No word from Steve Clarke, so that’s time to wrap up this MBM. Commiserations to Scotland, good luck to Hungary who can still squeak through if results in other groups go their way, and best wishes to Barnabás Varga as he recovers in a Stuttgart hospital. Ewan Murray’s verdict is in, and here it is. Thanks for reading this blog. Nighty night!
Some more on Vargas. A statement from the Hungarian Football Federation read: “Barnabas Varga’s condition is stable. The Ferencvaros player is currently in one of the hospitals in Stuttgart. We will inform you immediately if there is any news about his status.”
An extremely emotional Angus Gunn, his voice cracking, speaks to the BBC. “It’s hard to speak to be honest … I thought everyone gave their best … the goal at the end was because everyone was going for it … the effort we gave today showed the fans and the country what it means to us … when we do look back, we created chances … we had opportunities … it didn’t fall for us … deflections didn’t go our way and we couldn’t score … at the end of the day we are out and nothing really matters any more … hopefully Varga is all right … I can’t really remember too much about that one.”
A reminder that, as mentioned in the pre-match patter, Bruichladdich X4 is a four-time distilled drop of malt which “stands tall” at 92% ABV. However other malt-infused, edge-removing, pain-dulling, reality-obscuring treats are available at all good recreational-relaxant outlets, and we like the sound of Ardbeg’s limited edition Heavy Vapours, which checks in at a much less bellicose 46% ABV. Heavy Vapours! “An ominous dram,” according to the official website. Mine’s a generous one, keep pouring.
Some good news here. The Guardian’s team in Germany understands Barnabás Varga is conscious in hospital. Much relief there. Here’s to that speedy and full recovery.
The BBC panel are unanimous that Scotland should have been awarded a penalty for Willi Orbán’s challenge on Stuart Armstrong.
Alan Shearer: “Clear penalty for me … Orban takes him out … his right knee onto his left calf … a clear, clear penalty.”
David Moyes: “I think that’s a penalty kick … a huge decision for it not to go to VAR … it should be at least for the referee to be told to go and look at the screen.”
Rachel Corsie: “It’s a clear penalty … he must have not seen it clearly.”
An ashen-faced Andrew Robertson talks to the BBC. “There’s nothing really to say to be honest … we gave it everything … both teams had to win … we had a chance … but that’s football, that’s how it goes … it’ll take a long time to get over this one … we had a lot of possession in the first half without doing anything with it … but we were in control … we had to find that cutting edge … go for it a wee bit more … we did go for it … but we got sucker-punched … a draw wasn’t going to be enough realistically … both teams had to go for it and one of us had to lose … tonight and for a long time we have to get over this … it’s a tough one … it’s devastating … there’s no buttering it up … it’s up to us to pick them up but that will only happen slowly but surely … what I will say is thank you to the country … we felt everyone behind us … we knew the excitement back home … sorry for letting youse down.”
… but life is more important than football. So love and best wishes to Barnabás Varga, who has reportedly been taken to hospital after the sickening clash midway through the second half. Here’s hoping for a speedy and full recovery.
Another hard one for Scotland to take. A nanosecond to dream as Callum McGregor tried to chest down and shoot in the 100th minute of play. He couldn’t get it away, and Hungary tore up the other end to keep their Euro 2024 dream alive for now. But Scotland’s dream goes up in smoke again. Should they have been awarded a penalty when Stuart Armstrong fell in the box under pressure from Willi Orbán? Perhaps. But they didn’t create enough, chance their arm enough, in any of the three games, until it was far too late. Back homeward, to think again. Again.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Germany | 3 | 6 | 7 |
| 2 | Switzerland | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 3 | Hungary | 3 | -3 | 3 |
| 4 | Scotland | 3 | -5 | 1 |
FULL TIME: Scotland 0-1 Hungary
Another group-stage exit for Scotland. There’s never been a more dramatic one.
Updated
GOAL. Scotland 0-1 Hungary (Csoboth 90+10)
The corner leads to a massive tangle of bodies in the Hungarian box … McGregor tries to chest down and score from six yards. But Hungary block and break upfield. Sallai down the right. He’s in acres. He pulls back from the byline for Csoboth, who from the edge of the box calmly slots into the bottom left.
