Ten-man Scotland Under-21s thrashed by Iceland as Scot Gemmill's kids hit 11-year low in Pinatar Cup

Scotland Under-21s finished their Pinatar Cup campaign with a 6-1 thrashing by Iceland as Scot Gemmill’s youngsters conceded six goals for the first time in 11 years.

The Scots were comprehensively outclassed by their Icelandic counterparts in Murcia and ended the match with ten men following a red card for forward Finlay Pollock.

The result will undoubtedly raise questions over Gemmill’s future heading into the qualifiers for the European Championships, which begin in early September. Scotland are in Group B alongside Portugal, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan and Gibraltar.

Scotland head coach Scot Gemmill presided over the defeat by Iceland. | SNS Group

Gemmill has been in post since 2016 and the loss against Iceland is the joint-heaviest defeat of his long tenure, matching a 5-0 reversal by Austria in a friendly in 2024. The last time the under-21s conceded six goals was when they were beaten 6-1 at home to the Netherlands in 2014.

Scotland went into the match against Iceland in Spain with confidence after defeating Republic of Ireland 2-0 on Friday, but they were no match for a clinical Iceland side.

Benony Andresson opened the scoring on 24 minutes before further strikes from Eggert Gudmundsson and Andresson again had the Icelandics three goals to the good at the interval.

Scotland pulled one back through Sheffield United striker Ryan One five minutes into the second half, but any hopes of a comeback were extinguished eight minutes later when Haukur Haraldsson made it 4-1.

Hearts youngster Pollock, who is on loan at Raith, was sent off for a second booking on 74 minutes and further strikes from Hilmir Mikaelsson and Johannes Bjarnason completed the rout for Iceland.

Ryan One was on the scoresheet for Scotland. | SNS Group

Rangers midfielder Bailey Rice made his first start for the 21s, while there were also debuts for Hearts’ on-loan East Fife goalkeeper Liam McFarlane and Dundee United defender Samuel Cleall-Harding. Gemmill was without the services of talismanic midfielder Lennon Miller, who is in the main Scotland squad, and also Hearts’ teenage sensation James Wilson, who made his senior debut in Sunday’s 3-0 reversal by Greece.

Scotland’s next match is on September 5 when they are away to Czech Republic, before hosting Portugal four days later.