McTominay reveals heart was ‘shocked’ two days before World Cup opener

The disclosure, made at Hampden on November 10, explains an interruption to his tournament preparation that had been publicly attributed to a stomach complaint. It also puts his return to Scotland duty in a different light: the 29-year-old Napoli player has since undergone a separate heart procedure in Manchester, spent September out of football and returned to regular club appearances. He now says he feels “much, much better”.⁠1

“I had to go and get the shock on my heart two days before the Haiti game,” McTominay said, in remarks reported by RTÉ. The heart-rhythm problem first came to light after Scotland arrived in the United States in early June. At the time, the camp said a stomach complaint explained his absence from training.⁠1

His account describes the collision of meticulous sporting preparation with an unexpected hospital visit. McTominay said he had been in very good condition and considered himself fully fit to play. But being fit, in his assessment, did not remove the strain of receiving treatment immediately before the tournament.⁠1

“I was 100 per cent (fit), but obviously when you’re sat in a hospital bed two days before the first game of the World Cup about to get put to sleep, it’s not ideal, is it?” he said. That is his recollection of his fitness and the experience; the public account does not set out the examinations or medical clearance decisions surrounding those matches.⁠1

Scotland went out at the group stage, and McTominay struggled to reproduce his best football. He was explicit that the treatment should not become an explanation that excused the performances: “It’s nowhere near an excuse, but it’s something that you have to look back on and say, ‘Well, it’s part of the process’.”⁠1

The disappointment lasted well beyond the final whistle. He described two or three weeks of feeling disappointed and “not quite with it mentally”, needing a break and time to settle down. “After the World Cup, it was probably the most disappointed I’ve ever been in my career,” he said. Those are remarks about the aftermath of the tournament, not a diagnosis or evidence that the heart problem alone determined how Scotland played.⁠1

The dramatic phrase “heart shocked” needs a distinction that the headline alone cannot provide. The treatment before Haiti and the cardiac ablation McTominay later underwent in Manchester were separate procedures. RTÉ describes the condition treated by the ablation as a mild, benign heart arrhythmia—a problem with the heart’s rhythm.⁠1⁠2

In general medical guidance, electrical cardioversion uses an electrical shock to restore a regular heartbeat. Catheter ablation instead treats areas involved in abnormal electrical signalling, using long, thin, flexible catheters. One seeks to reset the rhythm; the other targets areas responsible for the rhythm problem. These are general descriptions, not additional details of McTominay’s treatment.⁠6⁠5

His quoted account does not name the precise shock procedure. Nor does the description establish that his heart stopped or that he suffered cardiac arrest: an electrical shock can be used to treat a fast or irregular heartbeat. It would also be wrong to infer a particular subtype of arrhythmia from the word “ablation”.⁠1⁠8⁠11

The rhythm trouble returned in August, after he went back to Italy. McTominay played Napoli’s opening two Serie A matches before deciding he needed the corrective procedure. The ablation took place in Manchester in September, and he spent that month on the sidelines. The report does not give an exact procedure date.⁠1

That interruption kept him away from Scotland through the September and October games. RTÉ puts the absence at the first four matches under new head coach Sébastien Pocognoli and reports that McTominay subsequently featured in all nine Napoli matches since the previous international break. Those are appearances, not necessarily starts or complete matches.⁠1⁠60

The Scottish FA has confirmed his return to the national squad. Scotland have Nations League matches against North Macedonia and Switzerland, with the home game against North Macedonia on November 13 the next fixture. A recall establishes that he is back with the team; it does not yet establish whether he will start.⁠58⁠52⁠1

McTominay’s description of the Manchester procedure was reassuring. He called it “relatively straightforward” and said it went “really, really well”, while acknowledging the concern that news of a heart issue generated among family and friends. “I feel like it was something that needed to be done,” he said.⁠1

The clearest change is both personal and sporting: he says he feels substantially better, and treatment followed by time away has given way to regular football and an international return. That is meaningful progress without requiring a prediction about his long-term medical outlook.

“I’m just really happy to be back playing football again,” McTominay said. “That’s the most important thing in my life and it always will be.”⁠1