Scotland beat Haiti 1-0 to mark a winning return to the World Cup

Image
 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...

Scott McTominay has Napoli 'goals in his blood' as Di Canio blasts Ten Hag for expensive downgrade

Antonio Conte bigged up his new Scottish signing following a 2-0 Serie A win over Monza

Scott McTominay has "goals in his blood" according to Antonio Conte.

The Napoli star has hit the ground running since making the switch to Serie A from Manchester United. McTominay scored his first goal for the Neapolitans in last week's Coppa Italia win over Palermo and started Sunday night's 2-0 league triumph over Monza.

After topping the Scotland scoring charts for Euro 2024 qualification and netting our only goal during a miserable fianls experience, McTominay was back on target for his country in the Nations League with a fine header to put Steve Clarke's men 1-0 up in Lisbon before a second half turn around capped by a late Ronaldo winner. And Napoli boss Antonio Conte reckons goalscoring is part of his new midfielder's DNA. "Scott is a player who has goals in his blood; he’s very good at making runs into the box," he said. "He has excellent technical qualities, as well as an important physical stature. And he’s strong in the air. In his DNA, he has quite a few goals.”

Meanwhile, former Celtic hero Paolo Di Canio admits he can't believe Manchester United sold Scotland star Scott McTominay for £30 million....and paid £50 million for Manuel Ugarte. Di Canio - who made quite an impact during his year at Parkhead in season 1996/97 and is now an Italian TV pundit - can't believe United's hapless under-pressure Dutch boss Erik ten Hag sanctioned the sale and paid almost double McTominay's fee for Uruguayan flop Ugarte.

He said: "How can you sell Scott McTominay for £30 million and sign Ugarte for £50 million? He is used to Lisbon. He was excellent there for two years, but the Premier League is another thing. In Manchester, it was 10 degrees, it's been raining for ten days, in Lisbon it's 25. The truth is that Ten Hag doesn't like British players, he doesn't buy any British players. Last year he bought Rasmus Hojlund, this season Joshua Zirkzee, who has a physicality that works well in Italy.

"Tottenham instead bought Dominic Solanke, who is a good player, nothing sensational but a good player. I'm sorry to see ten Hag in great difficulty, but he hasn't learned anything from these two years. When they concede a goal, they don't react, nobody raises their heads, nobody talks to each other."

Popular posts from this blog

Scotland beat Haiti 1-0 to mark a winning return to the World Cup

Image
 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...
Read more

Italian media make their feelings clear on Scott McTominay with new nickname for Napoli midfielder after four months in Serie A

Image
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...
Read more

Bank of Scotland unveils limited edition £20 banknote featuring Scott McTominay

Image
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...
Read more