Scotland have been branded “unprofessional” and “weak” for cancelling a training-ground friendly against Norway ahead of the World Cup.

Head coach Stale Solbakken and team manager Brede Hangeland made those comments in the aftermath of Norway’s 1-1 draw with Morocco on Sunday.

Brahim Diaz put Morocco ahead in the eighth minute at Sports Illustrated Stadium in New Jersey, but Martin Odegaard equalised 15 minutes from time for Norway.

That was Norway’s final public friendly ahead of their Group I opener against Iraq, which takes place on June 16, though they were due to face Scotland behind closed doors on Monday, with both teams being based in North Carolina.

However, the Norwegian Football Federation announced on Sunday that the game had been called off, prompting Solbakken to deviate from his plan to rotate more heavily against Morocco.

Scotland boss Steve Clarke subsequently said the game “wasn’t worth the risk” after a couple of his players sustained injuries, but senior figures in the Norway camp were not convinced by that argument.

“It is unprofessional of Scotland,” Solbakken said. “It is unprofessional that the coach has not called me, that they use the team manager and call and say it after we have finished training.

“I don’t think the injuries they’re blaming came from the last training session. That’s not the case. It’s disappointing. It’s unprofessional.

“But we have to live with that. That’s why we adjusted a bit in the game.”

Dette sa Ståle etter uavgjort mot Marokko pic.twitter.com/FNpGRzOFSU

— Fotballandslaget (@nff_landslag) June 7, 2026

Former Fulham centre-back Hangeland echoed those sentiments, saying: “It is embarrassing to cancel it a couple of days before. 

“We can’t do anything about it. We just have to forget about it and make the best of it. 

“But there has been a lot of organisation, agreements and gentlemen’s agreements and then suddenly they don’t want to. I think that was weak, so to speak.”

Norway also take on Senegal and France in the group stage, while Scotland face Haiti in their first Group C match on June 13.