Scotland and Switzerland meet for their second matches of UEFA EURO 2024 in Group A on Wednesday 19 June, with both sides looking to build on very different starts to the tournament
Scotland’s tournament has begun as badly as it could have. Steve Clarke’s side froze on opening night in Munich, losing 5-1 to hosts Germany in a rout that also saw defender Ryan Porteous sent off just before half-time. That result leaves the Tartan Army knowing that anything other than a positive response in Cologne would put their knockout hopes in serious jeopardy with a game still to come against Hungary.
Switzerland arrive in far better spirits. Murat Yakin’s side opened their campaign with an impressive 3-1 win over Hungary, a result built on the kind of control in midfield that has become the hallmark of the current Swiss squad. Captain Granit Xhaka was the standout performer, marshalling his side superbly from the centre of the pitch and continuing the outstanding club form that saw him inspire Bayer Leverkusen to an unbeaten league and cup double in the Bundesliga this season. It has been a striking career renaissance for a player who spent much of his seven-year spell at Arsenal cast as a scapegoat for the club’s struggles, only to be reborn as one of German football’s most influential midfielders since his return there.
Scotland and Switzerland are unfamiliar recent opponents. Their most recent meeting came back in 2006, when Switzerland won a friendly in Glasgow 3-1, and the sides have also met once before at a major tournament, at EURO ’96, when Scotland prevailed 1-0 in a group game that ultimately eliminated both teams. There is little in that history for either camp to draw on, and both managers will instead be focused squarely on adjusting after their opening results.
For Scotland, changes look likely after the chastening defeat to Germany. Grant Hanley is expected to come in following Ryan Porteous’s suspension, while Billy Gilmour could be recalled to add composure in a midfield that struggled to find its footing in Munich. There may also be a recall further forward, with Lawrence Shankland — who scored 31 goals for Hearts during the 2023-24 season and came off the bench against Germany — pushing for a first EURO 2024 start at centre-forward. Clarke’s side are expected to stick with the 5-4-1 shape that has defined their tournament so far, though they will need to find a better balance between defence and attack than they managed in the opener if they are to trouble a well-organised Swiss defence.
Switzerland go into the game with an unchanged look likely across the spine of the team. The experienced central defensive axis of Yann Sommer, Manuel Akanji and Fabian Schar gives Yakin’s side a settled foundation to build from, while Xhaka’s influence in front of them means the visitors will look to dictate tempo through the middle of the park from the first whistle. Switzerland have never previously won their opening two group games at a major tournament, giving Wednesday’s fixture extra significance for a squad that goes into it unbeaten in twelve matches stretching back to the previous summer.
Scotland: Gunn; Hanley, Hendry, Tierney; Ralston, Gilmour, McTominay, Robertson; McGinn, Christie; Shankland
Switzerland: Sommer; Schar, Akanji, Rodriguez; Widmer, Freuler, Xhaka, Aebischer; Vargas, Embolo; Ndoye
For Scotland, this is close to a must-not-lose fixture. A second defeat would leave qualification for the knockout rounds almost entirely out of their hands going into the final group game against Hungary, and would cap a miserable return to a home tournament for a country that had entered EURO 2024 with genuine optimism after a strong qualifying campaign. For Switzerland, victory would take them a significant step closer to the knockout rounds for a sixth consecutive major tournament, extending a run of consistency that has made them one of the more reliable performers in European international football over the past decade, even if silverware has continued to elude them
Postscript: The match itself delivered exactly the tension this preview anticipated. Scotland took a 13th-minute lead when Scott McTominay’s effort deflected in off Fabian Schar, only for Xherdan Shaqiri to punish a stray Anthony Ralston pass with a stunning strike from outside the box in the 26th minute to level things at 1-1, the eventual final score. The result kept alive Scotland’s hopes of reaching the knockout stage heading into their final group game against Hungary, while Switzerland moved to four points from two matches, sitting second in Group A behind Germany.
