Euro 2024: Preview Scotland vs Hungary

Scotland won a point against Switzerland on Wednesday, demonstrating a marked improvement from their awful performance against Germany on opening night. Steve Clarke’s team took the lead early on thanks to a goal from Scott McTominay, but the Scots rallied behind a signature wonder goal from Xherdan Shaqiri.

Scotland and Hungary are competing to proceed as one of the four best-performing third-place finishers, with Germany and Switzerland probably qualifying as the top two. After their point on Matchday 2, Scotland is in a stronger position because pre-tournament underdogs Hungary have not yet scored.

Despite their improvement from their Matchday 1 loss, Marco Rossi’s team ultimately lost to Germany despite putting on a strong first half full of opportunities. Hungary needs to defeat Scotland handily in Stuttgart in order to have the best chance of qualifying, following the hosts’ 2-0 victory.

On Matchday 2, the Scots suffered a serious injury setback when Kieran Tierney was substituted against Switzerland in the second half. The Arsenal defender will not participate in Sunday’s match, and should Scotland advance, his eligibility for the knockout stages may be called into question.

Tierney will be replaced on the left side of defense by Scott McKenna.

Ryan Porteous, who was sent off against Germany on opening night and is serving the second of a two-game suspension, is also not available for Clarke.

Hungary may have been beaten by Germany but their performance may convince Rossi to name an unchanged team for Sunday’s game.

Dominik Szoboszlai will continue to operate behind leading marksman Barnabas Varga with the spritely Rolland Sallai. The experienced Willi Orban needs to produce a stout performance at centre-back following his difficult start to the tournament.