John McGinn: Aston Villa star becomes Scotland history-maker vs Haiti

John McGinn was the man of the moment for Scotland against Haiti, as the Aston Villa star got the Tartan Army's World Cup campaign off to a winning start.

The 31-year-old is coming off one of the best seasons of his career for Aston Villa in 2025-26, scoring 10 times and providing seven assists.

He played a huge part in Villa's Europa League-winning campaign, and is showing no signs of slowing down.

During the early hours of Sunday morning UK time, McGinn earned his 87th Scotland cap as Steve Clarke's side kick-started their World Cup journey.

In a group with Morocco and Brazil, Scotland knew that they had to beat Haiti in their opening game to probably stand any realistic chance of progression.

Boston was the location for the Tartan Army's clash with Sebastien Migne's men, and those Scotland fans who stayed up into the early hours were rewarded.

How did John McGinn fare for Scotland vs Haiti?

Getting the nod to start the game on the left side of midfield, McGinn forms part of Scotland's veteran core in Clarke's team.

Despite Haiti being the weakest side in the group on paper, they weren't going to make things easy for the Scots.

Indeed, they enjoyed 54 per cent of the possession and took 15 shots on goal compared to Scotland's nine, but the Haitians didn't come out on top in the most important stat: the scoreline.

That's because McGinn's 29th-minute goal was all that Scotland required to take the win, running out 1-0 victors over Haiti.

His deflected left-footed effort gave Johny Placide absolutely no chance in the Haiti goal, and it was a strike that sealed McGinn's place in Scotland history too.

Indeed, the Villa star has now become Scotland's oldest ever player to score in a World Cup finals at 31 years and 238 days old, taking that title from Kenny Dalglish.

As per FotMob, McGinn completed 91 per cent of his pass attempts successfully, as well as creating one chance and taking two shots on goal.

Meanwhile, he also missed one big chance, completed his lone dribble attempt successfully, played two passes into the final third and made one recovery.

On top of that, McGinn won six of his nine ground duels and his lone aerial duel respectively, whilst also winning five fouls and committing zero himself.

When are Scotland and McGinn next in action?

Scotland had to ride their luck at times against Haiti, but tournament football - and especially in the first group game - is all about winning.

That's what Clarke's side have done, and thanks to Brazil and Morocco playing out a 1-1 draw before their match, it means the Scots sit top of Group C.

As such, they'll now know that if they can get just a single point from their two remaining matches, then at worst they're sure to progress as one of the best third-placed teams.

Scotland's next game is against Morocco on Friday 19 June, which gets under way at 11pm UK time and is available to UK viewers on ITV1/ITVX.