John Swinney picks favourite Scotland goal from World Cup qualifier

John Swinney has named his goal of the match after Scotland’s 4-2 win over Denmark.

The Hampden showdown saw Scotland qualify for the World Cup for the first time in the history of the Scottish Parliament.

The first minister was at the national stadium for the Tuesday evening fixture and headed to London for an event with the Institute for Government the day after.

Speaking at the event, he said the “colossal” TV audience for the match “makes the case for free-to-air sport”and was asked which was his favourite of Scotland’s four goals.

The first saw Ballon d’Or nominee Scott McTominay take Scotland ahead with a bicycle kick after just three minutes before Denmark drew level. The second close-range effort by Lawrence Shankland briefly restored the lead before another Danish equaliser.

Three minutes into injury time, Kieran Tierney seemed to have clinched the winner, before teammate Kenny McLean sent the ball soaring into the net from inside his own half moments ahead of the final whistle.

Asked for his favourite of the goals, Swinney said: “I think it has to be the last goal, kicked from the halfway line by Kenny McLean, for sheer audacity.”

Social media was awash with memes as Scotland fans celebrated. Swinney said “the funniest thing” he had seen was in reference to McTominay’s goal, telling the audience: “I saw him scoring a not dissimilar goal for Napoli some months ago, and somebody has taken that picture – and it's an epic picture of Scott McTominay in mid-air with his leg stretched up and the ball just going in the net – and has put it in an elegant frame and said this should be shown in the National Gallery of Scotland as an artistic exhibit.”

Swinney wasn’t the only politician to give his take on the outcome of the match, with Labour MP Graeme Downie tweeting: “Scotland only qualifies for World Cup under Labour governments.”