain Graeme Souness is discussing the players he is trying to sign for Rangers. Manager Alex Ferguson is in his room mulling over interest from Arsenal and Tottenham. And thousands of miles away, Kenny Dalglish – the country’s most-capped player – is sitting idle.To say the national team’s Mexico 1986 campaign was infused with intrigue would be doing the dictionary a disservice.After all, this was a campaign in which the manager died in the dressing room before qualification was clinched. His replacement was the greatest the game has ever seen. Three future national team bosses were on bibs and cones duty. The player-managers of two of Britain’s biggest clubs were named in the squad. As, belatedly, was a striker from European Cup finalists Barcelona. And the Scottish FA president almost sparked a diplomatic incident by labelling opponents “scum”.Furthermore, in the build-up you had players drinking mudslingers with Rod Stewart, hanging out of stretch limos on Sunset Boulevard, appearing on Grandstand drunk and – apparently – heckling John McEnroe at the Australian Open.World Cup fixtures and group standingsHow to watch the World Cup on the BBC5 days agoEverything you need to know about the World Cup1 AprilDavid Coleman, sunstroke & cheerio KennyThe latter two incidents took place in Melbourne, scene of the qualification play-off second leg with Australia.Scotland had set up that tie on a wretched night in Cardiff, their joy stolen by the death of Jock Stein in the immediate aftermath of a 1-1 draw with Wales. That left assistant Ferguson to take charge for the play-off, leading the side to a 2-0 aggregate win after a goalless meeting down under.Goalkeeper Alan Rough remembers “a right good carry on” on the flight home after a four-day trip that included a night out at a Scottish social club, intoxicated striker David Speedie having to be carried back to the hotel for a live BBC interview with David Coleman, and the same player passing out from sunstroke after a putting competition got a little too heated.Speedie would be excluded from Ferguson’s squad for the finals, but it was the absence of another name that caused controversy. Alan Hansen had won the English double with Liverpool but failed to make the final 22, with the then-Aberdeen manager preferring Pittodrie partnership Willie Miller and Alex McLeish. “I don’t think Alan had been playing much,” says Miller. “I don’t know if conversations were had but it’s a long way to go if you’re not starting.”Within days, Hansen’s close friend and Liverpool player-manager Kenny Dalglish – 35 and preparing for a fourth finals – withdrew with a knee problem. Some said the two events were not unrelated.’I’ll never forget wee Charlie hanging out of that limo’Dalglish’s place would be taken by Barcelona’s Steve Archibald as the squad travelled to Santa Fe in New Mexico for an altitude tra  BBC Sport