Introduction

Scotland are into the final of a second successive European Championship under Steve Clarke with the clear goal of making it to the knockout stages of a competition for the first time.

The optimism that was once evident around the camp, though, has started to fade off the back of some disappointing recent results. Scotland have gone seven without a win, and while they have largely played strong opponents, the feeble showing in a 1-0 loss to Northern Ireland at home in March was a major red flag.

Injuries, too, are threatening to disrupt Scotland’s competition. Aaron Hickey and Lewis Ferguson will miss out due to injury, robbing Clarke of two reliable options in the squad.

Scotland will have to turn it around if they are to progress further than they have ever managed before.

Make sure to check out our Euro 2024 betting tips & bet builder predictions hub, where we will be covering each and every group in the tournament. You will find the rest of our Group A Predictions here, as well as Euro 2024 outright winner odds and stats, best players to watch at Euro 2024, and our set piece taker article which examines all 24 teams and includes Euro 2024 penalty takers.

We will be running daily articles on Andy’s Bet Club, including Euro 2024 accumulator tips, bet builders, and shot on target tips, which you can find on our hub and football predictions page.

In addition, don’t miss out on our free-to-use Odds Boost page, where we will be collating all the very best bookmaker boosts to aid your betting.

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🔮 Euro 2024 predictions

Tournament Performance: Group Stage exit

You can back Scotland Stage of Elimination: Group Stage @ 1.80 on Paddy Power.

Form suggests that Scotland could find the going tough in Germany, particularly with a match against the hosts to begin with. Recent friendlies against top opponents have invariably gone against them, which does not bode well for the opening fixture.

Matches against Switzerland and Hungary look much more winnable, yet success in these games will hinge on Scotland having learned the lessons from Euro 2020 when their only point was a grim scoreless draw against England at Wembley. 

It is for this reason, Clarke’s men are the outsiders to progress.

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Scotland Euro 2024 Qualifying Data

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📖 How they qualified

Scotland typically don’t do things the easy way, yet they cruised into the final stages at the expense of Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard’s Norway by finishing second behind Spain in Group A.

Five successive wins at the start of the campaign were pivotal. Most notable among these was the 2-0 success over Spain at Hampden in March, a game in which Scott McTominay scored twice.

Indeed, McTominay proved an unlikely talisman throughout the qualifying campaign. He had only one international goal before it began yet struck seven times in total to finish as the leading scorer from midfield in qualifying.

Although the victory over La Roja was the highlight, the result that propelled Scotland through was a 2-1 win in Norway three months later. It was a match that encapsulated the mentality of Clarke’s side at the time. After a poor display, late goals from Lyndon Dykes and Kenny McLean sealed an unlikely win.

A victory might have come in Spain, too. With an hour on the clock, McTominay thought he had scored to put Scotland 1-0 up, yet it was an effort controversially disallowed for offside. The hosts ultimately won 2-0.

Defeat in Seville effectively rendered the final games against Georgia (2-2) and Norway (3-3) academic.

It was notable that Scotland were strong in the first 15 minutes of each half four times, and also late in games as they grabbed five goals after the 76th minute.

Set pieces were also a strong point. Clarke’s side netted three times after set pieces, which is a reflection on the work Austin McPhee, who doubles as Aston Villa’s specialist in this capacity, does with the team in this capacity.

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👕 Players to watch

Scotland overwhelmingly use the left wing to attack, and given the quality of players they have available in that area, that should come as little surprise.

Captain Andy Robertson’s importance to the team is underscored by this bias, which is also aided by Kieran Tierney, who acts as an overlapping centre back. If the Arsenal man, who is on loan at Real Sociedad this season, is not fit, expect the impact of the Liverpool player to be lessened.

He picked up a couple of assists in qualifying and crucially also delivered a couple of pre-assists. His attacking intent is underlined by the fact that he was fifth in qualifying Group A in terms of offsides per 90 with 0.51. As such, Scotland’s left wing back is set to be an important outlet once again.

Scott McTominay, meanwhile, would not have been considered to be a player to watch 18 months ago but after his scoring exploits in qualifying, he has to be considered a real goal threat. This has been underlined by his good scoring form for Manchester United, too.

In qualifying, he scored 0.96 goals per 90, finding the net seven times from just 2.42 xG. Such a stark difference suggests his form will be difficult to sustain but for the moment he has inherited the mantle of talisman from John McGinn.

Sticking with Scotland’s midfield, Billy Gilmour is one to monitor at both ends of the field. 

He got through an enormous amount of defensive work, competing in 11.59 duels per 90 in qualifying but he also led Scotland in key passes per 90 with 1.55.

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