McGinn fumes as VAR denies Scotland a penalty

McGinn denied – John McGinn insists he was “100-per-cent” denied a penalty when Scotland were beaten 1-0 by Morocco in Boston, with VAR Armando Villarreal refusing to intervene after Neil El Aynaoui took him out. The Aston Villa midfielder says the result leaves Scotland need

John McGinn didn’t have to search his memory for the moment—he’s convinced he knows exactly what went wrong.

Scotland. trailing Morocco 1-0 in Boston. were searching for a lift in the early stages of the second half when McGinn drove into the challenge with Neil El Aynaoui. The Aston Villa midfielder knocked the ball past the Moroccan and appeared clearly impeded before going down. Around him, a cluster of dark blue jerseys hovered—yet the Uzbek referee, Ilgiz Tantashev, was unmoved.

VAR Armando Villarreal also did not step in.

Steve Clarke’s side had already paid a brutal price for that start. With slack defending allowing Ismael Saibari to score the fastest goal of the tournament. Scotland were left chasing a point from the moment the game began. By the time the penalty incident came around. the decision felt even heavier—especially after Scotland’s growing push in the second half.

“It’s a penalty, 100 per cent,” McGinn said. “When a defender is running at full speed to try and win the ball, misses it and takes you out – it’s a foul anywhere else on the pitch. Nine times out of 10 you get a penalty for that, but we don’t make the decisions.”

McGinn added that watching the replay has only sharpened his belief. “It’s one that hurts us. I felt at the time it was a penalty and I’ve watched it back.”

He also described the logic of the challenge in plain terms: “If you beat him, knock the ball past him and he takes you out, it’s a penalty.”

The frustration is wrapped up in what still hasn’t been shown to him. “I haven’t seen any footage yet where he touches the ball. It’s something we’ve just got to accept.”

McGinn pointed out that another appeal may have existed—though he hasn’t revisited it. “I think (Scott) McTominay had another shout, but I’ve not seen that back yet.”

At international level. the margins are merciless. and McGinn believes Scotland were denied one of those margins on a night where breaks mattered. “At this level. when you’re competing against a team in the top 10 in the world. you need the breaks to go your way and in your favour. On Friday night, they didn’t.”.

There was another side to the feeling too. Scotland came into the match having failed to build on the three points they took from Haiti in the opening match, and the early blow could easily have left them wobbling. Instead, McGinn said the response gave the squad something to cling to.

“Everyone would have thought it would be easy for us to collapse against Morocco after conceding the early goal,” he said. “But we’re a resolute group. What we lack sometimes in quality against the top teams, we have in fight and character.”

He also argued for balance rather than reckless aggression. “You need to get the balance right. If you go gung-ho against teams, they can pick you off at the top level.”

McGinn felt Scotland found that balance against Morocco, even while acknowledging how the discussion will likely go in hindsight. “I felt we got the balance right against Morocco. People will have the opinion that we should have gone gung-ho earlier. But if you’re sat with a 3-0 defeat, you’re probably thinking otherwise.”.

He admitted the pain of losing and singled out the start as “really poor.” “My feelings are a bit mixed, really. I’m disappointed to lose and it was a really poor start from us. But the second half was much more of what you want to see from a Scotland team.”

On the night they ultimately fell short, he believes the margins could have swung the other way. “And on another night, because the margins are so fine, we could have nicked a 1-1.”

Scotland now sit with three points and a level goal difference going into their final Group C game against Brazil in Miami on Wednesday. The qualification picture is tight: the eight best third-placed teams from the 12 groups progress, alongside the winners and runners-up.

Even with that pressure, McGinn insisted Scotland will not treat Brazil as a calculator exercise. “It’s important not to get ourselves into that mindset. We’re not going into games trying to lose by one game and sneak our way through.”

He pointed to the second half against Morocco as evidence Scotland can press and unsettle teams. “We feel we’ve got enough quality to go through the proper way and against Morocco we showed we can compete with the teams in the top 10.”

Brazil, he expects, will be a different kind of challenge. “Brazil will be a different game. They play with less structure, but they’ve got quality that can hurt you.”

McGinn’s message for Wednesday is direct: “We’ll need to be at our best. We know what we have to do to reach the next round and we’ll try to do that. We have to attack Brazil.”

He believes Scotland showed a workable route in their pursuit against Morocco. “The second half showed that when we get after teams, no-one likes being under that pressure.”

And he closed by drawing on the same idea Scotland tried to apply during that comeback push: if the top teams can be pressured and mistakes come. then Scotland have to keep doing the same. “Even players at the top level make mistakes. They (Morocco) were making mistakes towards the end, so we have to go about it the same way.”.

John McGinn Scotland Morocco Neil El Aynaoui Ilgiz Tantashev Armando Villarreal VAR Steve Clarke Ismael Saibari Scott McTominay Brazil Miami Group C penalty appeal