How far can Scotland go at Euro 2024?
After 22 years of hurt ended for Scotland when they qualified for a first major tournament since the 1998 World Cup at Euro 2020, a wonderful qualification campaign has seen the Scots make it back-to-back European Championships.
Five wins from their eight qualifying matches saw the Scots finish second in Group A, four points off of table-toppers Spain and six points clear of third-placed Norway.
Steve Clarke’s side are still rank outsiders to lift a first major piece of silverware at 80/1, however their promising performances in qualifying - including a stunning 2-0 victory over Spain at Hampden Park - could point to Scotland making out of the group stages for the first time.
Scotland 2024 Predictions
Tip 1: Scotland to qualify from group stage @ 7/10
Scotland have been drawn into a difficult group in the summer, facing Hungary, Switzerland and hosts Germany - who they will face on the opening day of the tournament.
However, despite the calibre of opponent, Scotland should be full of confidence that they can cause one of the shocks of the tournament in qualifying for their first ever major tournament knockout round.
Each of their Group A opponents have exploitable weaknesses and, under Steve Clarke, the Scots have already shown what they are capable of when they are at their best.
A home victory against Spain, four points taken from a Norway side with the likes of Martin Odegaard and Erling Haaland among their ranks and netting against both England and France in friendlies show that they can hold their own going forward.
However, defeats against the Netherlands (4-0) and Northern Ireland (1-0) over their last two matches shows that improvement is still required in their backline.
Germany may have beaten France and the Netherlands in recent friendlies, but they have kept just one clean sheet across their last 12.
Hungary finished bottom of their group in Euro 2020, while Switzerland failed to top what was a favourable qualification group as they finished behind table-toppers Romania.
Each of Scotland’s three group fixtures are likely to be tight encounters and the result could go either way.
However, four of the six third-placed teams will qualify for the round of 16 and so Steve Clarke’s men have an extra chance of making history in Germany.
Tip 2: Group stage points - 3 @ 11/4
With this tight group looking difficult to call, Scotland may have to settle for the lottery of a best third-placed finish to qualify for the knockouts, but they could still better their Euro 2020 to give their fans something to cheer about.
Given that they face hosts and group favourites Germany in the tournament opener, a win or draw may be too tall an order for Steve Clarke’s side and so the focus will likely be on getting something from their meetings with Hungary and Switzerland.
As mentioned earlier, both sides have shown their fragilities and could be caught out by a strong Scotland performance and, while gaining points in each may be unlikely, a first tournament victory since 1996 could be in store.
