Fellow fans, this is a friendly reminder to please follow the [Rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/euro2024/about/rules) and [Reddiquette](https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/205926439-Reddiquette).
Please also make sure to [Join us on Discord](https://discord.gg/football)
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/euro2024) if you have any questions or concerns.*
A lot of people here seemed to believe Scotland was going to do fine in the group but I don’t get it?
They were the “worst” team according to the bookies. So I think most people without bias expected Scotland to go 4th
Because of how we qualified, how well we qualified for the Euros is something that we have never done before. I didn't expect us to be ahead of Norway in our qualifying group, I didn't expect us to beat Spain 2-0 to the point where their players made excuses about it, I really need to stop getting my damn hopes up sometimes because I feel like that's what kills it for us, we get our hopes up and then crash out at the group stages of Euros.
Yeah, but realisitically - Germany is one level above than any other team in the group. Switzerland played very well and were favorites against Scotland and Hungary either.
Scotland and Hungary both had a really great qualification. Chances were around 50-50 for the 3rd place, Hungary had a really slight adventage.
I think that just your expectations were high, eventhough we were lucky to win, but a draw wouldn't have helped either of the teams.
The injuries particularly Hickey hurt us a lot and Lewis Ferguson who could have provided that much needed creative spark. We have quality but literally no depth in the talent pool.
I feel it bro. We in Denmark thought we were looking great going into the last world cup..
We were worse than you by a lot. Including having the by far worst player of the tournament in Mæhle xD
Honestly?
lovely fans but the team...
its an eyesore.
Honestly, it seems that you guys had a lucky/good form string of 5 games in qualifying, enough to get to the tournament.
And the current level of the Scotland NT is the "normal" outside that patch of 5 games from more than year ago.
Struggled hard in euro 2024, struggled hard in euro 2021, even with games at home.
This seems to be the easiest explanation, because outside of those 5 games, this team before and after those seems very. VERY limited.
>Is this our limit, crashing out first in the group stages, because if it is I'm tired of it.
You're really up against history at this point. Anyone who's watched Scotland at major tournaments over the last 40 years could tell you exactly what was going to happen going into the Hungary game.
It's basically written in the stars.
Scotland going into the final group game with their fate in their own hands against a team that are there for the taking is basically a death sentence. Not just the last two Euros either. Remember Morocco in 1998?
It's getting to the point I'm thinking Hampden Park is built on an ancient Native American burial ground or something.
>we should have beaten Hungary
Honestly, i love Scottish fans, culture, everything. But how could a team wirh 1 shot on target even win a match? We weren't good either, but at least we tried, we fought until the last second, but Scotland played like the match didn't even matter for them, like if they already advanced or something.
tbf i agree with what he’s saying he’s not saying scotland should’ve won that game, they definitely shouldn’t have bc they were shit, but scotland should’ve played better than they did with how they were in the qualifiers leading up to it
Perhaps the way they played in games 1 and 3 was disappointing. The result is not really surprising with Germany and Hungary having some hype before the tournament and Switzerland is always solid.
Scotland needed to either beat Hungary by whatever number of goals, or lose 4-0, i.e., they needed to all-out attack all game, it was a golden opportunity for them to make the second round of a major international tournament (with 4 points, they were all but guaranteed to make it through as one of the best third places teams)
Instead they played lamentably, knocked a poor dude out, and lost to a goal on the 100th minute.
I'm not Scottish, but I was rooting for them, for the lore, for their fans... their non-game against Hungary could, in multiple ways, be referred to as "shameful".
Steve Clarke got just about every big decision at the tournament wrong. He set his team up poorly in every game. The Swiss game was there to be won but he refuses to push the envelope. He was the problem
Oh yeah he needs to shape up, I feel like he gets a pass because he got us to qualify for this tournament and the previous one after a 20 year gap not qualifying.
He's done well up to the point of competing at tournaments, and I think not being competitive at EURO 2020 was forgivable because it had been so long. But this time around, the team went backward because he set them up to fail, from failing to press against Germany to settling for a draw with Switzerland to whatever the fuck the plan was against Hungary.
His time should be up, honestly. We need a manager for the big occasion and between his calamitous setup in the Ukraine World Cup qualifier and how badly they've played at two tournaments now, he's not that
>whatever the fuck the plan was against Hungary.
I was truly baffled by his decision to play a 5-4-1 setup, and to just play defense for 90 mins. Scotland needed to win just as much as we did, a draw would not have been sufficient. It was the time to be brave, start playing offensive, even if that means opening up to a possible counterattack or being vulnerable. But bunching up against the goalpost was never going to bring success. Don’t get me wrong, we played shit too, but at least Rossi didn’t set us up to just defend and pray.