Updated
90 min +9: A deep cross from the Scotland right. Hanley wins a header at the far stick. Enough for a corner. And from that … I’m sorry to say …
90 min +8: Morgan, Shankland and Armstrong combine down the inside-left channel but can’t fashion a shooting chance. But the ball’s recycled and drops to Hanley on the penalty spot. He opens his body and sidefoots towards the top right, but can’t get enough on the effort and Gulacsi is able to parry, then gather Christie’s weak shot-cum-cross from the right.
90 min +7: Hendry rolls a gorgeous pass down the right for Morgan, who curls low into the centre. McTominay, six yards out, extends a leg but, leaning back, hoicks over the bar. What a chance! Though it wouldn’t have counted, because the flag correctly pops up for offside. Hungary counter and Ádám Nagy drags a shot wide left.
90 min +5: The game goes scrappy. Neither team can afford for the game to get scrappy. “Obviously, your heart bleeds for the terrible collision that forced Varga to go off,” begins Colum Fordham. “There was rightly a penalty check but the clash of heads, arms and legs was fortuitous. And no penalty was given. But there was a blatant penalty for Scotland shortly afterwards. How could the referee not give it? Armstrong was pushed from behind? Maybe the ref was conditioned, understandably, by emotions running high. But still.”
90 min +4: It’s Scotland, so it’s as dramatic as you’d expect. Szoboszlai nearly dances his way through the middle of the park, but is crowded out on the edge of the box. Then Scotland go up the other end, McTominay winning a free kick 30 yards out. It’s played short, then McGregor has a dig from 25 yards. Blocked. This is breathless!
90 min +2: Two more huge chances for Hungary! First Zsolt Nagy meets a deep right-wing cross with a diagonal header that only just sails past the right-hand post. Then Csoboth, powering clear down the right, creams a shot across Gunn and off the left-hand upright and away!
90 min +1: The board goes up. There will be ten additional minutes. A huge roar rings around the stadium, with both teams desperate to find a winner. And it’s Hungary who almost immediately nearly find one, the ball breaking to Szoboszlai, six yards out. His shot, from the right-hand edge of the six-yard box, is brilliantly parried by Gunn.
90 min: Schäfer sashays down the inside-right channel and shoots low and hard towards the near post. Gunn tips it around. The resulting corner is half-cleared, before being hoicked wildly miles to the right by Schäfer.
88 min: Hanley is good to continue, but that’s Robertson’s race run. He’s replaced by Lewis Morgan.
87 min: While Hanley gets patched up, a replay of the penalty shout is shown again. Armstrong certainly went looking for the contact – he might have done better in simply powering forward and trying to get a whack away – so you can certainly build an argument for it not being given. But it still looked a penalty to me. Other opinions will be available on the internet.
86 min: Hungary make a double change of their own. Zsolt Nagy and Kevin Csoboth replace Milos Kerkez and Bendegúz Bolla.
85 min: Bolla crosses from the right. Hanley heads clear under pressure. He takes a whack upside the head and play stops for a minute.
83 min: Scotland make their final big pitch for the knockouts. Billy Gilmour and Anthony Ralston make way for Ryan Christie and Kenny McLean.
82 min: László Kleinheisler, on the Hungary bench, is booked for touchline shenanigans. Meanwhile Gilmour nearly releases Shankland down the inside right but Gulacsi comes out to smother.
80 min: Even more absurd is VAR’s refusal to get involved. Presumably they think Armstrong went down too easily, having been looking to initiate the contact. But even so. That’s a very contentious decision … with the only possibility being that Armstrong was offside in the first instance. Hmm.
78 min: Armstrong bustles his way into space down the inside-right channel, chasing after a long pass, and enters the box. He gets his body between ball and Orban, who knocks him from behind. Armstrong goes over, and surely it’s a penalty … but the referee says no. That is absurd!
Updated
77 min: The tension crackles around the Stuttgart Arena as Szoboszlai dances into the Scottish box down the right but can’t meet anyone with his cross. Then Gilmour wins a corner down the right but McTominay’s delivery is poor.
76 min: Scotland replace John McGinn and Che Adams with Lawrence Shankland and Stuart Armstrong.
