From being a “leftover” at Man United, midfielder Scott McTominay has surpassed both Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Kane as the top scorer in Euro 2024 qualifying up to this point. The 26-year-old player helped Scotland defeat host Cyprus 3-0 to maintain a consecutive winning streak of 5 in Group A and get very close to qualifying for the tournament in Germany next year.
McTominay continued his incredible scoring streak by opening the score for the away team in the 6th minute, also scoring his 6th personal goal after 5 Euro 2024 qualifying matches. The Man United midfielder has a record of scoring. equal with his new teammate at the club, striker Rasmus Hojlund of Denmark, and his former teammate at the club, Romelu Lukaku of Belgium. While Ronaldo and Kane each scored 5 goals.
But McTominay was the player who was involved in more goals than anyone in qualifying, adding an assist. The midfielder credited coach Steve Clarke for his goalscoring achievements: “The coach gave me a lot of freedom to get into the box and encouraged me to score. He showed a lot of faith in me and I just wanted to repay him. I just want to make everyone in Scotland happy, that’s my job and the team’s job, and I think we’re doing a good job of that at the moment.”
After McTominay opened the scoring at AEK Arena, defender Ryan Porteous doubled the gap in the 16th minute. John McGinn scored the winning goal in the 30th minute. Scotland won the maximum 15 points after 5 consecutive wins. Spain, who won 7-1 against Georgia on Friday, are second with six points (but are playing two fewer games than Scotland), followed by Norway and Georgia – with the same four points after four matches. With this development in the group with 5 teams, Scotland needs 2 more points to ensure participation in the final round to be held in Germany. Scotland will even qualify without breaking a sweat if Norway and Georgia draw on Tuesday.
In the remaining developments, an inspired Spain defeated host Georgia 7-1 on the day striker Alvaro Morata scored a hat-trick, and Barcelona’s “prodigy” Lamine Yamal became the scorer and Youngest Spanish player ever.
In the 44th minute, Yamal, 16 and 57 days old, became the youngest Spanish international after coming on to replace the injured Marco Asensio. In the 74th minute, Barcelona’s talent scored the winning goal 7-1 and also broke La Roja’s record for being the youngest-ever scorer.
Before that, Spain soon created a gap when Morata scored a header in the 22nd minute, and defender Solomon Kvirkvelia scored an own goal 5 minutes later. Dani Olmo and Morata once again increased their advantage with neat finishes before the break. Host Georgia scored a consolation goal in the 49th minute thanks to a mistake by Spanish goalkeeper Unai Simon. But Morata and substitute Nico Williams added goals for the visitors, with two strikes within two minutes.
