John McGinn (born 18 October 1994) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Aston Villa, whom he captains, and the Scotland national team.

[4][5] He broke into the first team in pre-season of the 2012–13 season, representing the club against English opposition Carlisle United and Accrington Stanley.

[14] He trained with Houston Dynamo during July 2015,[15] but they were unable to sign him due to foreign player restrictions on Major League Soccer clubs.

[17] McGinn was part of the Hibernian team that won the 2015–16 Scottish Cup, the club's first victory in the competition for 114 years.

[24] During this period of transfer speculation, McGinn continued to play regularly for Hibs and scored the winning goal in a Europa League qualifier against Asteras Tripolis.

[25] McGinn visited Aston Villa's training ground on 7 August to discuss a potential transfer,[26] which was completed the following day.

[36] He scored the first goal of Aston Villa's return to the Premier League in the first game of the season, a 3–1 away defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on 10 August 2019.

[44] On 27 July 2022, ahead of the new season, Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard named McGinn as the new captain, with Emiliano Martínez replacing him as vice-captain.

[48] On 10 March 2024, McGinn received his first red card in the Premier League due to a dangerous challenge he made on Destiny Udogie.

He scored his 50th career goal on 10 December 2024 in Villa's 3–2 Champions League win at Red Bull Leipzig.

[50] McGinn received an international call-up when he was selected as part of a Scotland under-19 squad for a training camp in Turkey in January 2013.

[58] McGinn scored the first hat-trick in his career in a Euro 2020 qualifier against San Marino on 13 October 2019, with all his goals coming in the first half.

[61] McGinn scored three goals for Scotland in March 2021 during the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification matches: a bicycle kick in a 2–2 draw against Austria and two in a 4–0 win against the Faroe Islands.

[69][70] On 15 November 2024, McGinn came on as a substitute and scored the only goal of the game as Scotland beat Croatia 1–0 at Hampden in the UEFA Nations League.

[73][74] Raised in Clydebank where he attended St Columba's High School,[75] John is the third of four children to parents Stephen and Mary.

[79] McGinn often uses a 'goggles' goal celebration, a gesture of support for his nephew who is visually impaired and wears special eyewear to play football.