Euro 2024

Euro 2024 Fantasy team previews: Scotland

Our Euro 2024 Fantasy team previews begin with a look at Scotland.

The Tartan Army have qualified for the European Championship for the fourth time but have never progressed beyond the group stage.

The last time they won a match at a major international tournament, indeed, was at Euro ’96.

In these country-by-country guides, we’ll be looking at the best players from each nation, taking a stab at predicted line-ups, reviewing the road to Germany and more.

To do this, we’ll be calling on the help of correspondents from each nation.

Here, we hear from native Scot, seasoned Fantasy manager and The i journalist Alex Dakers. Our thanks to Alex for his time.

All prices given are from the official Fantasy Euro 2024 game.


THE ROAD TO QUALIFICATION

PosTeamPWDLGFGADiffPts
1Spain8701255+2021
2Scotland8521178+917
3Norway83231412+211
4Georgia82241218−68
5Cyprus8008328−250

Scotland have tended to do it the hard way in recent years, suffering qualification near-misses for the last two World Cups before squeaking through to Euro 2020 via a play-off penalty shootout.

Their involvement in this summer’s European Championship never looked in much doubt, however.

The road to Germany began with five successive victories, which formed part of an 11-match winning streak in qualification matches.

While successes over Georgia and Cyprus (twice) were largely expected (many a Scotland team has slipped up in these kinds of fixtures in the past, of course…), it was the early victories over Spain and Norway that proved pivotal.

The Norway game, in Matchday 3, was a smash-and-grab. Trailing to an Erling Haaland penalty, the Scots had only registered two shots in the first 80 minutes before a late double out of nowhere prolonged their winning start.

While those three points in Oslo owed much to the never-say-die spirit that Steve Clarke has fostered, the two matches against Spain would give the Tartan Army some confidence that they can mix it with the big boys this summer.

A deserved win over the rattled Spaniards at Hampden Park will live long in the memory. But even in the return fixture, which the hosts won, there was a resolute defensive display and what would have been a Scott McTominay equaliser was ruled out for a marginal offside.

Defeat in Seville only delayed the inevitable progression to Euro 2024. That was secured days later, when nearest rivals Norway were beaten by Spain. Scotland made it through with two games to spare.


QUALIFICATION IN NUMBERS

  • Most starts: John McGinn, Callum McGregor (8), Scott McTominay, Ryan Porteous (7)
  • Most goals: Scott McTominay (7), Callum McGregor (3)
  • Most assists: Andrew Robertson (3), John McGinn, Lyndon Dykes (2)
  • Clean sheets: 4 from 8

RECORD SINCE QUALIFYING

DateCompetitionOppositionResultScoreGoalscorersAssists
22 MarchFriendlyNetherlands (a)L0-4
26 MarchFriendlyNorthern Ireland (h)L0-1

Unfortunately, Scotland’s record since qualification was assured has not been pretty.

Draws with Georgia and Norway in the final two qualifying games were ultimately meaningless.

But the winless run has continued since, with successive defeats in the March friendlies.

The loss in the Netherlands wasn’t as one-sided as it seemed. The Scots were in the match for a long time, with 13 chances created, only for the hosts to score three goals in the final 18 minutes.

More dispiriting was the home loss to Northern Ireland a few days later. Clarke’s side were booed off at Hampden after this match, which extended their run without a victory to seven matches.

The Scotland boss, and his troops, still have plenty of credit in the bank with the Scotland faithful, but a couple of early June friendly wins would be a bit of a tonic with that confidence from qualification slowly ebbing away.


MOST RECENT INTERNATIONAL LINE-UPS

22/03/2024 – The Netherlands (a)

(3-4-2-1): Gunn; Porteous, Hendry, Tierney (Souttar 68); Patterson, Gilmour (Ferguson 68), McTominay, Robertson (Ralston 74); McGinn (McLean 85), Christie (Armstrong 74); Shankland (Adams 68). 

26/03/2024 – Northern Ireland (h)

(3-4-2-1): Gunn; Hendry, Cooper, Tierney; Patterson, McTominay, Gilmour (McClean 70), Robertson (Ferguson 36); McGinn (Armstrong 78), Christie (Shankland 78); Dykes (Adams 70).


UPCOMING FIXTURES

DateCompetitionOpposition
3 JuneFriendlyGibraltar (n)
7 JuneFriendlyFinland (h)


GROUP FIXTURES

Fantasy Euro 2024 complete guide: Best players, squads, team reveals + more 5

  • 14 June: Germany
  • 19 June: Switzerland
  • 23 June: Hungary

HOW FAR WILL THEY GET?

