World Cup 2026: Referee’s explanation for rejecting John McGinn penalty revealed

Former Scotland winger Neil McCann agreed.

“I think the McGinn one is a penalty and the McTominay one isn’t,” the Kilmarnock manager said.

“The McGinn one, we’ve done it as players. He is understanding that he [El Aynaoui] is coming from the side and he knows he just has to take it across him and take the contact.

“Granted, it is not a clean-out job, but there’s enough contact on his hip to put him out.”

McCann and Stephen McGinn, meanwhile, both thought the Uzbek referee should have sent off defender Issa Diop for a last-man challenge on Scotland striker Che Adams.

“It is absolutely a red card for me,” McCann said. “There’s no covering defender, it’s a clip, so it’s not as if it is a ball that’s travelling.

“It is not a natural collision or an accidental pull-down. He’s pulled him down. Che Adams got goal side.

“I can’t believe he wasn’t brought to the [VAR] monitor.

“Somebody said behind me ‘he’s quite far out’, but we had guys being sent off in the opposition half in the Premiership and I think we all work under the same laws of the game.

“But that is not far out and Che Adams is completely getting on the ball, otherwise why is the yellow card brandished?”

McGinn was of the same mind and added: “The way our league became last season, that’s an absolute stonewall red card.”