McGinn defends Scotland after Norway blast cancelled friendly as 'weak' and 'unprofessional'

John McGinn has pushed back against Norwegian criticism of Scotland after the Scots withdrew from a planned behind-closed-doors friendly at their Charlotte training base just two days before it was due to take place on Monday night.

Norway’s football operations chief Brede Hangeland — the former Fulham defender who helped arrange the fixture alongside Scottish FA counterpart Michael Hughes — did not hold back in his condemnation. “We have been working on that match for many months. It is embarrassing to cancel it a couple of days before,” Hangeland said. “Everything was clarified in a so-called gentlemen’s agreement. So I don’t think it was particularly gentlemanly to cancel on such short notice. That was very weak.”

Atlético Madrid striker Alexander Sørloth went further, calling the withdrawal “a real shame and quite unprofessional of Scotland.”

McGinn, however, argued that Norway would have made the same call in Scotland’s position. “Our job is to look after Scotland. Norway’s job is to look after Norway,” the Aston Villa midfielder said. “If they’ve done their research, we lost a very important part of the squad very, very close to this camp. It had a huge impact on everyone. We didn’t want to lose another.”

The Scottish FA subsequently released a statement expressing “regret” over the cancellation, explaining that the risk of further injuries outweighed the preparatory value of the game. “We have had some injuries during our previous friendlies and when it became apparent that a training game would bring greater risk than potential preparatory reward, we alerted the Norway team manager as soon as possible,” the statement read.

The SFA also noted that the fixture had never been publicly announced, and said they were “surprised when news of the game broke via Norwegian media.”

The decision to cancel was taken by senior administrative figures at both associations rather than the respective team managers. Both Scotland and Norway are preparing for their first World Cup appearances in more than two decades, with the 2026 tournament in the United States, Canada, and Mexico on the horizon.