Scotland kept their hopes alive in Euro 2024 with a hard-fought draw, 1-1, versus Switzerland at Euro 2024 on Wednesday. After an early goal from Scott McTominay gave the Scotts a desirable start, Swizterland’s Xherdan Shaqiri’s stunning strike, within the next 15 minutes, saw the contest equally poised at 1-1. Eventually, it became the final scoreline despite both sides creating enough chances to go ahead. With this result, the Scotts and Switzerland are in a straight shootout for the final spot from Group A. Hungary were knocked out following the loss to hosts Germany, earlier in the day. With a 2-0 win over Hungary, the home side are already into the Round of 16.
Talking about the battle between Scotland and Switzerland, the Scotts took an early lead following a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Germany in the tournament opener. Andy Robertson made a powerful run down the left wing and passed the ball to Callum McGregor, who set up McTominay. McTominay’s shot took a deflection off Fabian Schar, wrong-footing the Swiss goalkeeper, to give a 1-0 lead to his side in the 13th minute.
Switzerland, on the other hand, were quick to respond as Shaqiri made full use of a defensive error, intercepting a wayward pass and curling a shot into the top corner, to level scores.
From thereon, there were a lot of chances created by both the sides. From the Swiss, captain Ricardo Rodriguez narrowly missed with a volley whereas Dan Ndoye repeatedly tested Scottish goalkeeper Angus Gunn. In addition, Ndoye had a goal disallowed for offside following a corner kick as the scores remained unchanged.
Meanwhile, Scotland were pumped up courtesy of their enthusiastic travelling supporters. In the second half, Grant Hanley came close to take his side to a 2-1 lead, hitting the post with a header from a cross. Moreover, McTominay also nearly scored his second of the night with a powerful shot only to be blocked by Manuel Akanji.
Following the closely-fought battle, Scotland remain alive in the tournament whereas the Swiss missed out on a chance to secure early qualification for the knockouts alongside Germany.