75 min: It’s almost an irrelevant afterthought, but VAR decides it’s not a penalty. Attila Szalai and Martin Ádám replace Márton Dárdai and the stricken Varga.
74 min: A huge round of applause rings around the entire stadium, as Vargas departs on a stretcher. It still doesn’t look good … but hopefully the fact the medics have been able to move him so quickly augurs well. He’ll get the best treatment possible. God speed, Barnabás Varga.
Updated
72 min: Real concern for Varga. One replay has been shown, and it looks like Gunn took out his own player Ralston, while Varga landed awkwardly on his back, maybe his neck. He was wrestling with Hanley but nothing looked untoward. Fingers crossed this looks much worse than it is.
Updated
70 min: We’ve not seen a replay of the collision, because Varga has clearly taken a terrible whack. He’s been placed in the recovery position and a tent has been erected around him, so he can be treated with privacy. But there’s a VAR penalty check going on also.
68 min: Hanley bowls Sallai over on the left flank. Free kick. Szoboszlai wedges it into the box. Varga, Ralston and Gunn all come together in a sickening clatter. On come the physios.
67 min: A ball bouncing down the inside-right channel. Sallai hopes to meet it with his head, but Gunn comes out to the edge of the box to punch clear. “Shame Styles has gone off, now there’s only one opportunity for some vile Callumny,” quips Richard Hirst.
65 min: Szoboszlai, in a pocket of space just outside the Scottish box, prepares to shoot. Robertson pops up out of nowhere and takes the ball off his toe. Scotland hearts were in mouths for a nanosecond there.
64 min: Instead it’s a corner for Hungary, Ralston taking Kerkez’s left-wing cross full in the coupon, the ball pinging out. The corner’s worked long to Bolla on the right. Bolla curls a cross back into the box. Dardai flashes a header over from ten yards. That was close.
63 min: McKenna fires a low pass down the inside-left channel for Adams, whose sheer presence forces Orban into poking behind for a corner. But it won’t be taken because Adams was a yard offside.
62 min: Callum Styles makes way for Ádám Nagy. Meanwhile the Tartan Army take up where the lone piper left off, with a rousing chorus of Flower.
60 min: A bit of space for Ralston, who looks much more solid in attack than defence, down the right. His low cross is swallowed up by Gulácsi. The piper strikes up again, hoping to keep this brief burst of Scottish momentum going.
59 min: McGinn embarks on a powerhouse run down the right flank, not so much powering past a couple of Hungarian challenges as flat-out ignoring them. He reaches the byline but there’s only McTominay up with him, and he can’t be found with the cutback. Shame. That was Scotland’s most positive moment of the evening, McGinn injecting some much-needed verve and drive into proceedings.
57 min: … and nothing’s happening at the resulting corner, either, which ends in Kerkez wafting a weak effort wide right.
56 min: Szoboszlai, bursting into space down the middle, aims a diagonal pass towards Sallai to his left. The ball shouldn’t reach the intended target, but Ralston lets it through. Sallai is then able to cut back infield and shoot. The ball pings off Hendry and out for a corner on the left. Hungary want a penalty for handball, but the ball hit the top of Hendry’s arm, which was tucked into his side. Nothing doing.
54 min: Robertson wins the ball on the halfway line and sends Adams romping down the left flank. Adams cuts infield and aims a curler towards the top right. It’s always heading miles over the bar, but it’s a first shot at goal from the Scots tonight, so baby steps and all that.
52 min: Steve Clarke is given a talking-to by the referee for holding up Robertson, who was about to take a throw, and giving him some tactical advice. Clarke sheepishly apologises to avoid punishment.
51 min: McTominay clips Dárdai on the toe while contesting a loose ball on the edge of the Hungarian box. He goes into the book, and should Scotland make it through to the next round, they’ll have to do without their main goalscoring threat.
Updated
49 min: Scotland fail to deal with a Bolla’s ball in from the middle. Sallai spins on the spot and bobbles a weak shot straight at Gunn, who claims. Hungary have started the second half positively. Scotland have not.
48 min: Botka flings a throw into the Scotland box from the right. McKenna is forced to head behind for Hungary’s third corner of the game. Szoboszlai takes but Hanley heads clear with authority.
