Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Stunning John McGinn strike rescues 2-2 draw for Scotland in opening World Cup qualifier against Austria

John McGinn celebrates netting for Scotland against Austria.
John McGinn celebrates netting for Scotland against Austria.

Scotland opened their World Cup qualifying campaign with a potentially crucial 2-2 draw against Austria at Hampden Park.

All four goals came in the second half, with Sasa Kalajdzic seeing his early second half opener cancelled out by returning defender Grant Hanley.

Kalajdzic looked to have won the game for Austria with a second goal 11 minutes from time, however John McGinn secured a point for Steve Clarke’s men with a stunning overhead kick just six minutes later.

The point could be vital for the Scots, with Denmark opening their campaign with a 2-0 victory over Sunday’s opponents Israel.

Steve Clarke altered his side from their most recent outings in November, which most notably included the penalty shoot-out victory over Serbia that secured a place at this summer’s Euros.

Scott McTominay was moved out of defence into midfield to cover for Ryan Jack who was ruled out through injury, while Declan Gallagher was also left on the bench, with Hanley and Jack Hendry drafted into the backline.

Scott McTominay tussles with Austria’s Xaver Schlager

Austria made a bright start, threatening within the opening 90 seconds when Christoph Baumgartner teed up Sasa Kalajdzic to fire an effort wide from just inside the box.

The visitors had another attempt on five minutes, with Stefan Ilsanker nodding over a David Alaba corner.

Although Austria started on the front foot, the Scots succeeded in limiting much of their goal threat to efforts from distance, with David Marshall making smart saves to deny Baumgartner and Alaba from long-range.

Scotland’s attacking play improved as the first half went on, with Andy Robertson nodding over from a deep Ryan Christie delivery.

Stuart Armstrong saw two efforts from distance drift off target, however the Scots’ best chance of the first half fell to Christie three minutes before the break. Lyndon Dykes charged down a loose pass by Alexander Schlager but the angle did not present itself for him to shoot, instead setting up Christie for a low right-footed drive, however the goalkeeper redeemed himself by saving with his legs.

Ryan Christie is denied by Austria goalkeeper Alexander Schlager

Schlager was called into action again on the stroke of half-time, comfortably saving another Christie effort after McTominay had laid an Armstrong free-kick into his path.

Austria once again made a promising start to the second half, and they were rewarded with the lead on 55 minutes. A powerful Florian Grillitsch effort was palmed away by Marshall, but only as far as Kalajdzic who slotted home from close-range.

Scotland responded strongly however, and looked to be denied a stonewall penalty within 60 seconds of going behind, with Ilsanker bundling Christie to the ground as he looked to meet Stephen O’Donnell’s delivery.

Armstrong was next to threaten for the Scots shortly before being replaced by debutant Che Adams, with the midfielder drilling inches wide from a tight angle after cutting in from the left.

Scotland survived a let-off when Kalajdzic nodded home a delivery from Alaba, but was softly penalised for a foul on Kieran Tierney.

The home side levelled on 71 minutes however, with O’Donnell’s free-kick finding Hanley who thumped a header past the outstretched Schlager.

Grant Hanley nets the equaliser for Scotland against Austria

Austria looked to have secured the victory on 79 minutes when Kalajdzic nodded home a Stefan Lainer delivery.

McGinn ensured the home side were not left empty-handed however, directing a stunning overhead kick past Schlager after Christie had nodded the ball into his path following a corner.