Scotland captain Caroline Weir has insisted she would gladly trade her individual accolades, including back-to-back Women's Ballon d'Or nominations, to help her country qualify for the World Cup. Speaking at St Mirren Park, the 31-year-old midfielder made it clear that personal prestige cannot compare to international achievement, stressing that all individual honours mean nothing if the national side fail to reach the tournament in Brazil.
Weir was selected for the prestigious 30-player shortlist following a remarkable year for club and country. Having left Real Madrid as the Spanish side's all-time top goalscorer to sign with eight-time European champions Lyon, she also scored 11 goals for Scotland in a single year, which included three hat-tricks. Despite her historic standing as the first Scottish woman to be nominated for the Ballon d'Or—an honour she first received alongside Scott McTominay during her comeback from an ACL injury—she downplayed the recognition as subjective, admitting, "Yeah, it's cool, I guess."
Her international teammates have nevertheless made sure to celebrate the achievement, with close friends Erin Cuthbert and Claire Emslie presenting her with a commemorative shirt during camp. Weir was quick to redirect the focus to Emslie, who earned her 75th cap and recently scored her first goal since becoming a mother, labeling her an inspiration. Weir is currently working her way back from an injury sustained during the warm-up of Scotland's World Cup play-off second leg against the Czech Republic, which had already cast doubt over whether she would attend the London Palladium ceremony ahead of Lyon's Champions League meeting with Inter Milan.
Scotland's path to the World Cup now runs through a play-off tie against back-to-back tournament semi-finalists Sweden. Weir, who experienced the heartbreak of missing out on Euro 2025 in Helsinki under manager Pedro Martinez Losa, remains singularly focused on helping the Scots return to the biggest stage. She affirmed that navigating past Sweden is her biggest objective, declaring: "I want to be at a World Cup, I want Scotland to be at a World Cup. I'd swap everything, nominations, goals, for this team to get to a World Cup and that's all I can really think about."