47 min: Ralston’s boot is slightly high on Kerkez. While Hungary have certainly been putting it about, Scotland haven’t been shy in getting stuck in either, and like Adams and Hendry before him, Ralston is slightly fortunate not to go into the book.
Scotland get the second half underway. No changes. Meanwhile a reminder that there’s another game going on in Group A tonight, and while it matters not a jot to Scotland or Hungary, it could have huge repercussions in the way the rest of the tournament unfolds. Switzerland are currently beating hosts Germany, and that’s being covered by the Guardian in glorious all-seeing Smyth-o-vision™. Get on it!
Half-time postbag. “Hungary’s tackling is of a level not seen since mid-70s Leeds / mid-80s Wimbledon / mid-Sunday-morning pub team. If Scotland survive this with 22 kneecaps, it’ll be a miracle” – Kev McCready
“Get Ryan Christie in the effin’ game” – Kenneth Burnside
“Appreciate this probably isn’t of the highest priority, but why oh why do we have to have these homogenised kits? It really takes something from the aesthetic. Scotland should be navy/white/red. These one-colour kits are rubbish” – John Potter
“The quality has been very disappointing. Aside from Gilmour, McGinn and McGinn’s arse, the Scotland team is not doing anywhere near enough going forward. Where is a 53-year-old Kenny Miller when you need him?” – Steven Grundy
“Good night, Scott. May you not have to suffer much longer” – Vivek Rajendra
Half-time entertainment. “This morning I made the enjoyable mistake of checking out the unofficial Scottish anthem of Euro 2024, No Scotland No Party,” begins Kári Tulinius. “It was enjoyable because it’s a banger, clearly the song of the footballing summer, but a mistake because it’s been glued to my brain. Hopefully I’ll have many more occasions to listen to it this month.”
(Other unofficial Scotland anthems are available.)
HALF TIME: Scotland 0-0 Hungary
There’s just enough time for Szoboszlai to send a rising drive over the bar from distance – Gunn had it covered – before the whistle goes. Scotland started the brighter; Hungary ended the half looking the more dangerous. That momentum would shift again should Hungary, who have been forceful, if not quite in the Uruguay 1986 style, get one of their men sent off. Three already in the book.
45 min: The resulting free kick is lumped into the mixer. It’s half cleared, then returned by McGinn. The ball dinks off McKenna’s shoulder and it’s an easy pick-up for Gulácsi.
44 min: Schäfer becomes the third Hungarian to go into the book for a sly boot on Hendry, turning up late as the pair contested a 60-40 ball in the centre circle.
43 min: Adams makes an impression down the other end this time, gaining ground down the right and hooking a deep cross into a box completely unpopulated by dark blue shirts. Gulácsi still hasn’t had any serious work to do.
41 min: Szoboszlai wedges a diagonal free kick over the wall and towards Orban, on the left-hand corner of the six-yard box. Orban’s header loops over Gunn and clips the top of the bar and out for a goal kick. Pretty sure Orban would have been flagged offside, having mistimed his run too early, but it’s all moot now.
40 min: Adams concedes another free kick just outside the Scotland D. He does so by attempting a specacular overhead clearance and nearly taking Varga’s head off. Thankfully there’s no actual contact, but only through luck rather than judgement. It’s dangerous play, and Adams is pretty lucky to escape card-based censure.
39 min: The skirl of the pipes for the first time in a while. The beautiful noise gets Scotland going. Ralston whips a cross in from the right. Adams cushions down for McTominay, who can’t hook a shot goalwards. Scotland keep the pressure on, and McGinn has a dig from distance on the right, but it’s an easy claim for Gulácsi.
37 min: Hungary are 27th to Scotland’s 39th, for the record.
35 min: Sallai whistles a long-range effort wide right from 25 yards. Hungary are beginning to show why they’re 12 places above Scotland in the world rankings.
Updated
34 min: Hendry tries to usher a ball played down the inside-left channel out for a goal kick. Bolla nips in to claim it and lays off to Kerkez, whose cross from the left is eyebrowed away. Hungary are beginning to apply some pressure for the first time this evening.