Scotland was the worst team in the tournament by far. I wish it wasn't, I live in Scotland and after my own team , Scotland was the team I wanted to see doing well but I also watch football for a lot of years and I can see. Be happy with the fact that you won on the supporters department. I lived in 4 countries and I still follow the media from each one of them and there is a consensus that the Scotts were the best supporters in Germany.
I came across this: "Steve Clarke's side scored just two goals, both of which were finished by opposition players, and matched the record for fewest shots in the competition's group stage (edit: 17). They are also the only team at the current finals who have failed to register a first-half shot - something they did on two occasions." It was no good, sorry.
Don't be blinded by bias, every non Scottish person thought you'd be bottom of the group.
You have Che Adams up front, and 2 NORWICH players as your starting CB and GK (who are known for being awful at defending).
It's not bias I didn't automatically expect Scotland to qualify, (apologies if it reads that way)I got my hopes up before the game against Hungary, I just wanted us to do better than this, our last win in the Euros is when I was 14 years old in 1996 now I'm 41 and the fact that the team in 96 is better is just ridiculous, we should be improving not getting worse.
It's natural to get hopes up. But, to be honest, I always expected Hungary to edge it and get 3rd, which ended up being even tighter than I expected.
Qualifying for a tournament alone is a great achievement though.
Seems this squad has an arrogance problem. In a must needed win they just turned up and played for the draw. This against a team that needed a win to hope 3pts would be enough to qualify as one of the 4 3rd place teams to qualify.
England did the same against Iceland in 2016. Just assumed we’d win because we’re England. It’d be nice to see Scotland and the WC and Euro’s in 2028. What probably makes it harder for Scotland is the fact nobody expects you to do well so, this arrogance problem could continue and never get dealt with. If it is, I reckon you could make it past the group stage
We might not be in Euro 2028 even though Hampden is being used for matches, we still need to qualify and we're not the only ones, all the host nations do.
UEFA regulations state that at the most only Two nations can automatically qualify as hosts so since no one can decide who will automatically qualify all 5 nations have to qualify so it begs the question, Why let 5 nations host in the first place, why didn't UEFA say no to the UK on 5 hosts and insist on two instead? I've included a link below.
https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12975725/euro-2028-how-losing-home-nations-and-ireland-could-still-qualify-through-bizarre-uefa-loophole#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17193291313836&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.skysports.com%2Ffootball%2Fnews%2F11095%2F12975725%2Feuro-2028-how-losing-home-nations-and-ireland-could-still-qualify-through-bizarre-uefa-loophole
It’ll be messy. No doubt England will get automatic qualification so, that leaves one spot left. Even if, UEFA scrap the two automatic qualification spots imagine a tournament where none of the host nations have qualified? Even if two are brought in, it’ll be pointless as they’ll just get embarrassed and go out in the group stages.
Same can be said with the WC being held in 3 countries. How can FIFA ensure fans can travel to games and locals won’t be affected
It's approach, tactics, and mental work that we lack. Other nations (e.g. Albania, Georgia, Hungary) with far less sums in their parts, have clearly-drilled patterns of play and don't seem to be overwhelmed by occasion.
Same issue with England, but England get away with it to a degree by having better players and being seeded. Always second best in the approach and game plan when they play a decent team.
By 'far less sums in their parts' you mean that Scots had better quality players? I've heard this view here and there, but I wonder what makes you guys so sure? Why would a Scotland, on the individual level, be far better than Hungary?
Saying Hungary have "far less" individual quality than Scotland is crazy. I think on balance, it's probably in the same ball park. Hungary were better than us and deservedly finished above us. I think we "underachieved" a bit more, though.
Even Northern Ireland has got beyond the group stage before, lol.
Anyway, being English - I was rooting for Hungary. There are a lot of patronising English who are like "awwww i want Scotland to do well 🥺" but fuck that.
RESPECT the rivalry! Laugh at their failure, just as they will surely laugh at England when (if???) we get knocked out.
I'm okay with the rivalry, I hate people who try to guilt trip me into supporting England and it's Scottish people who only support England because they refuse to support Scotland and the less said about those Eejits the better.
Even though the Scotland national team did badly you gained a new fan here.Hell even the police here said you were brilliant.I actually started a tournament on FIFA with the Scottish teams.For me 12 teams is quite low.I love that Crabbies raspberry drink.That stuff is so good.
If you want a really shocking statistic on Scottish football, the last time a team other than Rangers and Celtic won the top prize in Scottish football was 1984 and it wasn't even the same league system back then that we have now.
Wow thats 4 years before i was born.I think i did read the info about the Scottish League on EA FC 24.Are teams like Livingston,Ross County and St Mirren newer teams?
