cotland are in Group A of the qualifiers alongside Cyprus, Georgia, Norway and Spain. Steve Clarke’s team have an 100 per cent record after playing five games and will hope to secure their place in the finals next summer in Germany by the time this weekend is out. There are a few scenarios that can land Scotland their golden ticket and we will talk you through them here.
Scotland play one qualifier this week, while the rest of the teams in Group A have two. Only Scotland, Spain and Norway can qualify, and the table looks like this going into the matches
The earliest Scotland can qualify is on Thursday night. The Scots are in Seville to face Spain, while at the same time Norway are in Larnaca to play Cyprus. If Scotland beat Spain, they will secure qualification, while a draw or a defeat could be enough depending on what happens in Cyprus. If Norway fail to beat the Cypriots, then they cannot catch Scotland as they would remain on seven points with only six points available to them. As the deficit with Scotland is eight points, not even a draw is good enough for Erling Haaland and Co.
The Norwegians are warm favourites to defeat Cyprus, however, so the likelihood is that Scotland will need to win in Spain to get the job done. However, if they don’t, there will be a second opportunity on Sunday, when Scotland are off the pitch, in France preparing for a friendly in Lille on October 17. Norway host Spain in Oslo on October 15 at 7.45pm and if they fail to win there, then Scotland’s place at Euro 2024 is guaranteed.
Should the worst happen and Norway win their two matches this week and Scotland lose in Spain, then Clarke’s men would have to wait until the next international window in November to seal qualification, when they face Georgia away and Norway at home.
Leave a Reply