Ben Gannon-Doak World Cup excitement increases daily. He is the most exciting talent to play for the Scotland Men’s National Team (SMNT) in decades. He’s in the States and seemingly fit & ready to go for the game this coming weekend versus Haiti. We look at some numbers & ask, what impact can Ben Gannon-Doak make at the World Cup? And is the Ben Gannon-Doak World Cup excitement justified?
Club background
Club career in Scotland
Ben Gannon-Doak is from Dalry in North Ayrshire. He spent time in the youth setups at Ayr United & then Celtic. Short, stocky & direct with explosive pace, he was considered among the very hottest prospects at both clubs. He debuted for Celtic’s 1st team in January 2022, only 2 months after his 16th birthday. Then, in March the same year, he transferred to Liverpool.
Liverpool & loan to Middlesbrough
He debuted for the Liverpool first team in the League Cup in November that year. The following month he made his debut in the English Premier League (EPL). Aged 17 at the time, he became the youngest Scotsman to play in England’s top division since its 1992 re-brand. However, his time at Liverpool included what has become an unwanted hallmark of the biggest challenge he has faced in football: injury.
Then, Liverpool sent him on loan for the season to Middlesbrough in August 2024. There in November, he chalked up 5 assists in 5 games, earning the EFL Young Player of the Month award from doing so. Such was the infectious excitement he triggered at Boro, in 1 match shown on Boro TV, any semblance of impartiality was abandoned when Doak (as he then was), collected the ball on the wing facing his full-back: “Run at him Ben!”, pleaded Boro’s match commentator in all seriousness.
All seemed to be going well for Doak on Teesside. However, the loan was cut short by a hamstring injury. Hence despite being a 1st team regular until that injury, he played only 24 first team games for Boro, all in the league. He chalked up 3 goals & 7 assists in his 1,789 mins of action there. To date, that is easily his best club output for minutes played, goals & assists.
Next, in August 2025, Doak transferred from Liverpool to his current club, AFC Bournemouth on England’s South coast. He left Liverpool having played only 307 mins in his 10 first team appearances there in all competitions.
Bournemouth
Bournemouth stumped up £20m for him, with another potential £5m to follow in performance related add-ons. Also, it has been reported that Liverpool smartly have a buy-back clause in the contract.
It was at Bournemouth that to honour his dad in addition to his mum, he started to wear “Gannon-Doak” on his matchday jersey. He made the match day squad for Bournemouth’s first 11 games of 2025/26, subbing on 4 times for 53 mins of action in total.
However, his progress was abruptly halted with a recurrence of his hamstring injury, this time picked up playing for Scotland in the World Cup qualifier showdown against Denmark. Subsequently, he returned to the Bournemouth 1st team squad in March. In his season at Bournemouth, he only played 150 mins of first team football in the 9 league & cup games he played.
Gannon-Doak World Cup qualifier v Denmark
That game versus a very good Denmark team can be argued as encapsulating the difference Gannon-Doak can make to this Scotland team. He was up against a talented Danish opponent, Patrick Dorgu of Manchester United. Gannon-Doak appeared very much to have the beating of him. No more so than Gannon-Doak’s high cross from the right that Scott McTominay overhead kicked into Scottish football folklore.
Then after 21 mins with Scotland still 1-0 up, Doak did his hamstring again. He subbed off emotionally distraught. At that exact moment, the game dynamic changed immediately. The Scots attack evaporated turning the game into a backs to the wall effort against the Danish siege.
It was only Rasmus Kristensen’s questionable sending off in the 61st minute, that allowed Scotland to get back into the game sufficiently to grind out that momentous 4-2 win for automatic World Cup qualification. Even against 10 Danes after the sending off, the Danes were generally still superior, unlike the first 21 mins when Gannon-Doak was a handful on the pitch for the Danes to play against. However, it’s goals that decide games & it was the Scots who auto-qualified.
Gannon-Doak Scotland record
It isn’t just Gannon-Doak’s danger when on the ball. He is the only player in the Scotland World Cup squad with searing pace. His speed gives opponents much to think about, meaning opposing defences take a risk if they push up the pitch. Defences sitting back thus gives others in the Scots attack more space to play in. Some basic numbers from Transfermarkt, back up the difference he makes to the SMNT.
