Euro 2024 Group A will be settled on Sunday, Scotland and Hungary play a must win clash for third place, after Switzerland and Germany already secured spots in the knockout rounds. Our panelists offer their predictions for both matches.
Hungary vs Scotland (Sunday in Stuttgart)
Steen Kirby: Both teams have already played their most difficult games, and now matchday 3 has given Scotland the likelihood of reaching the knockouts for the first time ever in the Euros with a win, while Hungary have some chance if they can get the 3 points, the losing team (or a draw) would be eliminated, as Scotland on 2 points with a draw and a poor goal differential shouldn’t be one of the third placed teams to make it. These are the realities as Hungary have been disappointing this tournament even though Dominik Szoboszlai of Liverpool is a standout, while Scotland have also not been inspiring under Steve Clarke. Clarke’s decision to bring in Brighton’s Billy Gilmour was a great one though and Manchester United’s Scott McTominay had some brilliance to secure the draw against Switzerland and keep the Scottish fans dreaming. Neither team inspires confidence but at least things should open up a bit with 3 points needed to advance from the group, Hungary has better players, but Scotland seem more cohesive despite a shaky backline and thus I have them escaping with the 3 points in what should be an open game with both teams likely to concede rather easily. Prediction: Scotland 2 Hungary 1
Ben Gray: Neither of these two teams have claimed victory at the European Championships as of yet, but a win for either in Stuttgart could be enough to see them sneak into the knockout stages.
Hungary, rather disappointingly, are yet to get off the mark, beaten 3-1 by Switzerland last weekend and then 2-0 by Germany on Wednesday evening, paying the price for squandering opportunities against the hosts.
Before a ball was kicked, Marco Rossi’s side traveled to Germany with high hopes, but are now in danger of becoming the first Magyars team since 1978 to leave a major tournament without a single point to their name. Their current goal difference of -4 means even a victory for Hungary may not be enough to advance, but they have to go all out for a win that would at least give them hope.
For Scotland, the equation is simple; win and they’re in, thereby reaching the knockout stages of a major tournament for the first time ever, with this their 12th attempt to do so.
Having been humiliatingly annihilated 5-1 by Germany in the curtain raiser, the Dark Blues were exponentially better against Switzerland in Köln in Wednesday night, taking the lead through Scott McTominay, ultimately disappointed to only earn a 1-1 draw.
Nevertheless, this leaves the Tartan Army’s fate in their own hands, as a victory here, thereby taking their tally to four points, will secure Scotland’s historic passage into the last 16, even if they end up in third place.
These two nations have met nine times previously all, quite astonishingly, coming in friendlies, the most-recent of which was won by the Scots, 1-0 winners in Budapest six years ago. So, will Neckarstadion be the scene of an historic Scottish triumph, or yet another bitter disappointment for the Tartan Army? Prediction: Hungary 2 Scotland 1
Switzerland vs Germany (Sunday in Frankfurt)
Steen: Switzerland looked more shaky and disjointed against Scotland than they have in a dozen plus games, they will be looking to regain some form against an excellent Germany team, a team playing at home that has moved through the gears rather effortlessly to win their first two games and can now have some rest in the third game. How Germany lines up here and if they rest some stars like veteran Toni Kroos will matter, even if they bring some players in from the bench they still likely have enough to secure victory and continue their unblemished record. Prediction: Germany 2 Switzerland 0
Ben: These two teams have already booked their spots in the round of 16, so the pressure is very much off in Frankfurt.
For hosts Germany, this tournament could hardly have gone any better so far, first hammering Scotland 5-1 in the curtain raiser in Munich, before a 2-0 win over Hungary on Wednesday in which they hardly had to get out of second-gear. Jamal Musiala and İlkay Gündoğan the scorers in Stuttgart.
Die Mannschaft have only won all three group games at three of the 37 major tournaments at which they’ve featured, doing so in 1970, 2006 also as hosts and 2012, going on to lose in the semi-finals at all three of those competitions, so Julian Nagelsmann will be hoping that isn’t an omen, if they are victorious here.
Switzerland meanwhile currently have four points on the board, all but guaranteed to finish second, thereby reaching the knockout stages at a sixth major tournament on the spin. Murat Yakın’s team impressively beat Hungary 3-1 to commence their campaign last weekend, before earning a draw with Scotland in Köln on Wednesday night, thanks to Xherdan Shaqiri’s stunning, impudent equaliser at RheinEnergieStadion.
The Rossocrociati have only won one of their 21 encounters with Germany since 1956, with die Nationalelf victorious in 16 of these fixtures. However, both of their last two meetings, coming in the Nations League in 2020, ended all square, 1-1 in Basel and 3-3 in Köln, and given that a draw is mutually beneficial to both, this is perhaps the most-likely outcome at Waldstadion. Prediction: 1-1 Draw
Main Photo Credit: IMAGO: Germany Football, Ilkay Gundogan