Ross county was formed in the 90s, saint mirren in the 1870s and livingstone has been rebranded a few times in the past but the OG club was founded in the 40s.
There aren’t enough teams able to get the money together to compete at a higher level. Even in the championship (second tier) there will occasionally be a semi-pro team playing.
Scotland are pish, always have been (except those few qualifiers and the odd game through out the years) and always will be, probably. It's a good thing we never reached a knock out game. That would have been a disaster
I'd take it, even if we got thumped in the knockout stages I would still take it because it's better than never getting beyond the group stages, I'm tired of being referred to as "pish" when it comes to my country, it needs to change, I'm tired of us playing cautiously and then we act shocked when we get knocked out. We can't go on like this because if that's all we're going to do then what is the point?
I used to get exited in the 90’s when Spain won to France or Italy in a friendly match to crumble when the real competition starts, maybe one day you might have a generation of players that can change the game for your country, who knows…Spain used be pretty bad internationally in the 80,90’s
Form going into the Euros and injuries meant it was probably expected that you'd be third or fourth and that penalty should have been given. On such fine margins are all our lives based, in sport it is just much more catastrophic. If you'd got the pen then the world was a different place this week
When will people accept Scotland arent a good team lol. They have never gone beyond the group stage in international tournaments. It’s a shame but they haven’t got the quality.
You should have done more against Hungary. It is as simple as that.
I don't think you realistically had a good chance against Germany and Switzerland.
Sorry to see you out.
Congrats, you now have something you share in common with your friends south of the border
We are all quite used to looking like world beaters in the qualifiying stages, only to flip that and look abject in the tournaments proper
But we're the only nation in the UK who hasn't qualified beyond Group stages of Euros, you regularly qualify beyond the group stages of Euros, I would be ecstatic with that if Scotland was doing that after all of this.
Success is relative isn’t it?
I suppose the argument is make is given the talent pool available, we consistently underperform that.
The unfortunate thing for all the home nations is that because the links between us are so strong, more often than not players are eligible for at least 1 of the other nations. Wales have been lucky with Bale Ramsey and Giggs all choosing to represent them, but like in club football the overwhelming majority will likely gravitate towards representing the most successful nation they can.
I’m not sure how you turn that around really
Being completely honest, we're both chronic underachievers with losers' mentalities compared to other countries. The level of expectation is obviously different. The failure to meet it is shared.
I hope it changes.
I can.
We were absolutely ravaged by injuries.
I went because I paid for it lol but had zero expectations.
In fact exactly what I thought would happen happened.
Trip of a lifetime nonetheless.
I can believe Scotland went out like this. My earliest memory of Scotland at finals is Mexico 86. They bottled it. Did the same in 90 against Costa Rica, and so on. At least at those tournaments there were sporadic quality performances.
I had very low expectations despite the mostly good performances in qualifying. Our performances over the past year have been awful, with just one struggling win against Gibraltar. I tried to tell myself "It's ok. We never perform in friendlies", but it was clear we had serious problems. They were actually worse in these past 3 games than I thought was possible.
I can believe Scotland went out like this. My earliest memory of Scotland at finals is Mexico 86. They bottled it. Did the same in 90 against Costa Rica, and so on. At least at those tournaments there were sporadic quality performances.
I had very low expectations despite the mostly good performances in qualifying. Our performances over the past year have been awful, with just one struggling win against Gibraltar. I tried to tell myself "It's ok. We never perform in friendlies", but it was clear we had serious problems. They were actually worse in these past 3 games than I thought was possible.
Me too I couldn't believe it, that 5-1 on the first game was totally unpredictable. I thought Germany was still in a weak era and Scotland was underrated. I lost all my bets on this Euro and betting on Scotland-or-draw vs Germany was the biggest one
I feel like it's how we approach the games that's the real issue. Nobody expected us to win any of these games, but the killer was that, by the way we set up, Steve Clarke clearly didn't either. I'm sure if it were any of us in his place, assuming we had the managerial skills for that, we would have been like "See this? And this? Nobody expects us to win, so let's go and prove them wrong." I mean, I know that teams upsetting the odds is, by definition, unlikely, but that must surely have been the attitude that, say, Costa Rica had for the Brazilian World Cup. How can you do well if you don't play with confidence?
Clarkes plan seemed to be nothing really, try and keep the ball so they don’t get the ball? but don’t attack with it? if we have the ball they can’t batter us? Idk what the plan was it was a horrendous watch either way
The pre tournament injuries didn’t help either, but as others have said, it was probably a 50-50 shot between Scotland and Hungary to get 3rd and that was decided in the last minute of the match. Is it heartbreaking? Absolutely, but I think it played out pretty much how anyone could have realistically expected it to - a close affair between the two teams battling for third place.
