On a historic night for Scottish football that ended what will be come next summer a 28-year absence from the World Cup, Scott McTominay scored the best goal of his career by launching himself into the air to set the tone for a crunch qualifier against Denmark in Glasgow. The Napoli midfielder and reigning Serie A Player of the Year is having the time of his life for both club and country right now.
McTominay gets the party started at Hampden Park
Scotland knew that a win over Denmark at Hampden Park would secure them World Cup qualification for the first time this century, since 1998. McTominay could hardly have given Steve Clarke's side a better start, acrobatically putting his country into the lead in the third minute. Ben Gannon-Doak's cross was so inviting for the overhead kick, reminiscent of Cristiano Ronaldo in the Champions League for Real Madrid against Juventus in 2018, that McTominay soared into the air and lashed the ball into the net.
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Scotland qualify for the 2026 World Cup
The game was far from over, though. Denmark equalised just shy of the hour mark through Rasmus Hojlund, McTominay's Napoli team-mate and former Manchester United colleague, from the penalty spot. A draw wouldn't have been enough for Scotland to qualify automatically, with a point all that Denmark needed to book their place instead. So, the Scots were buoyed when, after Rasmus Kristensen was sent off, substitute Lawrence Shankland restored the lead. But another Danish equaliser came almost immediately courtesy of Patrick Dorgu that threatened to shunt Scotland into the play-offs. Yet when Kieran Tierney restored the Scottish lead for the third time and then Kenny McLean, who'd replaced the injured Gannon-Doak in the first half, added a fourth goal, it was pandemonium.
Getty Images SportMcTominay for the Puskas Award?
Having missed the cut-off date for 2025, which passed in August, McTominay has given himself an early chance of winning the 2026 Puskas Award. It is the prize given to the scorer of the most beautiful goal each year, and McTominay’s effort has added meaning and symbolism because of its setting and context, as well as being an absolute banger of a strike.
He, of course, faces immediate competition from Tottenham Hotspur defender Micky van de Ven, whose recent Champions League goal is also already earmarked as a contender in 2026. The Dutch centre-back ran pretty much the length of the pitch at searing pace against Copenhagen, before finishing with aplomb. It mirrored a previous Puskas Award-winning strike from Son Heung-min, so there is precedent for solo efforts getting the required votes.
But who can argue against an overhead kick?