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Key events
Past meetings, then, and let’s begin with SCOTLAND’S BRAVE DISPLAY: Beaten but not humiliated.” That was the headline in the Manchester Guardian after a Scottish XI featuring two players each from Partick Thistle, Preston and Clyde faced Ferenc Puskas, Nandor Hidegkuti, Sandor Kocsis, Josef Bozik and others at Hampden in December 1954. Bozik and Hidegkuti brought out two visitors after 26 minutes; goals from Tommy Ring and Bobby Johnstone later led to Hungary’s third through Karoli Sandor; and Scotland were the better team for most of the second half in pursuit of an equalizer before Kocsis sealed a 4-2 victory for Hungary in the last minute.
A more than decent performance and Scotland followed it up with a gutsy 3-1 defeat in Budapest the following May, Gordon Smith giving the Scots a surprise lead and Billy Liddell missing a late penalty. A much more worthy pair of results against the famous Araniksapat than England’s 6-3 and 7-1 thrashings, but it’s probably best not to push the nose too hard because between those two games with HungaryScotland lost 7-2 to England at Wembley, which, if nothing else, proves that comparing results on pitch style is a fool’s errand.
Hungary have two other wins against the Scots, in friendlies in 1980 and 2004, while Scotland have three of their own. The first came in the first meeting – a 3-1 friendly win in 1938 – and the third in the last, a 1-0 win in 2018, secured by Matt Phillips. The second, however, is the most remarkable: a 2-0 home win in 1987, both goals scored by Ally McCoist, in a game that marked the debut of Chelsea’s fantastic new defensive signing from St Mirren, the famous 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 teams in England in the mid-50s, while Clyde were on their way to winning a couple of Scottish Cups, so maybe those results against Puskas and the boys weren’t so impressive after all. )
Scotland captain John McGinn, slightly weighed down but in high spirits, spoke to the BBC. “We try to prepare the same way we do for every game … but not every game has thousands Scotland supporters in front of your hotel! … so the afternoon nap was canceled and we had the songbook of Scotland in our ears! … but it was nice to have the excitement build in anticipation … I think you can hear the tunes in the locker room, the guys are relaxed and ready to work … we’re ready … we’re more prepared than three years ago [at Euro 2020] … more experience, more games … ready for this pressure and responsibility … we can be that team … the manager is a man of few words but when he speaks … he gave a really good team talk in the hotel … we want to give [fans] more memories and hopefully tonight will be another special one.”
Scotland made one change to the XI that started the 1-1 draw with Switzerland. Kieran Tierney is muscled, so Scott McKenna takes his place on the left 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 in on the right side of defense while Bury-born Callum Styles is named in midfield. Attila Fiola and Adam Nagy drop to the bench. Captain Dominik Soboslay has dismissed injury concerns and is fit to play.
The teams
Scotland: Gunn, Hendry, Hanley, McKenna, Ralston, Gilmore, McGregor, Robertson, McTominay, Adams, McGinn.
Subs: Shankland, Christie, Kelly, Cooper, Armstrong, Morgan, Conway, Jack, Clarke, McCrory, McLean, Taylor, Forrest.
Hungary: Gulachi, Botka, Orban, Dardai, Bola, Schafer, Stiles, Kerkez, Salai, Soboslay, Varga.
Reserves: Lang, Balogh, Salai, Fiola, Nego, Adam Nagy, Adam, Dybusch, Kleinheisler, Gazdag, Jolt Nagy, Sapanos, Chobot, Horvath, Kata.
Referee: Facundo Tello Figueroa (Argentina).
Preamble
For a country the size of Scotland, their full list of major tournament qualifications is long and proud. Championnat du Monde de Football Suisse 1954. VM Fotboll Sverige 1958. WM 74. Argentina ’78. Spain 82. Mexico ’86. Italy ’90. UEFA 92. Euro 96. France 98. Euro 2020(1). Unfortunately, the full list of times they failed to make it out of the group is exactly the same length and not quite as much of a badge of honor. Championnat du Monde de Football Suisse 1954. VM Fotboll Sverige 1958. WM 74. Argentina… but let’s not dwell on the subject. We all know what’s what.
But tonight in Stuttgart, Scotland has the chance to finally shake that monkey off his back. Victory over Hungary would finally guarantee a place in the knockout stages of a tournament, at the 12th time of asking. Only a series of strange results in the other groups could deny them, although fate has done Scotland’s number many times before, so no one with even the most rudimentary understanding of superstition will be counting their hens. But, you know, winning has to do it.
Equality might even be enough. Two points will take the Scots forward if Spain, Italy, Portugal and Turkey win their games against Croatia, Albania, Georgia and the Czech Republic respectively. (Those results would leave the third-placed teams in Groups B and F with one point.) England beating Slovenia by five goals and Denmark beating Serbia in Group C could also become a requirement if one of Spain/Italy, Portugal /Turkey capers aren’t going Scotland’s way, but we’re now deep in the grass of the possibility of nonsense. Best to keep things simple and win.
Defeat and Scotland are out, sent home to rethink. The wait will continue. It has to happen someday though, so why not now? Good luck everyone, may the best team win. It starts at 20:00. It’s on!
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