There was a brief moment during Elijah Just's first Motherwell start that only intensified the doubt among an unconvinced home support at Fir Park. Built with a diminutive physique that can see players written off quickly in Scottish football, he went in for a shoulder challenge against a hardy Peterhead midfielder. Boing. The little New Zealander bounced off the part-time player from the third-tier side as top-flight Motherwell attempted to fight back from a goal down.
Less than a year later, Just is scoring on football's grandest stage. The attacking midfielder, who signed for Motherwell from Danish side Horsens last summer with little fanfare, scored twice in a 2-2 draw with Iran in Los Angeles — becoming the first Motherwell player to score at a World Cup and his country's top scorer ever at a finals. "It is a memory that'll last me for the rest of my life," Just said. "It's incredible. It's not something I could even have dreamt of, so I'm just so happy. One was nice, so two was amazing."
“Elijah Just scored twice for New Zealand at the World Cup, capping a remarkable rise from Austrian second tier to global stage.”
Just's rise is all the more remarkable because he had spent the campaign before last in the Austrian second division, on loan at SKN St Polten, and had only played one season of top-flight football since leaving New Zealand for Europe in 2019. Despite his international experience, when he signed for Motherwell there was no huge excitement or anticipation. But Just lit up the Scottish Premiership last term. He was voted into the PFA Scotland team of the season and shortlisted for player of the year.
On the ball and off it, he was integral to the success of manager Jens Berthel Askou, whose direct style had previously been a struggle for Just when they were together at Horsens. Last term, that style evolved into some of the finest football seen from a Scottish non-Old Firm side in years. Askou has since jumped to Toulouse in Ligue 1, while Just eclipsed his club feats in the space of one World Cup match.
Just's two sublime finishes against Iran — the first a curling effort, the second a composed strike — have made him a breakout star. For a player who once bounced off a third-tier midfielder, the journey from that shoulder challenge at Fir Park to scoring on the world stage is as improbable as it is complete.