By Thomas Durning
On Sunday 15th October 2023, it was confirmed that Scotland had qualified for Euro 2024. Spain’s victory against Norway meant that Scotland had tallied up enough points to automatically qualify for a major tournament for the first time since 1997.
With the Tartan Army now planning and preparing for next year’s summer in Germany, we will look back at how the national team qualified.
25th March 2023 – Scotland 3 Cyprus 0
The first fixture of the Euro 2024 qualifying group, Scotland fans went into this match with excitement but also nerves as the Tartan Army were hoping to get off to the perfect start.
A goal from John McGinn and a double for Scott McTominay meant that Scotland got off to the perfect start and also got off to there first winning start to a Euro qualifying campaign since 2006.
All Scotland fans would have been happy to get off to a 3-0 winning start, but it was a match which Scotland struggled in terms of an attacking sense, and it was only for two very late goals from Scott McTominay which made the scoreline more respectable.
Steve Clarke knew that his players would have to improve as the next match was against Spain at a sold-out Hampden Park.
28th March – Scotland 2 Spain 0
It was a sensational night at Hampden Park as another double from Scott McTominay stunned group favourites Spain and it meant the Tartan Army took a huge step towards qualification.
It was Scotland’s first competitive win against Spain for 39 years and it was much deserved. The talk before this match was the fact that Scotland had not won enough matches against the top ranked nations, but this changed on this night, and it was a result that had been a long time coming for the Scotland national team.
It was an unbelievable atmosphere and with Scotland now three points ahead of Spain and also five points ahead of Norway, the national team were now top of the group and in a great position to give themselves a chance of qualifying.
Scotland’s next match was an away trip to Norway and the result of this match would have huge ramifications for the rest of the group.
17th June – Norway 1 Scotland 2
Late goals from Lyndon Dykes and Kenny McLean gave Scotland a dramatic but also unlikely win against Norway in Oslo to maintain their 100% start to the Euro qualifying campaign.
When Norway took the lead in the second half due to a Erling Haaland penalty, the majority of Scotland fans thought there perfect start was over and also knew that Norway had revived there hopes in the group stage.
However, a late goal from Lyndon Dykes out of nowhere meant that Scotland looked like they would go back home with a point until two minutes later when Kenny McLean managed to strike a right footed shot into the bottom corner to send the away fans crazy and also collect a valuable three points.
If the Tartan Army thought the Spain victory was impressive, they might have to use an even better word for this result. Scotland did not produce much in an attacking sense in the match as Norway controlled the vast majority of the game.
What Scotland didn’t lack though was spirit and determination and they waited until the final minutes of the match to strike. This victory was mightily impressive as it showed that Scotland could go to tough away grounds and find a way to collect three points.
With three victories from three matches, Scotland were making qualification look easy but as it was still early in the group, there was still more work to do.
20th June – Scotland 2 Georgia 0
Despite a 90-minute rain delay, the Scotland players were not distracted and again they secured another victory against Georgia at a very soaked Hampden.
After Callum McGregor scored for Scotland in the 6th minute, the referee immediately sent the players off the pitch as the conditions made it impossible for the match to continue.
Over an hour later, the players finally resumed the match and Scotland continued what they started as Scott McTominay again scored another important goal for his country.
This victory meant that they extended their lead to eight points ahead of Norway and Georgia.
Many Scotland fans could have made excuses for the players as the rain delay caused a huge distraction, but Scotland were in no mood to be put off and with another win, there chances of qualifying looked really good and there was a quiet confidence that the players would finish the job.
8th September – Cyprus 0 Scotland 3
A fantastic first half for Scotland were enough to make it five wins from five and this victory meant that the national team were in touching distance of reaching Euro 2024.
In the first 30 minutes of the match, Scott McTominay, Ryan Porteous, and John McGinn scored for the away side and this meant that the rest of the match turned into a very comfortable evening for the national side.
This victory meant that Scotland only needed two more points to automatically qualify. However, if Norway and Georgia drew their match this would also be enough for Scotland to secure their spot. This did not materialize as Norway comfortably beat Georgia which meant the Tartan Army would have to wait a little longer to see if Scotland could get the job done.
12th October – Spain 2 Scotland 0
The wait for Scotland to qualify had to agonisingly go on as they fell to there first defeat of the campaign against Spain.
Scotland thought they had taken the lead in the second half when Scott McTominay scored a wonderful free kick however, VAR intervened and ruled the goal out which left Scotland very frustrated.
Spain did control this match and they finally broke the deadlock from a header by Alvaro Morata and a second quickly followed after an Aaron Hickey slip.
With Norway beating Cyprus, again it meant Scotland had still not qualified and it would be a lie if there wasn’t any Scotland fan who was starting to get a little nervous about the prolonged wait.
15th October – Norway 0 Spain 1
Spain booked their place in Euro 2024 after a second half goal from Gavi, but it also meant that Scotland qualified as well as Norway had run out of matches to catch up to the automatic spots.
It was a night when Scotland turned into Spain fans as they desperately hoped the away side would not lose the match.
This turned out not to be the case as it was a dominant display from the Spanish side which meant that Scotland could start their celebrations and get themselves ready for Germany.
This was a group stage to remember for Scotland and it is impressive that they have qualified with two matches to spare.
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