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Key events
Half-time postbag. “Hungary’s tackling is of a level not seen since mid-70s Leeds / mid-80s Wimbledon / mid-Sunday-morning pub team. If Scotland survive this with 22 kneecaps, it’ll be a miracle” – Kev McCready
“Get Ryan Christie in the effin’ game” – Kenneth Burnside
“Appreciate this probably isn’t of the highest priority, but why oh why do we have to have these homogenised kits? It really takes something from the aesthetic. Scotland should be navy/white/red. These one-colour kits are rubbish” – John Potter
“The quality has been very disappointing. Aside from Gilmour, McGinn and McGinn’s arse, the Scotland team is not doing anywhere near enough going forward. Where is a 53-year-old Kenny Miller when you need him?” – Steven Grundy
“Good night, Scott. May you not have to suffer much longer” – Vivek Rajendra
Half-time entertainment. “This morning I made the enjoyable mistake of checking out the unofficial Scottish anthem of Euro 2024, No Scotland No Party,” begins Kári Tulinius. “It was enjoyable because it’s a banger, clearly the song of the footballing summer, but a mistake because it’s been glued to my brain. Hopefully I’ll have many more occasions to listen to it this month.”
(Other unofficial Scotland anthems are available.)
HALF TIME: Scotland 0-0 Hungary
There’s just enough time for Szoboszlai to send a rising drive over the bar from distance – Gunn had it covered – before the whistle goes. Scotland started the brighter; Hungary ended the half looking the more dangerous. That momentum would shift again should Hungary, who have been forceful, if not quite in the Uruguay 1986 style, get one of their men sent off. Three already in the book.
45 min: The resulting free kick is lumped into the mixer. It’s half cleared, then returned by McGinn. The ball dinks off McKenna’s shoulder and it’s an easy pick-up for Gulácsi.
44 min: Schäfer becomes the third Hungarian to go into the book for a sly boot on Hendry, turning up late as the pair contested a 60-40 ball in the centre circle.
43 min: Adams makes an impression down the other end this time, gaining ground down the right and hooking a deep cross into a box completely unpopulated by dark blue shirts. Gulácsi still hasn’t had any serious work to do.
41 min: Szoboszlai wedges a diagonal free kick over the wall and towards Orban, on the left-hand corner of the six-yard box. Orban’s header loops over Gunn and clips the top of the bar and out for a goal kick. Pretty sure Orban would have been flagged offside, having mistimed his run too early, but it’s all moot now.
40 min: Adams concedes another free kick just outside the Scotland D. He does so by attempting a specacular overhead clearance and nearly taking Varga’s head off. Thankfully there’s no actual contact, but only through luck rather than judgement. It’s dangerous play, and Adams is pretty lucky to escape card-based censure.
39 min: The skirl of the pipes for the first time in a while. The beautiful noise gets Scotland going. Ralston whips a cross in from the right. Adams cushions down for McTominay, who can’t hook a shot goalwards. Scotland keep the pressure on, and McGinn has a dig from distance on the right, but it’s an easy claim for Gulácsi.
37 min: Hungary are 27th to Scotland’s 39th, for the record.
35 min: Sallai whistles a long-range effort wide right from 25 yards. Hungary are beginning to show why they’re 12 places above Scotland in the world rankings.
34 min: Hendry tries to usher a ball played down the inside-left channel out for a goal kick. Bolla nips in to claim it and lays off to Kerkez, whose cross from the left is eyebrowed away. Hungary are beginning to apply some pressure for the first time this evening.
33 min: Szoboszlai’s free kick, from a central position, pings off the Scotland wall and out for a corner, from which nothing occurs.
32 min: The resulting free kick is half cleared, but Adams barges into Styles, 25 yards out, and it’s another free kick, this time in a very dangerous position.
30 min: Sallai spins Hendry down the left. Hendry clips him from the back, the pair tangle, then Sallai accidentally stands on Hendry’s chest. Ooyah, oof. Thankfully Hendry is OK, and that incident possibly saved him a booking, the referee taking pity on, or having his concentration broken by, the stricken player.
28 min: The corner’s played short, then long. Hanley heads clear, and Adams tries to counter at speed down the left, but there aren’t many options for him and the break fizzles out.
27 min: Orban goes into the book for flipping McGinn into the air like a sock in a tumble dryer. Gilmour’s aimless free kick is easily cleared, and Hungary break, Kerkez winning a corner down the left off Ralston. Szoboszlai to take.
25 min: Hendry goes barrelling forward down the right but a promising contribution is brought to an end when he’s penalised for barging slap-bang into Kerkez. “Wouldn’t it be quite something if one of McGregor or Styles passed to each other in error and conceded a Callumitous goal?” A rim-shot for Vivek Rajendra, please, he’s earned one.
23 min: Kerkez was pretty fortunate to escape a booking back there, after bringing down McGinn, who was about to tear off down the touchline. The referee having just booked Styles may have had a bearing on his decision, not that it should have, but you get the gist.
