Scotland went into their final Euro 2024 group stage game against Hungary with everything still on the line
Scotland have been to Euro 2020 and Euro 2024 after a 25-year absence from the competition(Image credit: Getty Images)
Scotland kicked off Euro 2024 with a 5-1 defeat to Germany in the tournament's opening game and that left the Tartan Army with a hill to climb in their remaining games against Switzerland and Hungary.
Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay had got his country off to a dream start against the Swiss, but former Liverpool man Xherdan Shaqiri equalised before the break and there was to be no further scoring.
That left Scotland knowing they were likely to need a victory to go through to the knockout stages, with a draw unlikely to be enough to put them through as one of the best third-placed sides without numerous favours from results in the other group games. But have they ever made it there before?
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Have Scotland ever made it past the group stage?
Hello, reader who we assume is almost certainly not Scottish, otherwise you would probably know that the answer is: no.
That will come as a surprise to some younger readers who have heard stories of the all-time great Scottish stars of years past, which over the years included big-name players who names are still spoken of today like Dave Mackay, Billy McNeill, Billy Bremner, Denis Law, Alan Hansen, Graeme Souness and Kenny Dalglish.
Yet things never quite came together for Scotland, who have never won more than a single game at either a World Cup or a European Championships. They missed out on goal difference at the 1978 and 1982 World Cups, and were even more unfortunate at Euro 96, missing out to the Netherlands on goals scored.
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Scotland missed out on the Euro 96 knockout stage by the narrowest of margins (Image credit: Getty Images)
That put a particularly large amount of pressure on the shoulders of Steve Clarke and his players when they took to the field against Hungary for their final Euro 2024 group game.
Hungary lost both of their first two games in Group A, meanwhile, and started the day with the knowledge that third place was the limit of their aspirations if they could secure victory over the Scots.
The rest of the final round of Euro 2024 group stage games will be played out over the next few days before the round of 16 gets under way on Saturday evening.
Scotland's major tournament appearances
Scotland have appeared at eight World Cups and four Euros, as follows:
Steven Chicken has been working as a football writer since 2009, taking in stints with Football365 and the Huddersfield Examiner. Steven still covers Huddersfield Town home and away for his own publication, WeAreTerriers.com. Steven is a two-time nominee for Regional Journalist of the Year at the prestigious British Sports Journalism Awards, making the shortlist in 2020 and 2023.
