Scotland look to bounce back against Switzerland in Cologne on Wednesday night

UEFA EURO 2024
Scotland v Switzerland
Wednesday, 19 June 2024 (9pm kick-off, local time)
Cologne Stadium, Germany

Scotland return to action on Wednesday night, with Steve Clarke’s side aiming to put their disappointing start to UEFA EURO 2024 behind them as they take on Switzerland in Cologne. 

Backed by a voicerous Tartan Army support, Scotland unfortunately fell flat in the tournament opener, losing 5-1 to the talented hosts Germany.

Team news

Clarke was hit with a series of injuries in the build up to EURO 2024, but the whole squad that arrived in Germany have so far remained injury free. 

Only Ryan Porteous – serving a suspension after his red card against Germany – will be unavailable for Scotland’s second game of the tournament.

Scott McTominay and Ryan Christie became the latest players to join the Scotland Roll of Honour as they made their 50th appearances for their country and the pair will be looking to add to their tallies on Wednesday night. 

Pre-match thoughts

Scotland manager Steve Clarke addressed the media on Sunday, to draw a line under on the disappointment of Friday and to turn the attention towards the Swiss. 

He said: “When you lose a game 5-1, and I have been in this a long time, you have to take all the criticism that comes. You have to respond. The good thing for me is, I have been in this position before. I have always responded pretty well. The players have always responded pretty well.

“Sometimes it is difficult to explain to people who aren’t involved in professional football. The players have to be resilient because it is a game, especially club football, of emotions. You can have a terrible result on a Saturday and have to be bouncing back, ready to go on a Tuesday or a Wednesday night. So it’s a rollercoaster of emotions.

“It’s the same here. They understand they have let everybody down. They are disappointed. But they know they have to be ready and up for the next game because that’s the nature of being involved in football. I am always confident in my players and I am confident in myself.”

Scotland’s Angus Gunn also spoke to Scotland National Team social media channels, to reflect on Germany and look ahead to the next test. 

He said: “Obviously after a result like that, it’s difficult to see the positives but a few days on, you look back at how far we’ve come and how well we did to qualify and you have to take belief from that.

“Going into the last two games, obviously we’ve played against a pot one team now already, that’s out of the way so we’ve got to target two wins and that will be get us through the group. We will have reached our target. 

“Obviously Switzerland got a positive result in their first game as well so it’s going to be difficult but we know what we have to do. We will be preparing over the next few days looking towards that and we’ll look to give a good account of ourselves.”

The Scotland goalkeeper also paid tribute to the supporters who turned out in their numbers in the Munich Football Arena and around the host city over the weekend, adding: “Seeing all the videos of everyone travelling over before the game, it looked unbelievable and even after a result like that, they were still singing and clapping at the end.

“It gives us a great boost and it lifts us after a disappointing result. It makes us want to repay them even more in the next two games.”

You can watch the full interview with Angus Gunn below.

Heading to the game?

If you’re heading for the Cologne Stadium, have a look at UEFA’s guide to Cologne, for advice on travel, getting to the stadium and things to do in the host city. 

Where to watch?

The match will be broadcast live on BBC One with coverage starting at 7.30pm in the UK. Gabby Logan will be presenting, with punditry from David Moyes, Joe Hart and Rachel Corsie, and commentary by Steve Bower and former Scotland hero James McFadden.

Scotland HQ

Scotland HQ – presented by M&S Food – has been bringing Scotland supporters all the latest from inside the camp throughout UEFA Euro 2024, with our host, Craig Telfer, and roving reporters Amy Canavan, Chris Forbes and Steven Mill.

On last night’s episode – which you can watch below – we caught up with Scotland’s injured striker Lyndon Dykes, Twin Atlantic’s Sam McTrusty and Sanjeev Kohli.

The show will be back on Monday evening with one of Scotland’s talismen, John McGinn, joining Telfer.