Scotland 2024: Deutschland drama to first steps towards American Dream

From the Drama of Deutschland to the first steps towards the American Dream of the World Cup – 2024 has been a year the Tartan Army will never forget.

Euro warmup matches

March 22 was Steve Clarke’s and his players’ first game of the calendar year. We found ourselves among the tulips of Amsterdam for the first of our Euro 2024 warm-up matches.

With a run of five games without a win, the Tartan Army was desperate to retain as much positivity as possible heading into the Euros.

However, as the fourth goal hit the net without reply at the Johan Cruyff, our eyes shifted to much more winnable games before our Euros sendoff.

But again, the stuttering form continued to plague the Tartan Army.

A 1-0 defeat to neighbours Northern Ireland a few days later did little to ease the nerve and panic beginning to set in among the Tartan Army foot soldiers with the European Championships now just a few months away.

Two weeks before the Euro curtain raiser against Germany, Scotland headed overseas once more – this time, minnows Gibraltar standing in the way of Steve Clarke’s men.

A 2-0 win and a decent run out say the Scots finally win a game in 2024 – but the two-nil scoreline wasn’t exactly what Scotland fans had in mind.

Our final match before the Euros saw Scotland take on Finland at Hampden Park exactly one week before the tournament started.

Steve Clarke’s men allowed a two-goal lead to slip at the national stadium as the Finns rescued a draw with two goals in the last twenty minutes, not the result the 40-odd thousands of fans were hoping for – with Euro hosts Germany lying in wait.

So, Scotland headed into Euro 2024 with just one win in the last nine outings.

From Steve Clarke and his players though still very much a message of optimism and positivity as we all looked out our passports, and our tartan, and headed for Germany.

Euro 2024

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“We are the famous Tartan Army, and we are off to Germany!”

Scotland chose the picturesque ski village of Garmisch-Partenkirchen as their base for the duration of the Euros, and speaking from experience, they could not have chosen better.

It was a home from home for the Dark Blues as the local town adopted the Scots as its own and took them to its hearts. Saltires, bagpipes, whisky, haggis—the list was endless as locals made sure their new neighbours felt right at home.

All eyes were now fully fixed on June 14, 2024, and the opening match of the European Championships.

Andy Robertson led out his country at the Allianz Arena against the Germans with the eyes of the world watching.

Sadly, there would be no fairytale underdog story this time around, as the Scots were swept aside by a team fitter, faster, and stronger.

It was raining goals in Munich. Germany was sending a message to the continent, and Scotland was powerless in response.

A 5-1 hammering the final result, as Steve Clarke’s men were left with many questions to answer from their critics about what had gone so badly wrong.

The team was to spend five days debating and soul-searching, as next up was the Swiss in Cologne, and Steve Clarke looked to get their tournament back on track.

Cologne was a special city – the city of the Euros for the Tartan Army. The squares and fan zones packed out in dark Blue as thousands of Scots descended looking for a party,

The walk to the stadium with thousands of fans, tartan, and bagpipes was one of the lasting images of the tournament—and a moment that will last forever for anyone who was lucky enough to be there.

June 19, 2024 – our second group match against Switzerland.

Scott McTominay’s early strike had the Dark Blues dreaming of their first win of the tournament, but again, it was their own mistakes that cost Scotland.

Anthony Ralston’s slack-back pass fell the way of Xherdan Shaqiri, who ensured the match finished a point apiece.

So, the scenario is simple for the Scots as we headed into our final game in Frankfurt.

Hungary is the opposition, and only a win would allow the Scots to become the first-ever Scottish team to make it out of their group at the European Championships.

What happened next will be burned onto the Scottish psyche forever.

Despite needing the win, Steve Clarke opted for a cautious approach against the Hungarians. The match ended in the cruellest possible way, with an injury-time winner from Hungary condemning the Scots to their second defeat of the tournament.

That meant Steve Clarke and his players were packing their bags and heading home.

Nations League

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After three months of soul-searching and forensic investigation after the Euros, Scotland was ready to return to competitive action.

Group A of the Nations League would see the Scots up against Poland, Portugal and Croatia.

After an overly cautious European Championship, Steve Clarke injected fresh blood into his squad with the likes of Ben Doak and Ryan Gauld given their chance to shine.

The first half of this campaign was one of bitter disappointment. In our opening match at home to Poland in September, a late Grant Hanley mistake gifted Poland a last-minute penalty to win the game 3-2.

Game two saw the Scots travel to face Portugal, and again early on, the signs were positive.

Scott McTominay handed us the lead, but again late goals were our Achilles heel. Cristiano Ronaldo’s 88th-minute winner was enough for an opening back-to-back defeat.

That feeling of disappointment was compounded in Zagreb on matchday three as Steve Clarke’s men lost 2-1 to Croatia – rooting the Scots to the bottom of the table.

But the final three games of the campaign saw the Scots click into gear.

On October 15, Cristiano Ronaldo brought his Portuguese stars to Hampden Park on matchday 4.

A dogged performance from Steve Clarke’s men secured a 0-0 draw, our first point of the campaign, and meant Ronaldo stormed off the pitch in petulant fashion as full-time, much to the delight of the Tartan Army.

The final double-header of our Nations League campaign came in November with Scotland staring at the prospect of relegation from Group A.

Croatia was the opponent as Steve Clarke’s men were given a helping hand by the referee, who gave the Croats a dodgy red card before John McGinn’s late strike meant we were heading for a final matchday shootout against Poland.

As Scotland headed to Warsaw, there were many permutations, but the main one was simple. A win would secure at least a relegation play-off in the Nations League and avoid an automatic drop to Group B.

After John McGinn’s early strike was cancelled out by the Poles we were staring relegation in the face. That was until Captain Marvel Andy Robertson scored in the dying seconds to ensure we finished 3rd in the group and headed for the playoffs.

Relegation playoff draw

For our heroics in Poland, the reward was a two-legged shootout against Greece, which will be played in March of next year.

The opening tie will be held in Athens on March 19, followed by the return leg at Hampden Park on March 22.

If Scotland wins, Steve Clarke’s men will retain their place in the top tier of the Nations League.

World Cup 2026 qualifying draw

As 2024 draws to a close in mid-December, Scotland was given an early Christmas present by the head honchos at UEFA: the World Cup 2026 qualification draw was conducted at UEFA HQ.

Belarus, Greece (again), and the loser of the Nations League tie between Portugal and Denmark stand in Scotland’s way from a first World Cup since 1998.

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