Loss rate in Gannon-Doak’s Scotland career
| Gannon-Doak total SMNT caps | 14 |
| Wins | 8 |
| Draws | 2 |
| Losses | 4 |
| Loss % | 29% |
Compare that 29% loss rate from the 14 games he played in above, with the 67% loss rate from the 6 games below that Gannon-Doak has missed since his SMNT debut in September 2024.
Loss rate in games Gannon-Doak has missed since his Scotland debut
| Gannon-Doak SMNT games missed | 6 |
| Wins | 2 |
| Draws | 0 |
| Losses | 4 |
| Loss % | 67% |
Loss rate in Gannon-Doak’s most recent 11 Scotland games
Next, Scotland results from his most recent 11 games; Scotland have lost only once in those 11 games, a loss rate of only 9%.
| Gannon-Doak most recent SMNT games | 11 |
| Wins | 8 |
| Draws | 2 |
| Losses | 1 |
| Loss % | 9% |
So in other words, from the last 17 Scotland games, they have a 9% loss rate in the 11 games he played, and a 67% loss rate in the 6 games in that period that he didn’t play.
Gannon-Doak most recent form
Next, For all of Gannon-Doak’s scintillating ability running with the ball, he has been criticised for inconsistent quality of end product. The stats below are Gannon-Doak in his last 4 SMNT games, from when he scored his first SMNT goal away versus Greece.
| Goals | 1 |
| Assists | 2 |
| Minutes played | 216 |
| Minutes per goal | 216 |
| Minutes per goal/assist | 72 |
If he were to maintain that goals & assist rate for 3 x 90 minutes in the group stage, he would contribute 3 goals / assists. That is a big ask though, considering e.g., Steve Clarke has stated he doesn’t expect that level of playing time from Gannon-Doak.
Gannon-Doak World Cup possible impact?
A player of his attacking threat is something to be contended with by any opposition. Further, consider the following analysis we previously listed, on how to take on the current Brazil team.
As per Coaches Voice:
“If Alisson has one weakness, it is his command of his area. For someone so big, he is a little vulnerable at crosses and generally chooses to avoid situations where he tries to claim a ball into the area – a particular issue at set-pieces, when he can be reluctant to come for crosses, even when they are in the six-yard box, and instead chooses to stay on his line and leave his defence to defend.”
As reported by Jeff Rueter, Brazil’s current biggest area of weakness lies at FB. Ben Gannon-Doak was too hot to handle in the Nations League against Croatia’s Joško Gvardiol. Gvardiol’s €89m transfer fee is the 2nd most expensive in history for a defender. Gannon-Doak should thus have nothing to fear from any opponent in the Brazil or any other current World Cup squad.
Combine Gannon-Doak (and possibly others) exploiting Brazil’s FB weakness with Alisson’s vampiric aversion to crosses. Does that set the stage in particular, for the tall & physically imposing Ross Stewart’s formidable aerial threat? Stewart potentially faces Brazil CB Gabriel who Stewart played against when scoring & eliminating Arsenal in the FA Cup quarter-finals in April for Southampton. Stewart’s goal on that occasion though wasn’t with his head. Stewart though like Gannon-Doak’s recent injury record is a serious worry.
Is the Gannon-Doak World Cup excitement justified?
In the opinion of fitba.scot, yes. A fit & firing Ben Gannon-Doak is a tremendous attacking threat of the kind that Scotland otherwise do not possess. From his appearance against Bolivia at the weekend, he appears in excellent form. Statistics back up the difference in Scotland results when he plays. And his Scotland stats are improving.
However, that endorsement is with the very hefty caveat that there is a huge question mark above his head regarding his durability against injury. If he and other key men in the Scots World Cup squad can stay fit, Scotland for the first time in the Steve Clarke era, can be a force to be reckoned with at a major football finals. Getting out of the group is very possible. If he can stay fit, could this be remembered at least in Scotland, as the Gannon-Doak World Cup?
Okey-Doaky.
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