Scotland Men's Football Team

What are Steve Clarke and Gareth Southgate really like? What are their likely starting XIs at Euro 2024 and what will they have learned from Euro 2020?

Former Scotland right back Stephen O’Donnell and former England coach Chris Powell, who also talks about his role on TV's Ted Lasso, are the guests of Amy Irons and Craig Levein as they preview the tournament.

Listen to the first of a two-part Sacked In The Morning podcast here.

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Kris Boyd is backing Scotland to "cause Germany problems" and earn a positive result in Friday's Euro 2024 opener.

Steve Clarke's side face the tournament hosts in Bayern Munich's Allianz Arena before games against Switzerland and Hungary.

The Scots go into Friday's curtain-raiser as huge underdogs, but Boyd feels the intense pressure the Germans are under could go against them.

The former Scotland striker can see Clarke's men earning a "fantastic" draw, which could be the catalyst for a push towards the tournament's knockout stages.

"It'll be difficult for Scotland, but they'll have the Tartan Army behind them," Boyd told Genting Casinos.

"The opening game of the Euros on home soil, there'll definitely be more anticipation that the Germans will rock up and roll over Scotland.

"Everyone outside of the team will think that, but the squad will be focused on the job at hand.

"We'd much rather play them first than the third game when they may need a result to go through."

Liam McLeod
BBC Sport Scotland Commentator

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I've seen plenty about how this is a good time to face Germany for Scotland and that they won't have a better opportunity to get the better of the international footballing behemoths.

But where does that confidence stem from? Especially given Julian Nagelsmann has a squad so strong that the likes of Mats Hummels, Emre Can and Serge Gnabry will be watching from the sofa.

Could it be the pressure and expectation they will feel when they open their own tournament with a nation not simply hoping, but expecting its team to win this championship?

Could it be because they may be undercooked given they haven't played a competitive fixture since they exited the World Cup in the groups in Qatar 18 months ago?

It could be because this is a team that doesn't keep many clean sheets these days and hasn't had one in the last three major tournaments.

The Germans also lost six times in 2023, a record for them in a calendar year, and while the left side of defence is a Scottish strength, it's an area the three-time European champions have had trouble with recently to the point Arsenal attacker Kai Havertz has even had a go in the position.

However, they no longer rely on Bayern Munich to produce the core of their squad. Both the invincible Bayer Leverkusen and Stuttgart finished above the Bavarians in the season just concluded and Nagelsmann has drawn from both sides.

In Florian Wirtz he has someone who has had an incredible 38 goal involvements in 49 appearances for the newly-crowned German champions.

The swansong return of midfielder Toni Kroos has also coincided with three wins in their last four games, which included an away victory in France and against neighbours the Netherlands.

That said, we will only truly know if it's a good time to face Germany come Friday.

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Scotland's Scott McKenna is expecting a "completely different atmosphere" at Euro 2024 in comparison to the last finals that nation qualified for.

When the Scots competed in Euro 2020, delayed to 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic, attendances were restricted.

Two of Scotland's group fixtures were at Hampden, defeats to the Czech Republic and Croatia, with the other a draw against England at Wembley.

This time around, Steve Clarke's side will experience the full tournament experience when they open the finals against hosts Germany on Friday before matches against Switzerland and Hungary.

The Tartan Army are expected to travel in huge numbers, with suggestions up to 200,000 Scots could make the trip.

"It will be very different, last time was through Covid the stadiums weren't full," centre-back McKenna said.

"At the last Euros we weren't able to get as many fans in the stadium as we would have liked, so it's a great opportunity for them to come and experience a tournament on foreign soil for the first time in a long time.

"I think the Tartan Army will be very excited, they're travelling in their numbers and I hope we can put in a performance they can be proud of and celebrate as well.

"The ambition is to try and get out of the group, but the only way we can do that is to take it one game at a time. This week we are only focused on Germany."

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Scotland centre-back Scott McKenna has been speaking to the media as they continue their training camp in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

Steve Clarke's side take on Germany in the opening game on Friday - here are they key points from the press conference:

• The squad are excited about Friday's opener but McKenna acknowledges the nerves will kick in soon enough, he stressed they'll be ready by the time the first whistle blows in Munich.

• With a bigger squad, McKenna says there's more competition for places and everyone is working to be selected for the match.

• The Scots are aiming to progress from the group stage but McKenna insists full focus is on the game against Germany.

• Clarke's men are hoping to put on a show for the travelling support and give them "something to cheer about" after most fans were unable to attend Euro 2020 because of Covid-19 restrictions.

• On a personal note, McKenna is hoping his experience will come in handy if he gets the nod to start on Friday.

Joe Hart
BBC Sport pundit

As well as England, I'll be watching Scotland closely because of my old team-mates from Celtic who are in their team. How Scotland do doesn't bother me, but I want my pals to do well.

I've got personal connections with players from lots of other teams at these Euros too, and it's the same for all of them. Ultimately they are my friends and I want what is best for them, no matter what country they are from.

In the past I had to face my mates at tournaments and try to get the better of them, so what will be quite refreshing this time is that I won't have to put those friendships aside.

I'm not on the pitch this time, so it doesn't matter what I do. Instead I can just be happy for my pals to be out there on the biggest stage, and fingers crossed they will perform.

Click here to read Joe Hart's column in full.

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Niclas Fullkrug says Germany can't let Scotland "show their dynamism" on Friday.

Steve Clarke's side face the Euro 2024 hosts in the tournament opener in Munich on Friday.

Germany go into the game off the back of a 2-1 comeback win in a friendly against Greece while Scotland sacrificed a two goal lead to draw 2-2 with Finland in their final warm-up before the competition kicks off.

"We learnt some lessons from the Greece game which will be useful against Scotland," the Borussia Dortmund forward said.

"I’m interested to see how the coaches will prepare us for the game.

"I watched a Scotland match and they played differently to how I expected.

"They press very high. Against us, there’ll be phases where they’ll sit deeper.

"They try to get into shooting situations as quickly as possible, so it’ll be important that we counter that and not let them show their dynamism.

"We’ll prepare intensively this week. It’s not just about preparing for the opponent, but also keeping our energy levels up and improving ourselves."