21 min: Now McGinn uses his Special Dalglish Place to charge down a Kerkez clearance and win a free kick out on the right. The free kick’s swung in low by Robertson and volleyed clear by his Liverpool team-mate Szoboszlai. McGinn finally showing his undoubted quality at these Euros.
20 min: McGinn and his magic glutes hold off Dardai on the right. Space and time earned, he swings a poor cross into the centre, where McTominay was in space. The ball sails out harmlessly for a goal kick. But that was promising.
18 min: Styles slides through McGinn in a desperate fashion, and yep, the referee has run out of patience with Hungary’s early series of fouls. Into the book he goes. It could be a long game in midfield now for the Sunderland midfielder.
16 min: Scotland with more of the patient midfield stuff. Hungary quite happy to sit back, a tactic that so often works well for them.
14 min: A free kick for Hungary out on the left flank, near the halfway line. Everyone lines up on the edge of the Scotland box. Szoboszlai loops it in, harmlessly so. The floater ends up in Gunn’s hands.
12 min: Styles sends a long ball down the left, loking to release Sallai. Gunn comes to the edge of his box to claim, and McGregor, newly shoed, returns to the action.
11 min: McGregor is off the field changing his boots. Scotland momentarily down to ten.
10 min: … but it’s Scotland who are seeing more of the ball during these opening exchanges. They continue to stroke it around the midfield, while never threatening to find a way to move the play nearer the Hungary goal.
8 min: The first shot in anger is a Hungarian one. Bolla makes good down the right and sends a low, fierce swerver goalwards. Gunn is behind it all the way, but can only spike it, volleyball style, into the air. Robertson tidies up. To be fair to Gunn, the ball was moving all over the shop; to be unfair, that looked a little nervy, a return to his mood of the Germany game.
7 min: McTominay is crudely checked by Botka. Another free kick, this time on the left flank. The referee briefly considered flashing yellow there, before making do with a stern chat. Hungary have already made a couple of feisty challenges, and may not have too many more free ones left.
5 min: More positive bustling in the midfield by McGinn, who is using his glutes to hold off players, turn and make space in the Kenny Dalglish style. A Dalglish style curler into one of the corners would do very nicely tonight as well.
3 min: The free kick’s pumped into the mixer and Hanley is penalised for clambering all over his opponent. But Scotland will be happy enough with their calm and controlled start.
2 min: The game settles down pretty quickly and Scotland stroke the ball around the back awhile. Then suddenly McGinn wriggles out of a tight spot near the centre circle and is hauled back by Dárdai. A free kick and a chance to load the Hungarian box.
1 min: The kick-off has to be retaken, on account of Varga and Kerkez belting down the left wing before the whistle goes. And now we’re off…
Hungary kick off. What an atmosphere in Stuttgart! “A country riven by a rise in nationalism, fuelled by a demagogue leader, expressing nationalist bile in an unintelligible language, against Hungary.” Sunak-soaked satire from Paul Griffin, ladies and gentlemen. He’s here all week, try the harcsapaprikás.
The teams are out! Scotland in blue, Hungary in white. Here we go with the shaking of hands, bumping of fists, tossing of coins, and belting out of national anthems. Hungary’s Himnusz is slow and stately like the water of the Danube, beseeching the lord to bless the Magyar with happy times and good cheer. The Tartan Army meanwhile clatter through Flower of Scotland with nearly as much Caledonian verve as this …
We’ll be off in a couple of minutes.
Scotland boss Steve Clarke talks to the BBC. “I don’t think the team ever picks itself … you’ve got to consider all the options … the type of game it might be … I feel this is the best way we start … maybe not the way we finish, but certainly the best way to start … express ourselves in a high-pressure game … but you have to win with caution … two points won’t be enough, it never is … we prepare the same way almost the same game … if the players sound relaxed that’s great, because you have to be relaxed before you go to the pitch … but you have to understand what your job is, and I believe they do that.”
Pálinka v Scottish Wine. Some big talk here. But does this claim made by the Hungarian masses stack up? A quick look at never-incorrect-nor-shoddily-sourced research tool Wikipedia suggests the Hungarian fruit brandy can pack an 86% ABV punch, which takes some beating. Meanwhile, an article in Chilled magazine reports on Bruichladdich X4, a four-time distilled drop of malt which “stands tall” at 92%, a pose almost certainly beyond anyone drinking the stuff. However tasting notes at online recreational-relaxant outlet The Whisky Exchange adds that X4 “reaches 92% before being bottled at a reduced 50% without ageing (which is why it can’t be called whisky)”. So it’s a moot point, semantic, swings and roundabouts, etc., depending on what you can actually get your hands on. (Those swings and roundabouts best avoided after the first tumbler, by the way.)
Past meetings, then, and let’s start with “SCOTLAND’S BRAVE DISPLAY: Beaten but Not Humbled.” That was the Manchester Guardian’s headline after a Scottish XI containing two players apiece from Partick Thistle, Preston and Clyde took on Ferenc Puskas, Nandor Hidegkuti, Sandor Kocsis, Joszef Bozsik et al at Hampden in December 1954. Bozsik and Hidegkuti put the visitors two up after 26 minutes; goals by Tommy Ring and Bobby Johnstone later sandwiched Hungary’s third by Karoly Sandor; and Scotland were the better team for the majority of the second half in pushing for an equaliser, before Kocsis sealed a 4-2 win for Hungary in the final minute.
