Euro 2024 Draw

[Bobby Russell's Lovechild]

On a different note, I see that England have pretty much picked their own group again 🤣

[Caledonian Craig]

11 minutes ago, Bobby Russell's Lovechild said:

On a different note, I see that England have pretty much picked their own group again 🤣

I am pragmatic enough to realise that they are top seeds and have a really strong side so any draw would look easy for them. I mean you could argue they were dealt a tricky qualifying draw with Italy and Ukraine in it but they eased their way through.

[Gala Tartan Army (Borders)]

11 minutes ago, BryanBlessed said:

Could be better and could be worse. Despite Germany not being in form, they've only been playing friendlies and to come up against them as the host nation will be really tough. Hungary are probably slightly better than us but their qualifying results don't make me fear them that much.  I know they beat England in the NL but bigger nations treat those games a s friendlies. Not really seen much of Switzerland but they didn't do that well in qualifying.

 

I worry about our attacking options, though I accept most of our goals tend to come from elsewhere. CB's are still a major worry for me and I'll be relieved if Hanley is back and on form.

 

I think the difference will be if Tierney is fit or not.

Agree with this.

I think we need to really target Swiss game. I watched them v Israel in qualifiers and thought they were awful defensively. Scrambled a draw v Belarus at home too with 2 injury time goals and drew home and away with Kosovo. They looked to me like a maybe coming to the end of their cycle.

The Liverpool midfielder (not even gonna try spelling his name) is absolutely key to Hungary, he single handedly defeated Montenegro in their last qualifier. Could be an issue for them if not fit. 

Tierney, Robertson, McGinn and McTominay key for us, injuries to any and think we will struggle to get out group.

[BryanBlessed]

3 minutes ago, Gala Tartan Army (Borders) said:

Agree with this.

I think we need to really target Swiss game. I watched them v Israel in qualifiers and thought they were awful defensively. Scrambled a draw v Belarus at home too with 2 injury time goals and drew home and away with Kosovo. They looked to me like a maybe coming to the end of their cycle.

The Liverpool midfielder (not even gonna try spelling his name) is absolutely key to Hungary, he single handedly defeated Montenegro in their last qualifier. Could be an issue for them if not fit. 

Tierney, Robertson, McGinn and McTominay key for us, injuries to any and think we will struggle to get out group.

I'd add Hickey to that list but otherwise agreed.  The Hungarians seemed terrified of Doak when playing for the under 21's. Even if he's not the finished article, he could really tie up their defence.  

[ProudScot]

6 hours ago, mccaughey85 said:

You think?

Hungary are probably the second best pot 2 team. Looking at their results over the last 2 years they have beaten England twice. They have a win and a draw over Germany. They have 2 wins v Serbia and a win v Poland. Thats some amazing results considering how ordinary their squad is. 

Switzerland are probably the second best pot 4 team. They have a strong squad and have done relatively well in recent years although somebody earlier in the thread said they have had poor results recently.

Germany might currently be one of weaker pot 1 teams but they are still the home nation and they often pull themselves together for major tournaments. They still have a squad full of top players as well.

It's not the worst group but theres a couple of groups I would definitely swap with if given the chance.

I have to say I disagree with you. Germany are the pot 1 team you’d want, regardless of host nation status.

Hungary and Switzerland will be good sides but there’s nothing to fear there and if you can’t get a result against teams like that then you don’t have any place in the knockout stages in a major comp.

Very happy with the draw tbh.

[Yr Alban]

32 minutes ago, ProudScot said:

I have to say I disagree with you. Germany are the pot 1 team you’d want, regardless of host nation status.

Hungary and Switzerland will be good sides but there’s nothing to fear there and if you can’t get a result against teams like that then you don’t have any place in the knockout stages in a major comp.

Very happy with the draw tbh.

The fact is that this is the business end of things, and you’d expect any group to be a challenge. We have one of the weaker top seeds, and both of the other teams are beatable for Scotland. Yes, we could plausibly lose all three games, but we could equally plausibly qualify.

[Tartan blood]

35 minutes ago, Yr Alban said:

The fact is that this is the business end of things, and you’d expect any group to be a challenge. We have one of the weaker top seeds, and both of the other teams are beatable for Scotland. Yes, we could plausibly lose all three games, but we could equally plausibly qualify.

If the tournament was tomorrow, Germany would be the top seed you'd choose. But they have plenty of time to get their act together. Based on results, the Swiss aren't exactly a form team either. And Hungary didn't have to overcome the standard of opposition we did to qualify.