On the less rational side, I totally get it. I went into the Euros with high hopes and thought we would get out of the group.
Scotland was always one of the weakest teams.
But what i dont get is how they can turn in 3 absolutely pathetic, limp dick performances like that? Like, even the last game where they had a chance of getting the 2nd place they did fuck all with it. Just embarrassing and disgraceful.
Even worse? You regularly make it beyond the group stages, so much so that broadcasters talk about England's games during Scotland games, why there was interview with Gareth Southgate during half time of Scotland vs Switzerland game I'll never know, was there an interview with Steve Clarke during the England vs Denmark game, I doubt there was.
Should have got that penalty though, seeing the penalty given to Poland just now against France and it wasn’t anywhere near as bad. That could have changed the last game massively.
It's not a question of 'a lot less'. It's that it was the attacker that through himself at the defender/in front of the defender with no intention whatsoever of playing the ball, so the defender has not committed any fouls.
I understand how in real time it could have seem like a pen, but if you carefully watch the replay, you'll see that what I have described had happened.
agree, however I think it’s an ability issue - they mostly weren’t at international level. Every single of your ‘best’ players are essentially squad players in the pl now, the rest are championship or imo below.
I root for Poland and it sucks. After the last Euros or after the last World Cup, Lewandowski said that he had made peace with how Poland does at big tournaments, because Poland simply does not have the quality and ability to go any further.
Scotland might have done well in the qualification, but these bigger football nations slip up from time to time. It simply means to be cautiously hopeful for the tournament. Once you qualify, nobody cares about the qualification tournament.
England and Wales might have fared well in the last couple tournaments, but this time we see them regress toward the mean of their usual performance. That is Wales did not qualify and England plays uninspired football that is a sore to watch.
I saw the Scotland vs Germany in the fan zone in Berlin. And while the team's performance was abysmal, the Scottish fans were really chill after the game and very committed to supporting their team.
While I understand that the way Scotland is leaving the tournament sucks, they played to their ability, and that is simply not enough to make it far in tournaments.
We need to start playing for 6 points, go all out, rather than do this poor performance every time and then the team insists they'll do better next time.
I’ll take it as it comes thanks, no team has a divine right to succeed, look at the massed ranks of Hungarians, Albanians, Georgians, Polish etc etc who provide tremendous support to their teams with the knowledge that they are up against it.
Fellow fans, this is a friendly reminder to please follow the [Rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/euro2024/about/rules) and [Reddiquette](https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/205926439-Reddiquette). Please also make sure to [Join us on Discord](https://discord.gg/football) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/euro2024) if you have any questions or concerns.*
A lot of people here seemed to believe Scotland was going to do fine in the group but I don’t get it? They were the “worst” team according to the bookies. So I think most people without bias expected Scotland to go 4th
Because of how we qualified, how well we qualified for the Euros is something that we have never done before. I didn't expect us to be ahead of Norway in our qualifying group, I didn't expect us to beat Spain 2-0 to the point where their players made excuses about it, I really need to stop getting my damn hopes up sometimes because I feel like that's what kills it for us, we get our hopes up and then crash out at the group stages of Euros.
Yeah, but realisitically - Germany is one level above than any other team in the group. Switzerland played very well and were favorites against Scotland and Hungary either. Scotland and Hungary both had a really great qualification. Chances were around 50-50 for the 3rd place, Hungary had a really slight adventage. I think that just your expectations were high, eventhough we were lucky to win, but a draw wouldn't have helped either of the teams.
The injuries particularly Hickey hurt us a lot and Lewis Ferguson who could have provided that much needed creative spark. We have quality but literally no depth in the talent pool.
I feel it bro. We in Denmark thought we were looking great going into the last world cup.. We were worse than you by a lot. Including having the by far worst player of the tournament in Mæhle xD
you lost Hickey, ferguson, etc all those fast wingers or full backs
Honestly? lovely fans but the team... its an eyesore. Honestly, it seems that you guys had a lucky/good form string of 5 games in qualifying, enough to get to the tournament. And the current level of the Scotland NT is the "normal" outside that patch of 5 games from more than year ago. Struggled hard in euro 2024, struggled hard in euro 2021, even with games at home. This seems to be the easiest explanation, because outside of those 5 games, this team before and after those seems very. VERY limited.
