This final Euro 2024 Group A match between Scotland and Hungary will take place on Sunday 23rd June 2024 at 8pm (BST).
The game will take place at the Stuttgart Arena in Stuttgart, the home of VfB Stuttgart which has a capacity of 51,000. This stadium notably hosted the 1998 European Cup final and the 2006 World Cup third-place play-off.
Match Preview & Prediction
Scotland made it back-to-back Euro tournaments under Steve Clarke, they finished their qualifying group in second place, runners-up to European giants Spain.
The Tartan Army haven’t won a game in this competition since 1996, they head into this campaign with the confidence and hope of causing a few upsets on the way following their qualification results.
To Qualify From Group - Scotland
The Scots share Group A with the hosts Germany, Switzerland and Hungary. Realistically, it’s unlikely that Scotland will defy the betting odds and win this group, if they are to qualify into the round of 16, you’d probably expect it to come via the third best place route, although a result here and they’ll definitely have their eye on that second automatic spot.
This is Hungary’s third Euro tournament in a row, the Magyars finished bottom of their group in Euro 2020, although the group had been labelled as the “group of death”.
However, they really impressed in their qualifying campaign, they topped the group after going eight games unbeaten.
Hungary could be a bit of a dark horse in this group given their recent run of form, realistically though, like their opponents Scotland, they’ll be looking to finish as the third best placed team and qualifying via that route, it could all come down to this final fixture.
Scotland vs Hungary History
These two sides have only come head-to-head on nine occasions over the years and it’s a fairly even record, Scotland have won three, Hungary have been victorious in four of them and the remaining two have ended in draws.
The first game between the two nations took place in 1938 with Scotland winning the international friendly 3-1.
To Qualify From Group - Hungary
Since the turn of the millennium, the two nations have played each other twice. The first came in 2004 at Hampden Park, Hungary won the game 3-0 which led to the home faithful booing Berti Vogts’s side off the pitch.
The Tartan Army have put things right since then though, a 1-0 victory away from home in 2018 gives Scotland the most recent win between the two.
Hungary v Scotland Betting Odds
The sports betting odds have this game to be a tight contest, it’s likely the final qualifying spot will all come down to this final group game, both sides will be hoping for a victory.
Scotland Squad Euro 2024
Goalkeepers:
Zander Clark (Hearts), Craig Gordon (Hearts), Angus Gunn (Norwich City) and Liam Kelly (Motherwell).
Defenders:
Liam Cooper (Leeds United), Grant Hanley (Norwich City), Jack Hendry (Al-Ettifaq), Scott McKenna (Copenhagen), Ryan Porteous (Watford), Anthony Ralston (Celtic), Andy Robertson (Liverpool), John Souttar (Rangers), Greg Taylor (Celtic), Ross McCrorie (Bristol City) and Kieran Tierney (Real Sociedad).
Midfielders:
Stuart Armstrong (Southampton), Callum McGregor (Celtic), Ryan Jack (Rangers), Ryan Christie (Bournemouth), Billy Gilmour (Brighton), John McGinn (Aston Villa), Kenny McLean (Norwich City) and Scott McTominay (Manchester United).
Forwards:
Che Adams (Southampton), Ben Doak (Liverpool), James Forrest (Celtic) and Lawrence Shankland (Hearts).
Hungary Squad Euro 2024
Goalkeepers:
Péter Gulácsi (RB Leipzig), Dénes Dibusz (Ferencváros) and Peter Szappanos (Paksi FC).
Defenders:
Ádám Lang (Omonia), Attila Szalai (Hoffenheim), Botond Balogh (Parma), Márton Dárdai (Hertha BSC), Willi Orbán (RB Leipzig), Endre Botka (Ferencvaros), Milos Kerkez (Bournemouth), Zsolt Nagy (Puskás Akadémia), Loïc Négo (Le Havre) and Attila Fiola (Fehervar).
Midfielders:
Ádám Nagy (Spezia), Dominik Szoboszlai (Liverpool), András Schäfer (Union Berlin), Bendegúz Bolla (Servette), László Kleinheisler (Hajduk Split), Dániel Gazdag (Philadelphia Union), Mihaly Kata (MTK Budapest), Krisztofer Horvath (Kecskemeti) and Callum Styles (Sunderland).
Forwards:
Martin Ádám (Ulsan HD), Barnabás Varga (Ferencváros), Roland Sallai (Freiburg) and Kevin Csoboth (Ujpest FC).
Hungary and Scotland Euro 2024 Predictions
Here are my Euro 2024 predictions for these two nations.
Scotland – Steve Clarke’s side will of course be hoping to qualify from this group but it’s likely if they are to do so, it’ll come via the third-place route resulting in a number of scenarios in terms of their opponents in the round of 16, they would definitely meet a group winner though and I feel like that would be a step too far for Scotland.
Hungary – Hungary will be looking to pip Scotland to that third-place qualifying position, I think it will all come down to this fixture, whichever team finishes third will face a group winner if they qualify, I think both teams will struggle at that stage of the tournament. In terms of the Euro 2024 odds, Hungary are currently 4/6 to make it out of the group.
*Credit for the main photo belongs to Alamy*
