Ben Gannon-Doak reveals World Cup motivation got him back on track

Ben Gannon-Doak revealed a “rollercoaster” build-up to the 2026 World Cup but is adamant his fitness was never in doubt.

The 20-year-old Bournemouth winger’s cross allowed midfielder Scott McTominay to execute his overhead kick which started the thrilling 4-2 win over Denmark at Barclays Hampden last November which qualified the Scots to the finals for the first time since 1998.

Amid an exhilarating night in the south side of Glasgow, Gannon-Doak sustained a serious hamstring injury which kept him out until March when he returned off the bench with minutes remaining in a 2-2 Premier League draw against Manchester United.

Another three substitute appearances came before starts in both Scotland’s warm-up games against Curacao and Bolivia, as well as the World Cup opener against Haiti at the Boston Stadium on Saturday where he was involved in John McGinn’s first-half goal which turned out to be the winner.

Ahead of the second fixture against Morocco at the same stadium on Friday night, Gannon-Doak said: “It has been a bit of a rollercoaster. It starts off on such a high when we win that (Denmark) game and all concern about injuries flies out the window.

“Then you come down from that and find out the news that you need an operation and you can’t walk for a couple of weeks and when you can walk you realise it is only going to get harder.

“So it has been very up and down but the motivation of wanting to be here made life a whole lot easier because I had something to work towards.

“The only thing that would have stopped me being here was if I had a major, major set-back.

“I was always due to be back in training a few months in advance and if I could get a few appearances off the bench that would be a bonus.

“I was lucky enough to get off the bench and play some significant minutes before the season ended and it left me in good stead.”

Gannon-Doak soon became a favourite with the Tartan Army after making his Scotland debut in September 2024, as a substitute in a 3–2 defeat to Poland.

Thousands of travelling Scotland fans roared with approval during his impressive performance against Haiti.

The former Celtic and Liverpool player recalled a much quieter time in his football life, when he was sharing a lift to training with Scotland team-mate Aaron Hickey, when they both were coming through the Parkhead Academy and attended St Ninian’s High School in Kirkintilloch.

He said: “Aaron’s a wee bit older than me but we went to school together, we were in the same lift to school together and obviously he left for Hearts and done as well as he done.

“I was getting up at five in the morning to train at school so silence. Not a lot of chat going on at that time in the morning before school.

“The first time we were in a squad together, it was a bit surreal.

“I loved every minute of it. As I have said many times, I love playing football, whether that is at school training in the morning or whether that is in a Scotland shirt. Every bit of it is worth it.”