'Gutted' Christie 'desperate' to help Scotland to more finals

Ryan Christie played in all three group-stage games at the World Cup

Ryan Christie is "desperate" to play in more major finals with Scotland after getting his first taste of the World Cup.

Scotland ended a 28-year wait for a place on international football's biggest stage, but there was disappointment following a group stage exit.

"Seeing all the Scotland fans over there was incredible. The atmosphere was electric."

Christie started the 1-0 defeat by Morocco in between appearances as a substitute in the 1-0 win over Haiti and a 3-0 defeat by Brazil that meant Scotland have still failed to reach the knock-out stage of a major finals.

"The first 72 hours afterwards, you feel a bit gutted because we were desperate to get out of the group and it wasn't to be," the 31-year-old said.

Ryan Christie (left) was playing in the Scottish Open pro-am, where he played with Shane Lowry and former Scotland internationals Sir Kenny Dalglish and Scott Brown

"But I had such a good time with that bunch of boys that have been together for so many years now.

"When you finish, you're just hungry for more.

"I'm desperate now to go to more tournaments, just thinking when's the next one?"

Despite Euro 2028 being co-hosted by England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland, all four home nations have to go through qualifying.

However, with two automatic spots held in reserve for hosts that fail to qualify via the group stage, the Scots will be confident of competing at the finals.

"We were determined to qualify for a World Cup and we ticked that box," Christie, who signed a new three-year contract with his Premier League club last month, said.

"Now we really want to go to a tournament and make an impression. It's the next step for our nation."

Despite signing a four-year contract extension prior to World Cup, Steve Clarke resigned as soon as it was confirmed that Scotland could not progress, with Christie describing the head coach's announcement to the players as "very emotional".

Christie has 71 caps and played at Euro 2020 and Euro 2024 under Clarke.

"He called a meeting, which we thought was to draw a line under the tournament," he said. "Naturally, everyone was shell-shocked and gutted.

"He's done so much for us and obviously goes down as a Scotland legend. He'll be missed.

"I'm looking forward to seeing who comes in and hopefully we can go on a good run again."