14 Jun 2026 A scrappy finish by John McGinn allowed Scotland to mark their return to the World Cup after a 28-year absence with a nervy 1-0 win over outsiders Haiti. Aston Villa captain McGinn fired in with the aid of a deflection just before the half-hour mark at the Gillette Stadium just outside Boston, which was filled to its 64,000 capacity with a majority of Scottish fans. They have travelled to the United States in large numbers to follow Scotland’s first World Cup campaign since 1998 and were able to celebrate a rare victory at the tournament as they go top of Group C. It is Scotland’s first win at a World Cup since a 2-1 defeat of Sweden in Italy in 1990, and their first victory at any major tournament in 30 years, since Euro 96. Steve Clarke’s team are bidding to make history by reaching the knockout stages, something Scotland have never done at the World Cup. They had to hang on grimly at the end, but the victory puts them on course to get to the last 32, especially as t...
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Napoli tipped for title after signing ‘beast’ Scott McTominay from Manchester United
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At least former Manchester United boss David Moyes can no longer be accused of presiding over the worst title defence in European football’s modern history.
After stepping into the shoes of Sir Alex Ferguson back in 2013, the traumatic nine-month reign of this doomed Scotsman saw the Red Devils go from first to seventh in the space of just one season.
But not even Moyes’ Manchester United fell quite so many places as Napoli did in 2023/24. From first, to 10th.
Runaway Scudetto winners last year, Napoli presided over a truly nightmarish title defence. Remarkably, almost half of Serie A will be represented in European competition this term but Napoli will not be among them.
The Partenopei went through three head coaches after their title-securing tactician Luciano Spalletti rode off into the sunset, while a dramatic loss of form and a very public breakdown in relations turned Victor Osimhen’s fairytale story into a tale more suited to the Brother’s Grimm back catalogue.
Antonio Conte, then, faces a challenge similar to the one Louis van Gaal inherited at Man United a decade ago.
Despite losing Osimhen to a loan spell at Galatasaray, the signing of a prolific Serie A goalscorer in Romelu Lukaku and two Scotland internationals in Billy Gilmour and Scott McTominay have Napoli supporters feeling cautiously optimistic again.
Much to Conte’s frustration, McTominay will have to wait until after the September international break to make his Napoli bow.
But, speaking to Radio Marte, one of the most experienced figures in Italian football feels that – after agreeing a £25 million deal for the Carrington graduate – Napoli can fight for the Scudetto again while reducing the staggering 41-point gap between themselves and last season’s champions Inter Milan.
“Can Napoli compete with Inter? Absolutely yes,” says Lo Monaco, who worked as a CEO at Genoa and as the director of football at Udinese amongst others.
“The blue club has put together a team worthy of Conte, significantly increasing their physical profile and signing McTominay, another beast who no one has seen yet.
“He is a natural midfielder. But, in the (Scottish) national team, he also played as a central defender and in Manchester even as an attacker, as well as a midfielder. He can score goals, he stretches the team, and provides phyiscality in the middle.
“It is an important signing.”
Carrington graduate the latest Scot in Serie A
Labelled a ‘stratospheric’ addition by some and a player capable of giving Napoli another dimension by others, McTominay’s departure from Man United divided many at Old Trafford.
Erik ten Hag confirmed that United were forced to sell due to those pesky Profit and Sustainability Rules, with McTominay now hoping to take his trademark brand of box-crashing to the Estadio Diego Armando Maradona while maintaining Italy’s recent Scottish success story.
McTominay and Gilmour are the latest Tartan talents to end up in Serie A, after Aaron Hickey, Lewis Ferguson, Josh Doig and more.
“McTominay and Gilmour? Those who come from the Premier League are used to living the week with great freedom, without ever letting themselves down on the pitch,” adds Carlo Jacomuzzi, the former Everton scout speaking to Punto Nuovo Sport.
“It’s a way of living the game very similar to Conte’s. They will do well.”
14 Jun 2026 A scrappy finish by John McGinn allowed Scotland to mark their return to the World Cup after a 28-year absence with a nervy 1-0 win over outsiders Haiti. Aston Villa captain McGinn fired in with the aid of a deflection just before the half-hour mark at the Gillette Stadium just outside Boston, which was filled to its 64,000 capacity with a majority of Scottish fans. They have travelled to the United States in large numbers to follow Scotland’s first World Cup campaign since 1998 and were able to celebrate a rare victory at the tournament as they go top of Group C. It is Scotland’s first win at a World Cup since a 2-1 defeat of Sweden in Italy in 1990, and their first victory at any major tournament in 30 years, since Euro 96. Steve Clarke’s team are bidding to make history by reaching the knockout stages, something Scotland have never done at the World Cup. They had to hang on grimly at the end, but the victory puts them on course to get to the last 32, especially as t...
The Italian media have had they say on Scott McTominay just four months after he joined Napoli from Manchester United. Despite protests from Erik ten Hag, McTominay left United to join Napoli over the summer for a fee of £25.4 million after the club decided to sell the academy player in order to comply with profit and sustainability rules. Since joining the Italian side, the Scotsman has established himself as a central part of the side, regularly receiving praise from his teammates and fans of the club. And now, four months into his tenure at the Serie A, the Italian media have made their feelings about the midfielder clear, branding him with a new nickname. According to The Daily Star, the Italian media have been greatly impressed with Napoli's great start to the 2024/25 season and have credited McTominay as a key factor in this. So much so, that they have taken to describing the 28-year-old as "new Napoli leader", as shown by how both players and staff swarmed him to c...
The hum of the Glasgow crowd had barely faded when the designers at the Bank of Scotland went to work. It was November 2025. Hampden Park had just witnessed history. With a thunderous strike in the dying minutes against Denmark, Scott McTominay had done the unthinkable—he had secured Scotland's spot in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. In the weeks that followed, the bank decided that a standard commemorative coin simply wouldn't do for a moment of this magnitude. They wanted something that captured the raw energy of Scottish football. They decided to print money. But it couldn't be just any money; it had to be impossibly rare. Only 100 notes would ever leave the printing presses. On May 25, 2026, the wraps were pulled off the design. The front of the crisp polymer £20 note looks familiar, bearing the traditional portrait of Sir Walter Scott. But flip it over, and the note transforms into a piece of modern Scottish folklore. Towering over the iconic Glenfinnan Viaduct is a vivid ill...
