When is it? How can you watch it? What are the possible line-ups?
Scotland and Switzerland meet in their Second Group A match at UEFA EURO 2024.
Scotland vs Switzerland at a glance
When: Friday 20 June (03:00 GMT+8 kick-off)
Where: Cologne Stadium
What: UEFA EURO 2024 Group A Matchday 2
What do you need to know?
Having frozen on opening night, losing 5-1 to hosts Germany and seeing defender Ryan Porteous sent off just before the interval, Scotland have endured a tough start to EURO 2024, but have plentiful opportunity to make amends. The Swiss, however, are an unfamiliar prospect: the most recent of the nations’ meetings came in 2006, Switzerland winning a friendly match in Glasgow 3-1.
The sides also locked horns at EURO ’96, Scotland prevailing 1-0 in a group stage game which ended with both teams eliminated from the tournament. The current Swiss vintage, though, have the wind in their sails following an impressive 3-1 opening-day win against Hungary. Granit Xhaka marshalled his squad superbly from midfield, and the Scots must shake his steely resolve if they are to start making up lost ground.
Possible line-ups
Scotland: Gunn; Hanley, Hendry, Tierney; Ralston, Gilmour, McGregor, Robertson; McTominay, Adams, McGinn
Switzerland: Sommer; Schär, Akanji, Rodriguez; Widmer, Xhaka, Freuler, Aebischer; Ndoye, Embolo, Vargas
Form guide
Scotland:
Form (all competitions, most recent first): LDWLLD
Switzerland:
Form (all competitions, most recent first): WDWWDL
Expert predictions
Alex O’Henley, Scotland reporter
One game in and Scotland are already in must-not-lose territory. Quite simply, they can’t afford to drop another three points in Group A if they are to have any hope of reaching the knockout stage for the first time. A win or a draw against Switzerland would keep Clarke’s side alive for the final group game, but lose to the Swiss and it might all be over before they meet Hungary in Stuttgart on Sunday.
Anna-Sophia Vollmerhausen, Switzerland reporter
With one firm step taken towards qualification for the knockout stage of a sixth straight tournament, confidence is high within the Swiss camp. However, they have been careful not to get too far ahead of themselves, with captain Xhaka noting that the pressure remains very much on them. Coach Yakin has shown he is not afraid to shake up his starting XI, with the surprise inclusions of Duah and Aebischer both delivering goals last time out. I’m eager to see what else he has got up his sleeve.
What the coaches say
Steve Clarke, Scotland coach: “The team want to go back onto the pitch and play better. They want to make amends. Switzerland are a big challenge, are very strong through the spine of the team and have good pace up front, so we expect a difficult game. The thing to do is to make sure you get your preparation right. We feel we’ve done that.”
Murat Yakin, Switzerland coach: “Scotland can play very well. We have a lot of confidence but we think they’ve prepared well for this game, to disrupt us. They have to show a reaction and I hope we can play our game as planned. I’m really looking forward to the match. We had a great atmosphere in the stadium last time and it’s great when you have a lot of fans backing you.”