Taylor Fletcher: This week has been incredible, but I'm going to enjoy it all.

Taylor Fletcher described his last-minute call-up to the Scotland national team for the FIFA World Cup as a "crazy week." The young player was called up at the last minute after Napoli midfielder Billy Gilmour was injured in a friendly against Curaçao, securing his place in the squad for the World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.  

As a product of Manchester United's youth academy, Tyler Fletcher won the club's 2026 Danzir Harren Reserves Player of the Year award for his outstanding performance this season. His selection to the national team adds another significant highlight to his consistently improving season.  

In an interview with the Scottish Football Association, the midfielder said that everything happened so fast that he hadn't even had time to fully process it all. Taylor Fletcher said: "This week has been absolutely crazy! I never expected this to happen, but now I can only go with the flow and enjoy it all."  

"In the locker room, when I learned that Billy Gilmour was injured, I was, of course, very sad for him. Then the head coach came over and said to me, 'This trip might not be over yet.' I thought to myself, 'Wow.' The next morning I got a call asking if I wanted to go to the World Cup. I was speechless, but of course I immediately said yes. Now I have basically nothing with me, my suitcase is almost empty, I don't even have my football boots, which will only be shipped to me today."  

Since making his first-team debut against Tottenham at Old Trafford in February, Tyler Fletcher has continued to improve. He said, "My thinking at the time was just that if I could seize the opportunity to show myself, maybe I could make it into the first team and gradually integrate into the system. But going straight to the World Cup after only less than a week of training with the team was completely unexpected."  

“I met Scott McTominay at Manchester United, and he helped me a lot. Kenny McLean also took great care of me; he’s a truly top player. I trained with many excellent players, and the team was very strong overall. I was very happy to be a part of it.”  

Image source: Internet/Manchester United official website