Updated
33 min: Szoboszlai’s free kick, from a central position, pings off the Scotland wall and out for a corner, from which nothing occurs.
32 min: The resulting free kick is half cleared, but Adams barges into Styles, 25 yards out, and it’s another free kick, this time in a very dangerous position.
30 min: Sallai spins Hendry down the left. Hendry clips him from the back, the pair tangle, then Sallai accidentally stands on Hendry’s chest. Ooyah, oof. Thankfully Hendry is OK, and that incident possibly saved him a booking, the referee taking pity on, or having his concentration broken by, the stricken player.
28 min: The corner’s played short, then long. Hanley heads clear, and Adams tries to counter at speed down the left, but there aren’t many options for him and the break fizzles out.
27 min: Orban goes into the book for flipping McGinn into the air like a sock in a tumble dryer. Gilmour’s aimless free kick is easily cleared, and Hungary break, Kerkez winning a corner down the left off Ralston. Szoboszlai to take.
25 min: Hendry goes barrelling forward down the right but a promising contribution is brought to an end when he’s penalised for barging slap-bang into Kerkez. “Wouldn’t it be quite something if one of McGregor or Styles passed to each other in error and conceded a Callumitous goal?” A rim-shot for Vivek Rajendra, please, he’s earned one.
23 min: Kerkez was pretty fortunate to escape a booking back there, after bringing down McGinn, who was about to tear off down the touchline. The referee having just booked Styles may have had a bearing on his decision, not that it should have, but you get the gist.
21 min: Now McGinn uses his Special Dalglish Place to charge down a Kerkez clearance and win a free kick out on the right. The free kick’s swung in low by Robertson and volleyed clear by his Liverpool team-mate Szoboszlai. McGinn finally showing his undoubted quality at these Euros.
Updated
20 min: McGinn and his magic glutes hold off Dardai on the right. Space and time earned, he swings a poor cross into the centre, where McTominay was in space. The ball sails out harmlessly for a goal kick. But that was promising.
Updated
18 min: Styles slides through McGinn in a desperate fashion, and yep, the referee has run out of patience with Hungary’s early series of fouls. Into the book he goes. It could be a long game in midfield now for the Sunderland midfielder.
16 min: Scotland with more of the patient midfield stuff. Hungary quite happy to sit back, a tactic that so often works well for them.
14 min: A free kick for Hungary out on the left flank, near the halfway line. Everyone lines up on the edge of the Scotland box. Szoboszlai loops it in, harmlessly so. The floater ends up in Gunn’s hands.
12 min: Styles sends a long ball down the left, loking to release Sallai. Gunn comes to the edge of his box to claim, and McGregor, newly shoed, returns to the action.
11 min: McGregor is off the field changing his boots. Scotland momentarily down to ten.
10 min: … but it’s Scotland who are seeing more of the ball during these opening exchanges. They continue to stroke it around the midfield, while never threatening to find a way to move the play nearer the Hungary goal.
8 min: The first shot in anger is a Hungarian one. Bolla makes good down the right and sends a low, fierce swerver goalwards. Gunn is behind it all the way, but can only spike it, volleyball style, into the air. Robertson tidies up. To be fair to Gunn, the ball was moving all over the shop; to be unfair, that looked a little nervy, a return to his mood of the Germany game.
7 min: McTominay is crudely checked by Botka. Another free kick, this time on the left flank. The referee briefly considered flashing yellow there, before making do with a stern chat. Hungary have already made a couple of feisty challenges, and may not have too many more free ones left.
5 min: More positive bustling in the midfield by McGinn, who is using his glutes to hold off players, turn and make space in the Kenny Dalglish style. A Dalglish style curler into one of the corners would do very nicely tonight as well.
3 min: The free kick’s pumped into the mixer and Hanley is penalised for clambering all over his opponent. But Scotland will be happy enough with their calm and controlled start.
2 min: The game settles down pretty quickly and Scotland stroke the ball around the back awhile. Then suddenly McGinn wriggles out of a tight spot near the centre circle and is hauled back by Dárdai. A free kick and a chance to load the Hungarian box.
