John McGinn insists officiating left Scotland with 'near impossible' task in Spain as Euro 2024 qualification delayed

John McGinn felt it was "near impossible" for Scotland to get a positive result in Spain as he criticised the match officials following the controversial 2-0 defeat to Spain in Seville.

An Alvaro Morata header in the 73rd minute followed by a Oihan Sancet effort four minutes from time put paid to Scottish hopes of earning the point required to secure qualification for Euro 2024 on the night after a debatable VAR intervention resulted in a Scott McTominay opener being ruled out for Steve Clarke's side.

The Manchester United midfielder fired a stunning free-kick past Unai Simon on the hour mark but wild celebrations on the pitch and among the 8,000 travelling members of the Tartan Army inside the Estadio de la Cartuja turned to anguish when referee Serdar Gözübüyük was summoned to the pitchside monitor before initially ruling that Jack Hendry had fouled the Spain goalkeeper following slight contact between the pair as the ball nestled into the net. The decision then appeared to be changed to an offside.

It was a cruel blow for Scotland who had survived a first-half onslaught and the loss of captain Andy Robertson to a shoulder injury to come agonisingly close to a historic result.

Referee Serdar Gozubuyuk checks the VAR monitor before disallowing the goal scored by Scott McTominay. (Photo by Fran Santiago/Getty Images)

A first defeat of the campaign means that Scotland remain on 15 points at the top of Group A, three ahead of Spain, with Norway keeping themselves in contention with an Erling Haaland double helping them to a 4-0 win in Cyprus.

However, qualification hopes are still very much alive and all eyes will now be on Olso on Sunday evening where any result apart from a Norway win over Spain would be enough to secure Scotland's place in the finals in Germany next summer.

Aston Villa midfielder McGinn felt the officiating was a factor in the outcome. "The big moments went against us," he told Viaplay. "There's no doubt we can still improve but we put in some shift. It's a really tough one to take but we competed for long spellls.

"It's very difficult to win here but under the circumstances it was near enough impossible. You need to be very careful what you say. I think everyone watching from a Scotland point of view whether on the pitch, in the stand or in the dugout, it just felt like we weren't getting a decision. 50-50 balls, going in for fair challenges and not getting them. It made it very difficult against a world class team to get anything from the game. The stats will show they had a lot of the ball and better chances. You need a perfect performance here to win and everything to align - tonight it was just never going to happen."

McGinn also questioned the decision to rule out McTominay's strike and the apparent change from a foul to an offside against Hendry.

"He changed it in game, which is the frustarting, and shows it's not clear and obvious," McGinn added. "I don't know if clear and obvious is a European VAR thing. Is he going to save it? Absolutely no chance. No goalkeeper in the world is going to save that. However, he's saying at one point it's a foul. He then changes it because he realises it isn't a foul to offside. It's a big, big moment because that qualifies us that goal. It's a hammer blow and I feel for big Scotty but sometimes these things go for you and tonight that was never going to go for us."