LONDON.- The Scottish midfielder Scott McTominay He revealed this Tuesday that he had to undergo a cardiac arrest just two days before playing his team’s first match in the 2026 World Cup against Haiti.
It was initially believed that McTominay had missed training prior to the 1-0 victory over the Caribbean team, in Massachusetts, due to an upset stomach.
However, the player Naples29, confessed the real reason for his absence this Tuesday at a press conference in glasgowwithin the framework of the concentration of his selection for the European Nations League.
“I was 100% (fit), but obviously it’s not ideal when you’re sitting in a hospital bed two days before the first World Cup match about to be put to sleep, right?” he said.
“You’ve prepared so well, you were in such good shape, and all of a sudden something like this happens and you’re like, ‘How is this happening to me?’ It’s not an excuse at all, but it’s something you have to remember and say, ‘Well, it’s part of the process.'”
McTominay played in all three matches of Scotland in the World Cup, but did not perform at the highest level, and his team was eliminated in the group stage after losing against Morocco and Brazil.
The Scottish star returned to action for Napoli at the start of this season. After playing the first two games of the Series A, He spent September on the sidelines after undergoing corrective surgery.
McTominay underwent cardiac ablation in Manchester to treat a mild, benign cardiac arrhythmia.
This meant that he missed Scotland’s first four matches in the Nations League under the orders of the new coach, the Belgian Sebastien Pocognoli.
“I feel much better”
But he is back with his national team for the games against Macedonia and Swiss which will be played on Friday and Monday.
“I’m fine. I feel much, much better than before (…) I think it was something that had to be done,” he said.
“Obviously, it seems much worse to people in the media, family and friends who contact you after seeing news related to a heart problem than it is, but it was a relatively simple intervention that went very well.”