1 min: The kick-off has to be retaken, on account of Varga and Kerkez belting down the left wing before the whistle goes. And now we’re off…
Hungary kick off. What an atmosphere in Stuttgart! “A country riven by a rise in nationalism, fuelled by a demagogue leader, expressing nationalist bile in an unintelligible language, against Hungary.” Sunak-soaked satire from Paul Griffin, ladies and gentlemen. He’s here all week, try the harcsapaprikás.
Updated
The teams are out! Scotland in blue, Hungary in white. Here we go with the shaking of hands, bumping of fists, tossing of coins, and belting out of national anthems. Hungary’s Himnusz is slow and stately like the water of the Danube, beseeching the lord to bless the Magyar with happy times and good cheer. The Tartan Army meanwhile clatter through Flower of Scotland with nearly as much Caledonian verve as this ...
We’ll be off in a couple of minutes.
Scotland boss Steve Clarke talks to the BBC. “I don’t think the team ever picks itself … you’ve got to consider all the options … the type of game it might be … I feel this is the best way we start … maybe not the way we finish, but certainly the best way to start … express ourselves in a high-pressure game … but you have to win with caution … two points won’t be enough, it never is … we prepare the same way almost the same game … if the players sound relaxed that’s great, because you have to be relaxed before you go to the pitch … but you have to understand what your job is, and I believe they do that.”
Pálinka v Scottish Wine. Some big talk here. But does this claim made by the Hungarian masses stack up? A quick look at never-incorrect-nor-shoddily-sourced research tool Wikipedia suggests the Hungarian fruit brandy can pack an 86% ABV punch, which takes some beating. Meanwhile, an article in Chilled magazine reports on Bruichladdich X4, a four-time distilled drop of malt which “stands tall” at 92%, a pose almost certainly beyond anyone drinking the stuff. However tasting notes at online recreational-relaxant outlet The Whisky Exchange adds that X4 “reaches 92% before being bottled at a reduced 50% without ageing (which is why it can’t be called whisky)”. So it’s a moot point, semantic, swings and roundabouts, etc., depending on what you can actually get your hands on. (Those swings and roundabouts best avoided after the first tumbler, by the way.)
Past meetings, then, and let’s start with “SCOTLAND’S BRAVE DISPLAY: Beaten but Not Humbled.” That was the Manchester Guardian’s headline after a Scottish XI containing two players apiece from Partick Thistle, Preston and Clyde took on Ferenc Puskas, Nandor Hidegkuti, Sandor Kocsis, Joszef Bozsik et al at Hampden in December 1954. Bozsik and Hidegkuti put the visitors two up after 26 minutes; goals by Tommy Ring and Bobby Johnstone later sandwiched Hungary’s third by Karoly Sandor; and Scotland were the better team for the majority of the second half in pushing for an equaliser, before Kocsis sealed a 4-2 win for Hungary in the final minute.
A more-than-decent showing, and Scotland followed it up with a brave 3-1 defeat in Budapest the following May, Gordon Smith giving the Scots a surprise lead, Billy Liddell missing a late penalty. A much more respectable pair of results against the famous Aranycsapat than England’s 6-3 and 7-1 maulings, but it’s probably best not to thumb the nose too much, because in between those two matches with Hungary, Scotland were skittered 7-2 by England at Wembley, which if nothing else proves that comparing results in the playground style is a fool’s errand.
Hungary have two more wins against the Scots, in friendlies 1980 and 2004, while Scotland have three victories of their own. The first came in the very first meeting – a 3-1 friendly win in 1938 – and the third in the most recent, a 1-0 win in 2018 secured by Matt Phillips. The second is the most notable, though: a 2-0 home victory in 1987, both goals scored by Ally McCoist, in a match that marked the debut of Chelsea’s fancy new defensive signing from St Mirren, a certain Steve Clarke.
All of which is an extremely long-winded way of saying that this is the first competitive meeting between these two grand old international teams. (Oh, and Preston were one of the best sides in England in the mid-50s, while Clyde were about to win a couple of Scottish Cups, so perhaps those results against Puskas and the lads weren’t so eye-opening after all.)