A more-than-decent showing, and Scotland followed it up with a brave 3-1 defeat in Budapest the following May, Gordon Smith giving the Scots a surprise lead, Billy Liddell missing a late penalty. A much more respectable pair of results against the famous Aranycsapat than England’s 6-3 and 7-1 maulings, but it’s probably best not to thumb the nose too much, because in between those two matches with Hungary, Scotland were skittered 7-2 by England at Wembley, which if nothing else proves that comparing results in the playground style is a fool’s errand.
Hungary have two more wins against the Scots, in friendlies 1980 and 2004, while Scotland have three victories of their own. The first came in the very first meeting – a 3-1 friendly win in 1938 – and the third in the most recent, a 1-0 win in 2018 secured by Matt Phillips. The second is the most notable, though: a 2-0 home victory in 1987, both goals scored by Ally McCoist, in a match that marked the debut of Chelsea’s fancy new defensive signing from St Mirren, a certain Steve Clarke.
All of which is an extremely long-winded way of saying that this is the first competitive meeting between these two grand old international teams. (Oh, and Preston were one of the best sides in England in the mid-50s, while Clyde were about to win a couple of Scottish Cups, so perhaps those results against Puskas and the lads weren’t so eye-opening after all.)
Scotland captain John McGinn, slightly heavy-lidded but highly amused, speaks to the BBC. “We’ve been trying to prepare the same way we do for every game … but it’s not every game you have thousands of Scotland supporters outside your hotel! … so the afternoon nap was cancelled and we had the Scotland songbook in our ears! … but it was nice that the excitement was grown in anticipation … I think you can hear the tunes in the dressing room, the boys are calm and ready to go … we’re ready … we’re more prepared than three years ago [at Euro 2020] … more experience, more caps … ready for that pressure and responsibility … we can be that team … the manager’s a man of few words, but when he speaks … he did a really good team talk in the hotel … we want to give [fans] more memories and hopefully tonight is another special one.”
Scotland make one change to the XI that started the 1-1 draw with Switzerland. Kieran Tierney is hamstrung, so Scott McKenna takes his place on the left-hand side of the three-man central defence.
Hungary make two changes to their starting line-up after their 2-0 defeat by Germany. Endre Botka comes into the right-hand side of defence, while Bury-born Callum Styles is named in midfield. Attila Fiola and Ádám Nagy drop to the bench. The captain Dominik Szoboszlai has shrugged off injury concerns and is good to play.
The teams
Scotland: Gunn, Hendry, Hanley, McKenna, Ralston, Gilmour, McGregor, Robertson, McTominay, Adams, McGinn.
Subs: Shankland, Christie, Kelly, Cooper, Armstrong, Morgan, Conway, Jack, Clark, McCrorie, McLean, Taylor, Forrest.
Hungary: Gulacsi, Botka, Orban, Dardai, Bolla, Schafer, Styles, Kerkez, Sallai, Szoboszlai, Varga.
Subs: Lang, Balogh, Szalai, Fiola, Nego, Adam Nagy, Adam, Dibusz, Kleinheisler, Gazdag, Zsolt Nagy, Szappanos, Csoboth, Horvath, Kata.
Referee: Facundo Tello Figueroa (Argentina).
Preamble
For a country of Scotland’s size, the complete list of their major tournament qualifications is lengthy and proud. Championnat du Monde de Football Suisse 1954. VM Fotboll Sverige 1958. WM 74. Argentina ‘78. España 82. México ‘86. Italia ‘90. Uefa 92. Euro 96. France 98. Euro 2020(1). Sadly the complete list of the times they’ve failed to get out of the group is exactly the same length and not so much a badge of honour. Championnat du Monde de Football Suisse 1954. VM Fotboll Sverige 1958. WM 74. Argentina… but let’s not belabour the point. We all know what’s what.
But tonight in Stuttgart, Scotland have the chance to finally shake that monkey off their back. A win over Hungary would all but guarantee a place in the knockout stage of a tournament at last, at the 12th time of asking. Only a series of freakish results in the other groups could deny them, though fate has done a number on Scotland many times before, so nobody with even the most basic understanding of superstition will be counting their chickens. But, y’know, a win should do it.
A draw might even be enough. Two points would see the Scots through if Spain, Italy, Portugal and Turkey win their games against Croatia, Albania, Georgia and Czechia respectively. (Those results would leave the third-placed teams in Groups B and F on one point.) England beating Slovenia by a five-goal margin and Denmark defeating Serbia in Group C may also become a requirement should one of the Spain/Italy, Portugal/Turkey capers not go Scotland’s way, but we’re deep into the long grass of nonsense probability now. Best to keep things simple and win.
Defeat, and Scotland are out, sent homewards to think again. The wait will go on. It’s got to happen some day, though, so why not now? Good luck, everyone, may the best team win. Kick-off is at 8pm. It’s on!
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