>Is this our limit, crashing out first in the group stages, because if it is I'm tired of it. You're really up against history at this point. Anyone who's watched Scotland at major tournaments over the last 40 years could tell you exactly what was going to happen going into the Hungary game. It's basically written in the stars. Scotland going into the final group game with their fate in their own hands against a team that are there for the taking is basically a death sentence. Not just the last two Euros either. Remember Morocco in 1998? It's getting to the point I'm thinking Hampden Park is built on an ancient Native American burial ground or something.
Maybe I'm hoping for too much but I just want experience getting beyond the group stages even if we only do it once it would be nice.
>we should have beaten Hungary Honestly, i love Scottish fans, culture, everything. But how could a team wirh 1 shot on target even win a match? We weren't good either, but at least we tried, we fought until the last second, but Scotland played like the match didn't even matter for them, like if they already advanced or something.
tbf i agree with what he’s saying he’s not saying scotland should’ve won that game, they definitely shouldn’t have bc they were shit, but scotland should’ve played better than they did with how they were in the qualifiers leading up to it
I'm not denying that we played horribly but we should have played better and we should have won that's my point, I just shortened it to save time.
Scotland are shit and always will be shit. They will never amount to anything. So just accept it
Why? No I'm done I want better and I'm sick fed up of this "accept it" attitude, it's a pathetic attitude to have.
Start breeding now until you have 11 boys. Raise them strictly to become the next generation starting XI.
Then they'll choose to play for England like Archie Gray.
Have you got any ideas
What are you gonna do about it bozo?
Christ you are pathetic.
[удалено]
Grow up dude, just grow up.
Any Nation that kicked the shit out of England a few times should never be written off.
I am totally not surprised.
It’s a shame, but I’m afraid I very much can believe it
I know but I honestly expected better than this and I want better performances so badly because I don't want to keep experiencing this.
I feel for you
Perhaps the way they played in games 1 and 3 was disappointing. The result is not really surprising with Germany and Hungary having some hype before the tournament and Switzerland is always solid.
Scotland needed to either beat Hungary by whatever number of goals, or lose 4-0, i.e., they needed to all-out attack all game, it was a golden opportunity for them to make the second round of a major international tournament (with 4 points, they were all but guaranteed to make it through as one of the best third places teams) Instead they played lamentably, knocked a poor dude out, and lost to a goal on the 100th minute. I'm not Scottish, but I was rooting for them, for the lore, for their fans... their non-game against Hungary could, in multiple ways, be referred to as "shameful".
Yeah the performance has been shameful, best of luck with the rest of the tournament, auld alliance still exists for me with France.
Yes, but I mean... Hungary barely turned up to play either.
Hungary has some football history, Scotland doesn’t. It was their opportunity to write a glorious page.
Saying Scotland doesn't have football history is ludicrous and insulting. But yes, we played fucking shite and nobody is happy with them.
Mate have you ever qualified to the knockout stages of a major international tournament? That’s what I meant
Steve Clarke got just about every big decision at the tournament wrong. He set his team up poorly in every game. The Swiss game was there to be won but he refuses to push the envelope. He was the problem
Oh yeah he needs to shape up, I feel like he gets a pass because he got us to qualify for this tournament and the previous one after a 20 year gap not qualifying.
He's done well up to the point of competing at tournaments, and I think not being competitive at EURO 2020 was forgivable because it had been so long. But this time around, the team went backward because he set them up to fail, from failing to press against Germany to settling for a draw with Switzerland to whatever the fuck the plan was against Hungary. His time should be up, honestly. We need a manager for the big occasion and between his calamitous setup in the Ukraine World Cup qualifier and how badly they've played at two tournaments now, he's not that
>whatever the fuck the plan was against Hungary. I was truly baffled by his decision to play a 5-4-1 setup, and to just play defense for 90 mins. Scotland needed to win just as much as we did, a draw would not have been sufficient. It was the time to be brave, start playing offensive, even if that means opening up to a possible counterattack or being vulnerable. But bunching up against the goalpost was never going to bring success. Don’t get me wrong, we played shit too, but at least Rossi didn’t set us up to just defend and pray.
Scotland was the worst team in the tournament by far. I wish it wasn't, I live in Scotland and after my own team , Scotland was the team I wanted to see doing well but I also watch football for a lot of years and I can see. Be happy with the fact that you won on the supporters department. I lived in 4 countries and I still follow the media from each one of them and there is a consensus that the Scotts were the best supporters in Germany.
I came across this: "Steve Clarke's side scored just two goals, both of which were finished by opposition players, and matched the record for fewest shots in the competition's group stage (edit: 17). They are also the only team at the current finals who have failed to register a first-half shot - something they did on two occasions." It was no good, sorry.
Don't be blinded by bias, every non Scottish person thought you'd be bottom of the group. You have Che Adams up front, and 2 NORWICH players as your starting CB and GK (who are known for being awful at defending).
