Scotland vs Switzerland Full Match EURO 2024

It was a humbling start to Euro 2024 for Scotland on Friday night as they were on the end of a 5-1 trouncing from hosts Germany. Previewing this clash with Switzerland, defender Kieran Tierney stated the squad still believes they can make it out of Group A to reach the knockout stages of a major tournament for the first time in their history, but anything less than a positive result here will make those prospects extremely slim.

Steve Clarke’s men aren’t really displaying the form of a team who look capable of silencing their doubters however, as Friday’s defeat means just one of their past ten matches have delivered a victory (D3, L6) – and that came against minnows Gibraltar. Late lapses in concentration are perhaps behind their demise, as conceding seven goals across their last six matches after the 70th minute highlights a fragility in the latter stages that could continue to prove costly here.

That rings especially true given that Switzerland have already netted late in Germany, as Breel Embolo’s stoppage-time strike against Hungary helped them open with a 3-1 win. That capped off an impressive performance for Murat Yakin’s men, who must be growing in confidence that they can match or even go one better than their best performance of reaching the quarter-finals of the 2020 edition of the tournament.

Switzerland know adding further to what is a solid record of just one defeat from their last 15 outings (W7, D7) will all but see them into the knockout stages once again. However, they’d be unwise to let overconfidence creep in, particularly as it was Scotland who came out on top in the last meeting between these two at the Euros back in 1996 (1-0).

Players to watch: There have been calls for striker Lawrence Shankland to return to the starting XI for Scotland after he dropped to the bench against Germany – he’d directly contributed to five goals (G4, A1) in five matches for club and country before that. Midfielder Michel Aebischer made a blistering start to the tournament for Switzerland with a goal and assist in Saturday’s win.

Hot stat: Scotland’s last win at a Euros finals was that aforementioned success against Switzerland, yet including that, they’ve still not managed more than a single goal in any of their last seven Euro tournament matches (D2, L4).