However, you could say we aren't on form as well, if you just looked at our last 5 results. Context is everything though. Only 1 of the last 5 was in a meaningful competitive match, and that was away from home against Spain. We also had a slew of injuries to some of our most important players.

I genuinely think teams will fear us just a little. As they should.

[ceudmilefailte]

6 hours ago, vanderark14 said:

What's our route to the the final? 😆 

England in the last 8 according to sky sports

[scotlad]

4 hours ago, Yr Alban said:

The fact is that this is the business end of things, and you’d expect any group to be a challenge. We have one of the weaker top seeds, and both of the other teams are beatable for Scotland. Yes, we could plausibly lose all three games, but we could equally plausibly qualify.

That sums it up for me. Whoever you draw in a finals is going to be a good side and a challenge, but I'm pleased to have avoided one of the tournament favourites.

Germany and Switzerland are still very good sides but neither are as good as they were. Hungary are better than they were but I still fancy our chances against them.

I think the way the fixtures fall is helpful too. We get the toughest game out of the way first, then arguably the easiest game last (not that any of the games will actually be "easy" as such). 

If we play to the best of our ability we can get through the group.

[Grim Jim]

7 hours ago, Caledonian Craig said:

Not precisely sure but mccaughey85 can map out your quickest route home.

😆

We will be first team home if we finish 4th in the group 🤢

[Grim Jim]

2 hours ago, ceudmilefailte said:

England in the last 8 according to sky sports

All about the seeding.   They'll get a 3rd-in-group team I think if they (as expected) win their group.   Then they'll get us in the quarters 😆

[scotlad]

15 hours ago, mccaughey85 said:

Going by Hungary's results I would say they are alot better than Norway. 

Better coached, perhaps. On paper they're not a significantly better side than Norway, who I think are less than the sum of their parts.

[mccaughey85]

8 minutes ago, scotlad said:

Better coached, perhaps. On paper they're not a significantly better side than Norway, who I think are less than the sum of their parts.

They are far better than Norway going by their results in the past 2 years. 

Looking through their squad and surprised at how average it is. I would say it's weaker than ours but you cant argue with the results they have had.

Imagine how confident we would be if we had beaten England twice(one of which was 4 nil!) and Germany once. They beat Serbia twice and Poland as well. 

I think they are a very dangerous team who could surprise a few ppl. I just as wary of team who can get those kind of results with such a poor/average squad than a team with a much stronger squad on paper.

[Ally Bongo]

3 minutes ago, mccaughey85 said:

They are far better than Norway going by their results in the past 2 years. 

Looking through their squad and surprised at how average it is. I would say it's weaker than ours but you cant argue with the results they have had.

Imagine how confident we would be if we had beaten England twice(one of which was 4 nil!) and Germany once. They beat Serbia twice and Poland as well. 

I think they are a very dangerous team who could surprise a few ppl. I just as wary of team who can get those kind of results with such a poor/average squad than a team with a much stronger squad on paper.

They have also drawn with Luxembourg, Lithuania and Montenegro in the last year

 

[mccaughey85]

30 minutes ago, Ally Bongo said:

They have also drawn with Luxembourg, Lithuania and Montenegro in the last year

 

Yeh but overall their results have been good. Always gunna be a few blips. 

Just have to play well and hope they play poorly. 

[mccaughey85]

9 hours ago, ProudScot said:

I have to say I disagree with you. Germany are the pot 1 team you’d want, regardless of host nation status.

Hungary and Switzerland will be good sides but there’s nothing to fear there and if you can’t get a result against teams like that then you don’t have any place in the knockout stages in a major comp.

Very happy with the draw tbh.

Dunno I think Germany will be strong and probably surprise a few ppl. A host nation of the calibre of Germany is alway dangerous and us underestimating would be naive considering how brilliant their record is in tournaments.

I think it's unlikely we will get a result against them imo.They will be desperate to get a good result in their first game to ease the pressure on themselves. 

[todd]

45 minutes ago, Ally Bongo said:

They have also drawn with Luxembourg, Lithuania and Montenegro in the last year

 

They're not unlike us in that respect, capable of beating even the best on their day but well capable of slipping up against lesser opposition 

[mccaughey85]

6 minutes ago, todd said:

They're not unlike us in that respect, capable of beating even the best on their day but well capable of slipping up against lesser opposition 

Not sure they have slipped up that much. Overall their results have been amazing. I know we have done well in the last few years but their results are another level to us.

