Ex-Celtic trio named alongside Scotland captain as World Cup's best pundits but Hoops legend lands low score

A number of popular names across the world of Scottish football were included as part of the BBC and ITV’s list of pundits for the five-week tournament, which ended with Spain being crowned champions for the second time in their history following a deserved 1-0 victory over Argentina at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday night.

While current United States Women's head coach Emma Hayes and ex-Arsenal and England striker Ian Wright landed the top two spots in the list, the rest of the top ten was littered with several former Celtic icons, with former Parkhead boss Ange Postecoglou ranked in third place.

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Appointed as manager of Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr during the summer, the 60-year-old was a popular choice amongst viewers during his time on screen, and was labelled as “knowledgeable and likeable” by FourFourTwo magazine, praised for his attention to detail and unique ability to give in-depth analysis of the highest ranked nations and so-called minnows at the tournament, due to his time spent in the the Japanese, English, Scottish, and of course Australia, top flight.

Ranking just one place below him was former Celtic and Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane at number four. Hailed for his “mischievous” sense of humour and dubbed as “the anti-Ian Wright”, he landed fourth spot by virtue of being the unrivalled king of “wry one-line putdowns”.

Ex-Celtic goalkeeper Joe Hart, who was on pundit duty at a World Cup for the first time since bringing down the curtain on his career at Parkhead in May 2024, landed sixth place. Lauded for his unique analysis on goalkeepers at the tournament, he was described as a detailed all-rounder and one of the best of the high-profile BBC pundits at this World Cup.

The second-highest ranking women’s pundit behind Hayes was legendary former Scotland captain Rachel Corsie, who took eighth spot in the list. “On a relatively unglamorous fixture, she will have done her homework immaculately,” wrote FourFourTwo, adding that the ex-Aston Villa Women player had provided outstanding punditry regarding tactics, the role of analytics, and fitness. She was also touted as a potential host of the future due to her “assuredness”.

Sadly, the tournament wasn’t quite as successful for Scotland’s other representatives, with Duncan Ferguson and Scott Brown ranked in 20th and 28th out of the total list of 29 pundits. The magazine stated that Brown was “often insightful and straightforwardly honest when covering Scotland in the group stage, as you might expect, but has been of limited utility to the BBC beyond that”, adding that “the main revelation really is that he has a fine head of hair and that his decision to go full skinhead during his Celtic days was an active choice - which, to be fair, is in keeping with how he played.”

The full list can be viewed here.