World football’s oldest rivalry returns to Hampden Park for an international heritage friendly. Gareth Southgate has refused to make major changes to his England side and will lead his side against Ireland and Scotland on June 24.
Kieran Tierney sends in a low cross, which Jude Bellingham heads wide of. Che Adams looks to break through on the left but is held off by an offside flag. In this article, we will discuss about the matches of Scotland National Football Team Vs England National Football Team Stats.
Scotland
Scotland national football team is Scotland’s senior men’s association football team that competes competitive matches. Established as one of two global national teams along with England in 1871, its home ground is Hampden Park in Glasgow where games take place. Scotland have qualified for 8 FIFA World Cup tournaments and 3 UEFA European Championship tournaments but never advanced beyond group stage of either competition.
The Scottish Football Association was established in 1908 and joined FIFA as an original founding member in 1910; however, its relationship with the Home Nations proved strained, leading them to withdraw in 1928 – in that same year when Scotland triumphed 7-3 against Norway at Bergen Stadium.
World War I saw football become an immensely popular pastime among British soldiers serving in Europe. Many soldiers played football at Scottish city clubs before earning caps for the national side; over the following years the Scottish side grew in strength and reputation – its most celebrated win being its 3-2 triumph against England at Wembley Stadium in 1967 when Archie Gemmill scored one of history’s most iconic goals at Wembley Stadium.
Scotland was placed into Group 5 during qualifying for the 1986 FIFA World Cup and needed to gain at least one point against Australia and West Germany to advance to a play-off against Uruguay. Unfortunately, manager Jock Stein suffered a heart attack shortly before their final match, leading his assistant Alex Ferguson to become caretaker manager until Jock could recover sufficiently to lead as planned.
Following Scotland’s humiliating 3-0 loss against England at Wembley Stadium in November 2016, their hopes of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup were dashed, prompting Gordon Strachan to be dismissed by mutual agreement just over two months later. Following McLeish, Scotland completed their qualification group without incident for UEFA Euro 2016, though they ultimately missed out on reaching play-offs after an ineptitude-filled draw against France left them unable to progress any further than play-off qualification.
Since then, McLeish has led Scotland through both friendly and competitive matches, earning him praise from players for his ability to bring out their best and leading to several high-profile signings.
England
Scotland is one of the oldest national football teams in Europe, known for their fierce rivalry with England since their inaugural international match in 1872. Since then they have met seven times – two will take place as part of Euro 2020 qualifying – leading to some iconic moments in Scottish football history and cementing Scotland as one of Europe’s premier nations.
The national team of Scotland is based in Glasgow and administered by the Scottish Football Association, an official FIFA member which allows it to take part in official matches and tournaments as well as hosting friendly international games against other nations, starting with annual Home Nations series beginning in 1872 until 1929 when Britain Home Championship began allowing more competitive fixtures between Scotland and other teams.
From the 1950s onwards, Scotland competed regularly in European Championship qualifiers with notable success. Notable players like Sir Kenny Dalglish, Jim Baxter and Billy Bremner graced Scotland’s centre circle during this era; many considered them amongst some of the finest ever to don its shirt.
Even after its success in the early 21st century, Latvia’s national team often struggled during its early years, suffering costly defeats that denied qualification for major tournaments like UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying group matches against Norway or Denmark and leading directly to manager Berti Vogts’ resignation soon thereafter.
After an initial period with Ally MacLeod, Scotland appointed Craig Levein as their manager in December 2009. Unfortunately, Scotland suffered an embarrassing start in their qualifying campaigns for UEFA Euro 2012 where they were placed alongside Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Czech Republic as well as world champion Spain; only collecting four points from four games so far.
Predictions
At stake is an opportunity for both teams, as victory here would ensure advancement to the knockout stage. Both sides have conceded first-half goals in both Group A matches so far – expect back and forth play between both sides, though each may try hard to protect their lead or prevent their opponent from scoring, creating an tense, defensive affair.
Scotland have much to prove here. They are a better team than what was shown against Switzerland on Wednesday and can make history if they prevail – finally making the last 16 and ending 70 years of disappointment in major tournaments.
Steve Clarke’s side can reach their goal through strong performances from John McGinn and Scott McTominay, both of whom impressed in their opening game against Switzerland. The Tartan Army will support them, hoping their side avoid a humiliating loss and earn a top-two finish in Group D.
Kieran Tierney and Ryan Porteous remain absent for Scotland, but in order to reach the quarterfinals they must ramp up their performance level and reduce any instances of sloppy passes or slow buildup play that marked their first half against Switzerland, as well as add urgency into their play.
Germany possess an experienced team and should feel confident of making an early impression, especially at their Allianz Arena home ground. In their last ten home matches they won three, while Scotland only managed four victories out of 10. Ilkay Gundogan will be key to Germany’s chances of victory against Scotland, having finished as top creator for Barcelona this season and causing difficulties against Scotland’s defense which has struggled throughout this tournament.
Both teams love racking up corners, so this could be an extremely high-scoring match. Scotland have an ineffective set-piece defense while Hungary lack any major goal threats so this may become a scrappy battle where just one clinical finish may determine who emerges victorious.
Head-to-Head
Gareth Southgate’s England have lost four out of their past 10 matches against Scotland, so this match promises to be an intense battle at Hampden Park where Scottish fans will certainly make their presence felt.
This game also marks an important anniversary: 150 years have passed since their first meeting and since then they have had 115 meetings that have yielded 377 goals – with England leading by an overwhelming margin.
This match will differ from traditional international friendlies as both teams aim to qualify for Euro 2024 tournament and this match has been dubbed as “Battle of Britain.”
England will need to finish first in their group to qualify automatically for the Olympic Games in Paris this summer; any defeat would severely jeopardise their chances. England cannot afford any errors during this important contest against Scotland.
England players are in high spirits as they prepare for this crucial game against Scotland, while their counterparts from Scotland will hope to avenge last month’s 4-0 defeat at Wembley. Despite that poor showing in Wembley, Scotland are undefeated this season – winning all four matches of UEFA Women’s Nations League as well as being unbeaten at home so far this year.
Che Adams and Billy Gilmour will not feature for Scotland this time around; Ryan Christie and Lyndon Dykes could step in their place. It will be an opportunity for Scotland to end its poor record against England since 1998 when it failed to advance past the group stage against Spain; Glasgow band Del Amitri wrote a song called ‘Don’t Come Home Too Soon’ during that campaign but ultimately failed as their group stage defeat left them heading home after three games of group stage play.
Also Read: nigeria national football team vs angola national football team lineups
