Scotland manager Steve Clarke steps down as team's World Cup bid officially comes to an end

After successfully leading Scotland back to the World Cup, manager Steve Clarke is stepping down, the team announced Saturday.

Clarke, a former Scottish national team player who was hired as their new head coach in 2019, did not give a specific reason for his departure. However, his resignation came soon after Scotland was officially eliminated from the knockout round with Croatia's win over Ghana on Saturday.

Clark had signed an extension in May through the 2030 World Cup as a result of the momentum heading into this summer, but will now step down before the extension begins.

"In time I will be able to reflect on a tumultuous seven years but one element that has given me the greatest satisfaction is witnessing the reconnection of our national team and our fans," Clarke said in a lengthy statement released by the team. "The team were responsible for giving everyone the chance to create memories that will last a lifetime and I'm proud to have played a part in that."

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After thanking the rest of the staff and the Scottish federation, Clarke added a thank you to the players who have played under him.

"The most emotional part of this goodbye is for my players, without whom we wouldn't have had any of the memories that we've accumulated from 2019 until now," Clarke said. "They deserve all the praise and adulation that they receive and it was truly an honour to be called their Gaffer."

Clarke closed by wishing luck to his successor. Scotland has not indicated that said successor will be selected anytime soon.

Scotland's return to the World Cup came after an 28-year absence, with the team often struggling through the stacked European field during qualifying. Led by Clarke, though, Scotland was able to make its way back to the expanded tournament.

With the fun and well-traveling Tartan Army in the stands, Scotland opened the tournament on a high note with a 1-0 win over Haiti. However, the two games since were far more bleak: A 1-0 loss to Morocco and a 3-0 loss to Brazil on Wednesday sealed a disappointing third-place finish, with only one goal.

Scotland's path to the knockout round was more complicated than most, involving several teams not picking up any points in the final matchday. On Saturday, Croatia beating Ghana, who had already advanced to the next round. That was enough to boot the Scots from the top eight third-place finishers, which is the cutoff to advance to the Round of 32.