Scotland captain John McGinn, slightly heavy-lidded but highly amused, speaks to the BBC. “We’ve been trying to prepare the same way we do for every game … but it’s not every game you have thousands of Scotland supporters outside your hotel! … so the afternoon nap was cancelled and we had the Scotland songbook in our ears! … but it was nice that the excitement was grown in anticipation … I think you can hear the tunes in the dressing room, the boys are calm and ready to go … we’re ready … we’re more prepared than three years ago [at Euro 2020] … more experience, more caps … ready for that pressure and responsibility … we can be that team … the manager’s a man of few words, but when he speaks … he did a really good team talk in the hotel … we want to give [fans] more memories and hopefully tonight is another special one.”
Scotland make one change to the XI that started the 1-1 draw with Switzerland. Kieran Tierney is hamstrung, so Scott McKenna takes his place on the left-hand side of the three-man central defence.
Hungary make two changes to their starting line-up after their 2-0 defeat by Germany. Endre Botka comes into the right-hand side of defence, while Bury-born Callum Styles is named in midfield. Attila Fiola and Ádám Nagy drop to the bench. The captain Dominik Szoboszlai has shrugged off injury concerns and is good to play.
The teams
Scotland: Gunn, Hendry, Hanley, McKenna, Ralston, Gilmour, McGregor, Robertson, McTominay, Adams, McGinn.
Subs: Shankland, Christie, Kelly, Cooper, Armstrong, Morgan, Conway, Jack, Clark, McCrorie, McLean, Taylor, Forrest.
Hungary: Gulacsi, Botka, Orban, Dardai, Bolla, Schafer, Styles, Kerkez, Sallai, Szoboszlai, Varga.
Subs: Lang, Balogh, Szalai, Fiola, Nego, Adam Nagy, Adam, Dibusz, Kleinheisler, Gazdag, Zsolt Nagy, Szappanos, Csoboth, Horvath, Kata.
Referee: Facundo Tello Figueroa (Argentina).
🔢 It’s time to get behind your Scotland team.#EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/lSLNUjxCXD
— Scotland National Team (@ScotlandNT) June 23, 2024
Utolsó @EURO2024 csoportmeccsének @ScotlandNT ellen a következő kezdőcsapattal vág neki a magyar válogatott!
— MLSZ (@MLSZhivatalos) June 23, 2024
⏰2⃣1⃣:0⃣0⃣ 🏴🇭🇺⚽️#csakegyutt #magyarok #SCOHUN #euro2024 pic.twitter.com/YxIkH6Syvc
Updated
Preamble
For a country of Scotland’s size, the complete list of their major tournament qualifications is lengthy and proud. Championnat du Monde de Football Suisse 1954. VM Fotboll Sverige 1958. WM 74. Argentina ‘78. España 82. México ‘86. Italia ‘90. Uefa 92. Euro 96. France 98. Euro 2020(1). Sadly the complete list of the times they’ve failed to get out of the group is exactly the same length and not so much a badge of honour. Championnat du Monde de Football Suisse 1954. VM Fotboll Sverige 1958. WM 74. Argentina… but let’s not belabour the point. We all know what’s what.
But tonight in Stuttgart, Scotland have the chance to finally shake that monkey off their back. A win over Hungary would all but guarantee a place in the knockout stage of a tournament at last, at the 12th time of asking. Only a series of freakish results in the other groups could deny them, though fate has done a number on Scotland many times before, so nobody with even the most basic understanding of superstition will be counting their chickens. But, y’know, a win should do it.
A draw might even be enough. Two points would see the Scots through if Spain, Italy, Portugal and Turkey win their games against Croatia, Albania, Georgia and Czechia respectively. (Those results would leave the third-placed teams in Groups B and F on one point.) England beating Slovenia by a five-goal margin and Denmark defeating Serbia in Group C may also become a requirement should one of the Spain/Italy, Portugal/Turkey capers not go Scotland’s way, but we’re deep into the long grass of nonsense probability now. Best to keep things simple and win.
Defeat, and Scotland are out, sent homewards to think again. The wait will go on. It’s got to happen some day, though, so why not now? Good luck, everyone, may the best team win. Kick-off is at 8pm. It’s on!
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Germany | 2 | 6 | 6 |
| 2 | Switzerland | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 3 | Scotland | 2 | -4 | 1 |
| 4 | Hungary | 2 | -4 | 0 |
