Scotland star lands league title in first season with European club in pre-World Cup boost

The championship was effectively sealed before the 2-1 home victory against Varazdin on Sunday due to the goalless draw between HNK Rijeka and second-placed Hadjuk Split in the earlier kick-off.

Those results have left Dinamo with a 15-point advantage at the top of the table with four matches remaining, confirming them as Croatian champions for the 26th time in the club’s history.

McKenna has extra reason to savour the first league title of his career after suffering relegation with Las Palmas from the Spanish top flight last season.

He completed the move to Zagreb last summer after excercising a release clause in his Las Palmas contract which allowed him to depart on a free transfer if they were relegated from La Liga.

The 28-year-old has enjoyed a dream debut season in the Croatian capital, making 40 appearances in all competitions thus far, contributing two goals and three assists.

McKenna, who has 49 caps and is in contention to start at the back for Scotland at the World Cup this summer, now has the opportunity to complete a domestic double with Dinamo. They will face Rijeka in the Croatian Cup final on May 13 before officially lifting the league trophy at Maksimir Stadium on May 23 in their final home match against Lokomotiva.

Their domestic title success means Dinamo will play in the Champions League qualifiers at the start of next season. They will start in the second qualifying round in July with three steps required to reach the league stage.

McKenna helped Dinamo progress to the Europa League knockout stages this season, finishing 23rd in the table, before going out in the play-off round at the hands of Belgian side Genk with a 6-4 aggregate defeat after extra-time.

While it is the first major honour of McKenna's career, he also tasted success with Nottingham Forest, winning the Championship play-off final in 2022 to secure promotion to the Premier League, having joined from Aberdeen two years earlier.