Scotland head coach Steve Clarke has been speaking to Viaplay: "It's a nice feeling to qualify so early. We can enjoy that but tonight is about going up against a top French team.

"We just had a good couple of hours enjoying ourselves but we’re back focused on this game."

On a debut for Liam Kelly, Clarke explains that he plans to give Zander Clark the second half.

"Liam’s been part of the group for a long time, like Zander," he said. "They work ever so hard and this is their chance tonight. I’ll probably bring Zander on at half-time."

On taking on a strong French side, he adds: "It’s the third game in a row against top opposition for us. It will test us but we’re looking to try to improve against top teams. We'll learn a lot tonight but I look at the team we’ve put out and I have belief we can get something."

France were World Cup runners-up when we stunned them in 2006 and 2007.

Just putting it out there...

We'll be starting 10 minutes later than scheduled due to the long queues at the stadium and extra security measures.

What were you doing on 12 September 2007 when James McFadden unleashed that long-range stunner in Paris?

Bouncing around in a state of joyful disbelief most probably.

Scotland beat France 1-0 home and away in the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign - and didn't make it to the finals!

Glorious failure, remember that?

We'll let these images jog your memory.

Image source, SNS

Image source, SNS

Image source, SNS

Image source, Getty Images

And that brings us nicely to Scotland's last victory over France...

In 16 matches overall there has never been a draw, with eight wins apiece for Scotland and France.

This is the first meeting between the nations since a July 2016 friendly in Metz when we were just a warm-up act for a major tournament.

Olivier Giroud got two, with Laurent Koscielny also on target.

Scotland goalkeeper David Marshall had to make a few good saves on that occasion.

Image source, SNS

Scotland don't have a great recent record in friendlies, with just two wins from the past 16. (D4 L10)

Both of those victories did come away from home (Hungary in March 2018 & Luxembourg in June 2021) but this is another level altogether.

We got very excited about the last friendly and got a bit of a lesson from England at Hampden in September...

Steve Clarke wasn't the only manager love-bombing the opposition.

Didier Deschamps was positively glowing about Scotland.

"We are going to be playing against a team that has also qualified," he said.

"They are maybe not on the top of their group but they have qualified so well done to them because they deserve it.

"They won five games in a row and although they lost their last match against Spain it was a tight match.

"It is a beautiful team."

Oh stop it, Didier, we're blushing...

Speaking yesterday, Steve Clarke described France as "probably the best team in the world".

Argentina might have something to say about that but I think it's safe to say France definitely have the best squad.

N'Golo Kante, Ferland Mendy, Moussa Diaby and Nabil Fekir can't get a look in, while they certainly don't look any weaker with William Saliba, Jules Kounde, Dayot Upamecano and Axel Disasi absent through injury.

World Cup winners in 2018, runners-up last year and currently ranked number two by Fifa...

Image source, Getty Images

Steven Thompson
Former Scotland striker on BBC Sportsound

I thought there would be changes, there's an awful lot of changes. But it's an opportunity. Every player will be desperate to be on the plane to Germany.

Look at the strength France side, it could be a very long evening. It's a brilliant night for Liam Kelly, it's something he'll remember for the rest of his life. The goalies always travel to every game, they never get a sniff so it's great to see him getting a moment in the sun.

This might be the busiest night of his life...

Antoine Griezmann starts his 82nd consecutive match for France.

The 32-year-old Atletico Madrid forward hasn't missed a game for his country since being an unused sub in a 3-2 win over England in June 2017.

Image source, Getty Images

Scott McTominay is Scotland's man in form, with six goals and one assist from his last seven outings.

We all thought it was seven goals when he whipped in that stunning free-kick against Spain last week, but Jack Hendry's offside right leg denied us one of the all-time great Scotland strikes.

I'm sure the honour of the captaincy tonight will go a long way to making up for that disappointment.

Image source, SNS

A rare seat on the bench for John McGinn this evening.

It looks a bit like the all action midfielder is taking orders for post-match snacks. Good luck finding a pizza crunch in Lille, although they do enjoy a waffle in northern France.

Image source, SNS

Steven Thompson
Former Scotland striker on BBC Sportsound

There has been so much positivity around this Scotland team and Steve Clarke - you just feel the vibe off the supporters. It's such a great time to be a Scotland fan.

It's so exciting, the players deserve so much credit. This tournament has been phenomenal and the players have earnt the opportunity to play at a major tournament - the pinnacle of any career.

On tonight's game, I'm not expecting much in way of a result but, it really doesn't matter. Taking on these friendlies, with Spain in between, it's three very tough games in a short period of time. It gives us a wee eye-opener to what we need to do to play teams of this quality.

Meanwhile, it's a whopping eight changes for Scotland after last week's loss in Seville.

Kelly, Patterson, Cooper, Taylor, Gilmour, McLean, Ferguson and Adams get their chance to shine.

Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann keep their places in the French XI and they've brought in Ousmane Dembele and all-time leading scorer Olivier Giroud...

Gulp!

France: Maignan, Clauss, Pavard, Konate, T Hernandez, Camavinga, Tchouameni, Griezmann, Dembele, Mbappe, Giroud.

Substitutes: Samba, Areola, Gusto, Lukeba, Kolo Muani, Rabiot, Thuram, Todibo, Fofana, Kamara, Coman, L Hernandez

Scotland: Kelly, Patterson, Hendry, McKenna, Cooper, Taylor, Gilmour, McLean, McTominay Ferguson, Adams.

Substitutes: Gunn, Clark, Souttar, McGinn, McGregor, Dykes, Christie, Porteous, Armstrong, Brown, Johnston.

Errr... France have named a very strong side.

Details coming up.