Robertson and Alaba bond over World Cup pain as Liverpool star reveals he disconnected

Andrew Robertson found the World Cup a huge disappointment after Scotland failed to qualify, as the Liverpool star admitted the tournament was "biting" him.

The Scotland captain has revealed he bonded with Real Madrid's David Alaba when they recently met by chance on vacation, with neither man on duty in Qatar while his team-mates battled it out for glory.

Alaba missed Austria after a loss to Wales in the first round of the UEFA play-offs, with Scotland following suit after losing to Ukraine.

Robertson says hosting the World Cup in recent weeks has been 'difficult', given his role as captain of his country, and initially he 'didn't really look at it' .

He said he wished nothing but the best for his Liverpool team-mates who still had a chance of reaching the final on December 18 and that he had started watching games in recent days.

"For Scotland it's obviously difficult," added Robertson. "We think we should have been there, but we didn't play like we did in the play-offs, which was disappointing from our perspective, and we have to deal with it."

At the age of 28, Robertson knows time is running out when it comes to his chances of ever making it to the World Cup stage.

He won almost everything at club level with Liverpool, but success in international football will be hard to come by. Scotland are ranked 40th by FIFA, so they should at least have a better chance of reaching the 2026 World Cup, when the tournament expands from 32 to 48 teams.

"When I went on holiday I ran into David Alaba and he's in a similar boat obviously playing with Austria," Robertson told Liverpool's official website.

Like Robertson, Alaba leads his national team. The next time the two men meet, they will be in the Champions League Round of 16 between their respective sides.

“He said he had been a few euros, but he had never been to a World Cup,” Robertson said. "We were both talking about how we got on a bit, so the chances of us qualifying are running out."

Robertson sees the World Cup as "a massive, massive thing" that he wants to experience. Scotland qualified for the Euro 2020 final, but their last World Cup trip was to France 98, when Robertson was four.

"The World Cup is the one that bites me," said the left-back. “I will definitely get another chance – maybe two, let's see. It's something you want to achieve and want to be a part of, and going forward, that's definitely one of my goals."

Liverpool's sketchy start to the Premier League season means they have some catching up to do when the campaign resumes for the Reds on December 26, with a trip to Aston Villa.

Just six wins from 14 games has left Liverpool sixth in the table, although they enter the World Cup break in style after back-to-back wins over Tottenham and Southampton.

Robertson said: "We have no time to lose, the start of the season has not been what we wanted. It's far from the standards the fans are used to for us, so it's important when we come back, we try to be on track because that's all we can do."

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp received a boost when winger Luis Diaz returned to training at the club's camp in Dubai on Tuesday, with the Colombian fit again after recovering from a a knee injury.