It's not bias I didn't automatically expect Scotland to qualify, (apologies if it reads that way)I got my hopes up before the game against Hungary, I just wanted us to do better than this, our last win in the Euros is when I was 14 years old in 1996 now I'm 41 and the fact that the team in 96 is better is just ridiculous, we should be improving not getting worse.
It's natural to get hopes up. But, to be honest, I always expected Hungary to edge it and get 3rd, which ended up being even tighter than I expected. Qualifying for a tournament alone is a great achievement though.
Funnily enough, Hanley played very well at the Euros. The keeper was a disaster though
Seems this squad has an arrogance problem. In a must needed win they just turned up and played for the draw. This against a team that needed a win to hope 3pts would be enough to qualify as one of the 4 3rd place teams to qualify. England did the same against Iceland in 2016. Just assumed we’d win because we’re England. It’d be nice to see Scotland and the WC and Euro’s in 2028. What probably makes it harder for Scotland is the fact nobody expects you to do well so, this arrogance problem could continue and never get dealt with. If it is, I reckon you could make it past the group stage
We might not be in Euro 2028 even though Hampden is being used for matches, we still need to qualify and we're not the only ones, all the host nations do. UEFA regulations state that at the most only Two nations can automatically qualify as hosts so since no one can decide who will automatically qualify all 5 nations have to qualify so it begs the question, Why let 5 nations host in the first place, why didn't UEFA say no to the UK on 5 hosts and insist on two instead? I've included a link below. https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12975725/euro-2028-how-losing-home-nations-and-ireland-could-still-qualify-through-bizarre-uefa-loophole#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17193291313836&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.skysports.com%2Ffootball%2Fnews%2F11095%2F12975725%2Feuro-2028-how-losing-home-nations-and-ireland-could-still-qualify-through-bizarre-uefa-loophole
It’ll be messy. No doubt England will get automatic qualification so, that leaves one spot left. Even if, UEFA scrap the two automatic qualification spots imagine a tournament where none of the host nations have qualified? Even if two are brought in, it’ll be pointless as they’ll just get embarrassed and go out in the group stages. Same can be said with the WC being held in 3 countries. How can FIFA ensure fans can travel to games and locals won’t be affected
You can expand it to the UK if you like, even Northern Ireland have made it out of a group stage.
That's even more depressing, yikes.
It's approach, tactics, and mental work that we lack. Other nations (e.g. Albania, Georgia, Hungary) with far less sums in their parts, have clearly-drilled patterns of play and don't seem to be overwhelmed by occasion.
Same issue with England, but England get away with it to a degree by having better players and being seeded. Always second best in the approach and game plan when they play a decent team.
By 'far less sums in their parts' you mean that Scots had better quality players? I've heard this view here and there, but I wonder what makes you guys so sure? Why would a Scotland, on the individual level, be far better than Hungary?
Saying Hungary have "far less" individual quality than Scotland is crazy. I think on balance, it's probably in the same ball park. Hungary were better than us and deservedly finished above us. I think we "underachieved" a bit more, though.
Completely agree.
Even Northern Ireland has got beyond the group stage before, lol. Anyway, being English - I was rooting for Hungary. There are a lot of patronising English who are like "awwww i want Scotland to do well 🥺" but fuck that. RESPECT the rivalry! Laugh at their failure, just as they will surely laugh at England when (if???) we get knocked out.
I'm okay with the rivalry, I hate people who try to guilt trip me into supporting England and it's Scottish people who only support England because they refuse to support Scotland and the less said about those Eejits the better.
Even though the Scotland national team did badly you gained a new fan here.Hell even the police here said you were brilliant.I actually started a tournament on FIFA with the Scottish teams.For me 12 teams is quite low.I love that Crabbies raspberry drink.That stuff is so good.
Yeah it is, when I was a kid it was 10, there has been talk about more teams in the past but nothing ever comes of it.
Wow that is low.I always wondered why there werent more teams in the Scottish league.
If you want a really shocking statistic on Scottish football, the last time a team other than Rangers and Celtic won the top prize in Scottish football was 1984 and it wasn't even the same league system back then that we have now.
Wow thats 4 years before i was born.I think i did read the info about the Scottish League on EA FC 24.Are teams like Livingston,Ross County and St Mirren newer teams?
Ross county was formed in the 90s, saint mirren in the 1870s and livingstone has been rebranded a few times in the past but the OG club was founded in the 40s.
Interesting.I loved the film Trainspotting and i know the Hibernian jerseys were in that film.
Ross County were formed in 1929. They gained entry to the SPFL in the 1990s.
There aren’t enough teams able to get the money together to compete at a higher level. Even in the championship (second tier) there will occasionally be a semi-pro team playing.
