The Scotland national football team defeated Denmark national football team 4–2 on November 19 in the sixth and final match of Group C in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, finishing the group as leaders. Scotland topped the group with 13 points from four wins, one draw, and one defeat, finishing two points ahead of Denmark and securing a World Cup berth for the first time since 1998. While Turkey has yet to qualify, Scotland has already booked its place at the 2026 World Cup.
Is Scotland an independent state if it participates in the FIFA World Cup? No, Scotland is not an independent state. It is one of the four constituent countries that make up the United Kingdom, alongside England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. With this in mind, it is worth revisiting a recent moment in history, 2014.
On September 18, 2014, the people of Scotland went to the polls for an independence referendum held on the basis of an agreement signed between Scotland and the United Kingdom on October 15, 2012. Eighty-five percent of eligible voters cast ballots. Of those who voted, 55 percent favored maintaining the existing legal relationship with the United Kingdom, while 45 percent supported independence. In the years since, demands for an independent state have persisted. Yet despite the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union, Scotland remains within the United Kingdom. With this historical backdrop in mind, it is worth taking a closer look at the nature of this relationship.
Integration into the United Kingdom
The history of confrontation between the Scots and the English dates back to the thirteenth century. From the twelfth century onward, as the English expanded their military, economic, and demographic dominance, they began advancing first toward the western and then the northern parts of the island. Their initial target was Wales, which was occupied by the English administration in the thirteenth century. After Wales, the English turned their attention northward, setting their sights on Scotland. Following prolonged wars, the power struggle that emerged after the death of Scottish King Alexander III marked a critical turning point for Scotland when arbitration was sought from England’s King Edward I. Edward I appointed John de Balliol, whom he regarded as close to his own interests, as king. Over time, Scottish nobles, covertly or openly, collaborated with the English. In Scotland, where lineage, inheritance, and struggles for power repeatedly drew English intervention as arbiters, an ordinance titled the Union of Crowns was signed with England on April 5, 1603, legally binding Scotland to what would become the United Kingdom. After three decades marked by renewed wars, occupations, and power struggles, a union agreement known as the Act of Union was signed in 1702. In 1707, Scotland and England became a single kingdom with a single parliament. From that point on, the authorities of both countries were consolidated under the parliament in London (Westminster). Under the agreement, Scottish law and courts were preserved, while Scotland was granted limited representation in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, forty-five elected representatives and sixteen lords. Separate statutes appended to the treaty ensured protection against change for the Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the Episcopal Church of England. This system was maintained with certain modifications. In the late twentieth century, the United Kingdom underwent a process known as devolution, through which specific powers were transferred to the governments of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. These regions were permitted to manage certain aspects of domestic affairs such as education, health, and transportation, while areas including defense and foreign policy were designated to remain under the control of the United Kingdom government.
Constitutional transformation
The United Kingdom, composed of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, is governed by a system often described as an uncodified constitution, meaning it does not have a single written constitutional text. In this constitutional order, shaped by statutes, conventions, and judicial precedents, the status of each constituent country is determined by legislation with constitutional character. The relationship between the United Kingdom and Scotland is structured around a devolution-based administrative and constitutional framework within a unitary yet multinational state. Although the United Kingdom is not a federal state, it applies an asymmetric devolution model, under which the powers and institutions of each country differ. Scotland’s status is regulated by the Scotland Act, a statute of constitutional significance. In the 1997 referendum, 74 percent of voters in Scotland supported the establishment of a Scottish Parliament. The Scotland Act was subsequently adopted in 1998. The Scottish Parliament consists of 129 members: 73 constituency members and 56 regional members elected under the additional member system. The largest party or parties form the Executive.
Transferred powers
Although certain amendments were introduced to the Scotland Act in 2004 and 2016, extensive powers were devolved to Scotland. Areas such as education, health services, the justice system and policing, local government, agriculture, fisheries, the environment, transportation, and aspects of domestic economic policy were transferred to the authority of the Scottish Parliament. Criminal and civil law were also included among the devolved powers. Scotland has a legal system entirely separate from that of England. Even under the 1702 agreement, the legal system had not been interfered with. Scotland remains the only country within the United Kingdom to possess a distinct and autonomous legal system. In overarching matters such as constitutional law and foreign policy, however, the United Kingdom Supreme Court serves as the highest authority. In addition, fiscal powers were further expanded under the 2016 arrangements. A significant portion of income tax authority was transferred, allowing Scotland to determine key aspects of income taxation independently.
The convention of consent
In the United Kingdom, the areas of responsibility of the central government are defined as “reserved,” while those of the Scottish government are classified as “devolved.” Accordingly, the Scottish Parliament cannot legislate beyond the scope of devolved responsibilities. At the same time, a long-standing constitutional convention holds that when the United Kingdom government introduces legislation that may affect devolved matters, it seeks the consent of the Scottish Parliament.
The relationship between Scotland and the United Kingdom is based on a model of devolution within a unitary state, one that constitutionally recognizes broad autonomy while leaving ultimate sovereignty with Westminster. Scotland possesses strong administrative and legal autonomy; however, constitutional sovereignty remains vested in the United Kingdom, exercised through the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
How close is Turkey?
Can the Republic of Turkey, which treats even the demand for decentralization in Northern and Eastern Syria as a “security threat”, view the legal and political relationship between Scotland and the United Kingdom as a model for resolving the Kurdish question?