Now that Scotland manager Steve Clarke has masterminded back-to-back European Championship appearances for his country for the first time since 1996, he will aim to go one step further and take them into the knockout stages for the first time.
Scotland kick off Euro 2024 against hosts Germany on June 14 before playing Switzerland and then Hungary in Group A.
The Scots returned to the big stage of international football at the previous Euros, having not appeared at a tournament since the 1998 World Cup in France.
They have never made it out of the group stage in 11 major tournaments.
Fans are hopeful of an historic run this time, though, as Scotland were terrific in qualifying, losing only once to group winners Spain and reaching the finals with two games to spare.
“To qualify for successive Euros after more than 20 years is phenomenal and testament to their hard work,” Clarke said when Scotland clinched their spot back in October.
“I said after Euro 2020 that we wanted to be serial qualifiers again and reaching successive Euro finals (tournaments) shows the progress we’ve made.”
Led by Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay and Liverpool defender Andy Robertson, Scotland won their first five qualifying games, including a 2-0 victory over Spain in which McTominay scored both goals.
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Despite a 2-0 defeat by Spain in Seville, Scotland’s place was assured ahead of a much fancied Norway, whose team included Manchester City striker Erling Haaland and Arsenal playmaker Martin Odegaard, after they failed to beat the Spanish.
Clarke said his side were determined to reach uncharted territory in the tournament.
“When you get to that sort of level of competition, you have to get everything right, not just nearly everything right,” he told the BBC recently.
“And that’s what Scotland teams haven’t been able to do in the past. “We should have done it, but we didn’t. We messed it up. Hopefully, we can be the first squad to do it.”
McTominay, whose seven goals in qualifying were one fewer than England’s Harry Kane and one more than Haaland, will be one of the influential figures in the dressing room, along with Robertson and Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn.
Since their qualification group finished, Scotland have been on a seven-game winless run, including a 4-0 rout by the Netherlands and 1-0 loss to Northern Ireland.
They were playing two more friendlies to rediscover their form before Euro 2024 kicks off, against Gibraltar on June 3 and Finland on June 7.
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