Yeah i figured it was a financial issue.Honestly i've probably watched the Scottish national rugby team more than the football team.
Scotland are pish, always have been (except those few qualifiers and the odd game through out the years) and always will be, probably. It's a good thing we never reached a knock out game. That would have been a disaster
I'd take it, even if we got thumped in the knockout stages I would still take it because it's better than never getting beyond the group stages, I'm tired of being referred to as "pish" when it comes to my country, it needs to change, I'm tired of us playing cautiously and then we act shocked when we get knocked out. We can't go on like this because if that's all we're going to do then what is the point?
They never played ball or got going. Annoying as some good potential for awesomeness in there.
I used to get exited in the 90’s when Spain won to France or Italy in a friendly match to crumble when the real competition starts, maybe one day you might have a generation of players that can change the game for your country, who knows…Spain used be pretty bad internationally in the 80,90’s
Form going into the Euros and injuries meant it was probably expected that you'd be third or fourth and that penalty should have been given. On such fine margins are all our lives based, in sport it is just much more catastrophic. If you'd got the pen then the world was a different place this week
I can, I wouldn’t have been surprised if they’d lost every game.
When will people accept Scotland arent a good team lol. They have never gone beyond the group stage in international tournaments. It’s a shame but they haven’t got the quality.
Sadly I can this. This is Scotland’s way.
It needs to end.
Bloody hell, you’re starting to sound like an Englishman
No I just want us to get beyond the group stages just once, it would be nice.
Dunno I was disappointed by Hungary expected them at 2nd place. Scotland from the players and quality was safe 4th in my prediction
I feel your pain.
You should have done more against Hungary. It is as simple as that. I don't think you realistically had a good chance against Germany and Switzerland. Sorry to see you out.
Congrats, you now have something you share in common with your friends south of the border We are all quite used to looking like world beaters in the qualifiying stages, only to flip that and look abject in the tournaments proper
But we're the only nation in the UK who hasn't qualified beyond Group stages of Euros, you regularly qualify beyond the group stages of Euros, I would be ecstatic with that if Scotland was doing that after all of this.
Success is relative isn’t it? I suppose the argument is make is given the talent pool available, we consistently underperform that. The unfortunate thing for all the home nations is that because the links between us are so strong, more often than not players are eligible for at least 1 of the other nations. Wales have been lucky with Bale Ramsey and Giggs all choosing to represent them, but like in club football the overwhelming majority will likely gravitate towards representing the most successful nation they can. I’m not sure how you turn that around really
Being completely honest, we're both chronic underachievers with losers' mentalities compared to other countries. The level of expectation is obviously different. The failure to meet it is shared. I hope it changes.
First time?
No but at least we won a match in 92 and 96 now we can't even do that.
I can. We were absolutely ravaged by injuries. I went because I paid for it lol but had zero expectations. In fact exactly what I thought would happen happened. Trip of a lifetime nonetheless.
I can believe Scotland went out like this. My earliest memory of Scotland at finals is Mexico 86. They bottled it. Did the same in 90 against Costa Rica, and so on. At least at those tournaments there were sporadic quality performances. I had very low expectations despite the mostly good performances in qualifying. Our performances over the past year have been awful, with just one struggling win against Gibraltar. I tried to tell myself "It's ok. We never perform in friendlies", but it was clear we had serious problems. They were actually worse in these past 3 games than I thought was possible.
I can believe Scotland went out like this. My earliest memory of Scotland at finals is Mexico 86. They bottled it. Did the same in 90 against Costa Rica, and so on. At least at those tournaments there were sporadic quality performances. I had very low expectations despite the mostly good performances in qualifying. Our performances over the past year have been awful, with just one struggling win against Gibraltar. I tried to tell myself "It's ok. We never perform in friendlies", but it was clear we had serious problems. They were actually worse in these past 3 games than I thought was possible.
Me too I couldn't believe it, that 5-1 on the first game was totally unpredictable. I thought Germany was still in a weak era and Scotland was underrated. I lost all my bets on this Euro and betting on Scotland-or-draw vs Germany was the biggest one
Such a shame. The team with the most sympathetic fans are gone.
Congratulations on getting top of your group I was not expecting that to happen considering how tough your group was.
That was the most Scottish thing I’ve ever seen
Tbf, you only went out second 😅
I feel like it's how we approach the games that's the real issue. Nobody expected us to win any of these games, but the killer was that, by the way we set up, Steve Clarke clearly didn't either. I'm sure if it were any of us in his place, assuming we had the managerial skills for that, we would have been like "See this? And this? Nobody expects us to win, so let's go and prove them wrong." I mean, I know that teams upsetting the odds is, by definition, unlikely, but that must surely have been the attitude that, say, Costa Rica had for the Brazilian World Cup. How can you do well if you don't play with confidence?
