Scotland’s wait for a first win at a major tournament since Euro 1996 was extended a little further after they were soundly beaten by Germany in Euro 2024’s opening fixture last Friday.
By Nathan Evans
Steve Clarke’s side struggled from the off in Munich, conceding twice in the opening 20 minutes of the game before defender Ryan Porteous was dismissed for a reckless challenge on İlkay Gündoğan which resulted in a penalty.
Kai Havertz dispatched the resulting spot kick before Niclas Füllkrug and Emre Can rounded off the hosts’ scoring either side of an Antonio Rüdiger own goal, which proved the only bright spot for the Scottish, who failed to muster a shot on target of their own at the Allianz Arena.
As such, following that reality check, this second match against Switzerland now assumes even more importance as defeat here, coupled with their current goal difference, could potentially end any chance of progression to the knockout rounds of the competition.
But there are a few significant omens that could come into play for Andy Robertson and his teammates, not least the fact that their last major tournament victory came against the Swiss with a 1-0 success at Villa Park in 1996. They can additionally hold onto the hope that they’ve also not lost back-to-back competitive fixtures since September 2021.
Despite that however, the Swiss start as favourites with the bookmakers to back up their 3-1 victory over Hungary with another victory here.
Not only was that just the fourth win that Switzerland have ever taken at the European Championships, from 19 attempts, but it further extended their fantastic recent form which has now seen them lose just one of their last 15 international outings since a 6-1 loss to Portugal back in December 2022.
Much of that form has been built on Swiss coach Murat Yakin’s use of experienced players, especially as three of his regulars in Ricardo Rodriguez, Xherdan Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka all have over 110 caps to their name, though their opening match potentially provided the story of the Euros so far, in a different manner.
That’s because Yakin gave 27-year-old forward Kwadko Duah just his second international start, a move that paid off after twelve minutes as he struck the opener versus Hungary. As such, he’ll remain as their player to watch as they look to effectively seal qualification to the knockout rounds by claiming another win against Scotland.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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