What do Scotland need to reach Euro 2024 knockout stage?

Scotland have kept their hopes of reaching the European Championship knockout stages for the first time ever alive.

The Tartan Army were unable to beat Switzerland in their crucial second game in Group A as they were held to a 1-1 draw, but were much improved from their opening day horror show.

The battling draw followed an embarrassing 5-1 defeat to hosts Germany in the Euro 2024 opener and Hungary now await in their final fixture.

A win in that game is vital, otherwise, Steve Clarke’s side would likely be heading home…

Scotland’s Euro 2024 permutations

The top two teams from each group will qualify automatically for the last-16, with the best four third-placed teams also making the first knockout phase.

After the draw with Switzerland, Scotland now have to beat Hungary and hope that Switzerland lose to Germany to finish in the top two. 

As well as that happening though, they’ll also need a six-goal swing in their favour. 

So the chances of guaranteed qualification are very slim, but there would still be hope of being one of the best four third-placed teams. 

Again, a win against Hungary is the most-wanted outcome as that would put them on four points. 

And four points are very likely to be enough to qualify, depending on the tally of the third-placed teams in other groups.

A draw against Hungary may still be enough, but that would require a lot of luck as so many other teams would still need to play and fail to win any of their games.

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There are still a lot of fixtures to play and that means Scotland’s fate remains unknown for now. 

But as results come in each day, the third-place picture will become clearer and clearer. 

If the Tartan Army end up level on points with other teams in third and they need to be separated, it will then come down to goal difference and that isn’t ideal. 

They currently sit on -4 and if it isn’t improved, it is likely to massively impact them should it come down to that. 

If that is also level though, goals scored, wins, disciplinary points and qualifying ranking are then all taken into account in that order. 

Scotland have never reached the knockout stage of a European Championship and they’re desperate to change that. 

However, looking at the permutations, they know just one win will likely get them there.