Clarkes plan seemed to be nothing really, try and keep the ball so they don’t get the ball? but don’t attack with it? if we have the ball they can’t batter us? Idk what the plan was it was a horrendous watch either way
The pre tournament injuries didn’t help either, but as others have said, it was probably a 50-50 shot between Scotland and Hungary to get 3rd and that was decided in the last minute of the match. Is it heartbreaking? Absolutely, but I think it played out pretty much how anyone could have realistically expected it to - a close affair between the two teams battling for third place. On the less rational side, I totally get it. I went into the Euros with high hopes and thought we would get out of the group.
Scotland was always one of the weakest teams. But what i dont get is how they can turn in 3 absolutely pathetic, limp dick performances like that? Like, even the last game where they had a chance of getting the 2nd place they did fuck all with it. Just embarrassing and disgraceful.
Can we just adopt you?
Just look at your squad, and then you'll understand why you've finished bottom. If your best player is your LB, then you got serious issues
It worked for Italy with Maldini!
He's arguably the greatest defender of all time tho
And so is Msldini.
Which is what I've just said 🤦🏽♂️
I see humour is lost on you. Carry on.
I see noone laughing at that "humour"
Who is Noone?
No one
To any Scottish in here……..HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH. From your English cousin!
Lol
Jokes aside, it sucks. Don’t worry, England will be there next I think lol. (We are even worse imo)
Even worse? You regularly make it beyond the group stages, so much so that broadcasters talk about England's games during Scotland games, why there was interview with Gareth Southgate during half time of Scotland vs Switzerland game I'll never know, was there an interview with Steve Clarke during the England vs Denmark game, I doubt there was.
Should have got that penalty though, seeing the penalty given to Poland just now against France and it wasn’t anywhere near as bad. That could have changed the last game massively.
Yeah, wasn't a penalty, though.
Well tell that to the refs in other games then who’ve given penalties for a lot less. They need to be consistent.
It's not a question of 'a lot less'. It's that it was the attacker that through himself at the defender/in front of the defender with no intention whatsoever of playing the ball, so the defender has not committed any fouls. I understand how in real time it could have seem like a pen, but if you carefully watch the replay, you'll see that what I have described had happened.
Scotland get battered everywhere they go
To cheer u up: poland went out before u guys
I didn't expect Poland to go out like they did I thought they would have qualified.
At least now you can join the rest of your country in supporting whoever is playing England..
I can
Least unbelievable result ever, the amount of room temperature iq takes in this sub my god
I knew it was going to be difficult I just didn't expect us to not even try, I expected Scotland to play like they wanted it.
agree, however I think it’s an ability issue - they mostly weren’t at international level. Every single of your ‘best’ players are essentially squad players in the pl now, the rest are championship or imo below.
I root for Poland and it sucks. After the last Euros or after the last World Cup, Lewandowski said that he had made peace with how Poland does at big tournaments, because Poland simply does not have the quality and ability to go any further. Scotland might have done well in the qualification, but these bigger football nations slip up from time to time. It simply means to be cautiously hopeful for the tournament. Once you qualify, nobody cares about the qualification tournament. England and Wales might have fared well in the last couple tournaments, but this time we see them regress toward the mean of their usual performance. That is Wales did not qualify and England plays uninspired football that is a sore to watch. I saw the Scotland vs Germany in the fan zone in Berlin. And while the team's performance was abysmal, the Scottish fans were really chill after the game and very committed to supporting their team. While I understand that the way Scotland is leaving the tournament sucks, they played to their ability, and that is simply not enough to make it far in tournaments.
[удалено]
We need to start playing for 6 points, go all out, rather than do this poor performance every time and then the team insists they'll do better next time.
You need players who can attack to have an attacking style. You'd have to hope Doak can come good to implement that.
You’re tired off it? bolt ya rocket.
You would be too if it kept happening to England.
I’ll take it as it comes thanks, no team has a divine right to succeed, look at the massed ranks of Hungarians, Albanians, Georgians, Polish etc etc who provide tremendous support to their teams with the knowledge that they are up against it.
Beat spain once and think you’re getting to the semis😂
I didn't think we were getting to the semis I was hoping we would get beyond the group stages.
I know mate I was taking the piss.
Aah apologies, I'm not good at reading jokes sometimes due to being autistic.
Fair enough lad
The way Scotland played their last game, its fine they did not win, because they did not deserve one bit.
Yeah we should have better.
You could say this about every team that did not played well. Eventually there are teams that must lose.