Theres heaps of good results v top nations in there and loads of wins v teams Iike Poland, Serbia, turkey. It's actually quite amazing when looking at how average their squad is. 

Dunno how they are doing it but their manager must be genius.

[DC92]

1 minute ago, mccaughey85 said:

Not sure they have slipped up that much. Overall their results have been amazing. I know we have done well in the last few years but their results are another level to us.

Theres heaps of good results v top nations in there and loads of wins v teams Iike Poland, Serbia, turkey. It's actually quite amazing when looking at how average their squad is. 

Dunno how they are doing it but their manager must be genius.

They had a brilliant Nations League campaign and did well at the last Euros but I'm not sure their last couple of qualifying campaigns are more impressive than ours. They lost home and away to Albania in the last WCQs and drew with Montenegro, Lithuania and Bulgaria in this campaign.

A very good, consistent team who are capable of giving anyone a game, but they are fallible and do concede goals. You'd fancy them to beat Germany more than us based on their record against better sides, but we shouldn't fear them in a head-to-head.

[mccaughey85]

5 minutes ago, DC92 said:

They had a brilliant Nations League campaign and did well at the last Euros but I'm not sure their last couple of qualifying campaigns are more impressive than ours. They lost home and away to Albania in the last WCQs and drew with Montenegro, Lithuania and Bulgaria in this campaign.

A very good, consistent team who are capable of giving anyone a game, but they are fallible and do concede goals. You'd fancy them to beat Germany more than us based on their record against better sides, but we shouldn't fear them in a head-to-head.

Yeh like us they have had blips but overall the last three years have been unbelievable really. I doubt we have ever had a run of results like that in our entire history. 

Saying that I think we have a good chance v them. It's probably the most winnable of the three games although we should be looking for a win v the swiss as well. 

I think it's a deceptively tough group we have. We have teams that are well organised and are currently managed well( Germany aside).

Just have to hope we play well and get a bit of luck.

 

[scotlad]

16 hours ago, mccaughey85 said:

They are far better than Norway going by their results in the past 2 years. 

Looking through their squad and surprised at how average it is. I would say it's weaker than ours but you cant argue with the results they have had.

Imagine how confident we would be if we had beaten England twice(one of which was 4 nil!) and Germany once. They beat Serbia twice and Poland as well. 

I think they are a very dangerous team who could surprise a few ppl. I just as wary of team who can get those kind of results with such a poor/average squad than a team with a much stronger squad on paper.

That's what I mean. They've undoubtedly had some great results recently but on paper they're quite an average team, relatively. They have one genuine top-class player (the boy from Liverpool whose name I can't spell!) whereas Norway have two in Haaland and Odegaard, and we were able to beat them (albeit somewhat fortuitously).

Put it this way, I fancy our chances more against Hungary than I do against someone like Denmark.

Edited December 4, 2023 by scotlad

[one t in scotland]

If we're fretting about playing a Germany side in atrocious form and Hungary/ Switzerland teams who had mixed results in terrible groups what are we doing there ?

Assuming no injury crisis this is a great chance to qualify.

Edited December 4, 2023 by one t in scotland

[Ally Bongo]

26 minutes ago, one t in scotland said:

If we're fretting about playing a Germany side in atrocious form and Hungary/ Switzerland teams who had mixed results in terrible groups what are we doing there ?

Assuming no injury crisis this is a great chance to qualify.

Agreed

The only concern is that planning for a game against Germany on opening day could be difficult

As they wont have played any "competitive" games we will only have friendlies to study

Could be a curveball

[Diamond Scot]

Happy with the draw. Out of the pot 1 teams I only really wanted to avoid France and England as they are the 2 teams who are head and shoulders above the rest.

Pot 2 were pretty similar standard and although it would have been good to get a playoff winner from po4, the main thing was avoiding Italy as Italy know how to play tournament football.

We have 3 games where if we play well we have a good chance of taking points. Thats all you can really hope for in a tournament.

Like others have said, keeping our big players fit is going to be key to our chances.

[Marky]

19 hours ago, mccaughey85 said:

Yeh but overall their results have been good. Always gunna be a few blips. 

Just have to play well and hope they play poorly. 

Their results against England and Germany were a year and a half ago. 

Surely their results against Luxembourg, Lithuania and Montenegro are more reflective of their recent form?

I'm not saying they're not a decent side, but they are no better than us, going by their qualifying campaign as opposed to Nations League games from 18 months ago.