“Pessimistically (or perhaps realistically): group stage exit. Optimistically: last 16.” – Alex Dakers


STRENGTHS

“Scotland boast multiple goal threats, such as McGinn, McTominay, McGregor and whoever plays up top (more on that below) without there being one key/obvious target man (more on that below, too…) that could be at risk of being marked out of a game. This gives Scotland options game by game and also means they may be more difficult to form a game plan against from a defensive standpoint. 

“They’re good from attacking set pieces, while there’s depth in midfield with both experience and youth.

“A relatively versatile defence (with one crucial weak spot as highlighted below) is compact, with the three centre-halves at the back and defensively sound wing-backs that are also adept at joining in the attack. 

“This is a strong core group that have built momentum through last Euros and a strong qualifying campaign for this year’s tournament. And, I’d argue, a wee thing called the Tartan Army backing them!” – Alex Dakers


WEAKNESSES

“The lack of a clear out-and-out, reliable goalscorer and first-choice striker can be construed as being a weakness: 18-goal promotion-winning Saints striker Che Adams, the slightly streaky Lyndon Dykes and the in-form Lawrence Shankland (31 goals for Hearts and the PFA Scotland player of the year) could all play a part. It’ll be interesting to see based on the upcoming friendlies who Clarke might pick in Munich. Oh how nice it would be to have the likes of McFadden, Miller, even Griffiths from the last decade and a bit available now to slot in… but alas. 

“The absences of Aaron Hickey, Nathan Patterson and Lewis Ferguson are a major sore point that makes the right side of the defence a possible weakness, with Anthony Ralston and the uncapped Ross McCrorie likely the two battling for that position in the XI (though there have been some murmurings of the resurgent James Forrest getting a shot at wing-back – again, games between now and 14 June could reveal Clarke’s thoughts on that). 

“A few players – e.g., Armstrong, Doak (though I do love his inclusion as a possible flair-bringing difference maker), Jack, Hanley – also haven’t played in recent months, may lack match fitness and leave Clarke with fewer reliable options off the bench.

“Scotland rare also sometimes lacklustre at defending set pieces.” – Alex Dakers


BEST EURO 2024 FANTASY PLAYERS: SCOTLAND

Andrew Robertson (€5.5m) is the captain and one of the team’s talisman. Less attacking than he is for Liverpool (where he did get two goals to end the season, no doubt boosting confidence!) due to differing team systems but still gets forward to whip in some trademark crosses, fire off the occasional (if not always super accurate) shot, and also gets his fair share of set pieces.

John McGinn (€6.5m), like Robertson, is nailed on to start and a reliable attacking threat, not afraid of the big moments and scorer of some big goals for Scotland in recent history (18 goals from 64 caps making him fifth on Scotland’s all-time scorers list). ‘Meatball’ also has penalties in his locker, as well as being in the mix for other set pieces, and comes to Germany off the back of an excellent season with Aston Villa.

“Finally, Scott McTominay (€6.5m). Seven goals and an assist in qualifying for Scotland had fans raving about ‘McSauce’, and rightly so – that goal haul was beaten only by Romelu Lukaku, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane. He chipped in with a double digit tally in all competitions for Manchester United despite not being a regular starter, and will be brimming with confidence based on both of those reasons as well as having started in United’s FA Cup win. As with the other two, nailed on starter and perhaps Scotland’s chief goal threat whether from set pieces or late runs into the box in open play.” – Alex Dakers


FAN’S PREDICTED LINE-UP

(5-4-1) Gunn; McCrorie, Porteous, Hendry, Tierney, Robertson; Gilmour, McTominay, McGinn, Christie; Adams

“Ross McCrorie (also a back-up option at centre-back) has been playing as a wing-back for Bristol City, so could get the edge over Anthony Ralston who is typically more of a traditional full-back and also has fallen out of favour at Celtic.

“Friendlies could reveal more info on this, as well as the battle to be first choice up top. Clarke may have leaned towards handing to Dykes as the man who did the job the most during qualifying and being good off the ball, despite him having the least prolific club season of the three. Injury has now ruled him out of the tournament, however.

“Scott McKenna vs Ryan Porteous could be a toss-up for the third central defence spot beside Jack Hendry and Kieran Tierney, who theoretically could play right wing-back but is unlikely to. Billy GIlmour vs Callum McGregor beside McTominay at the base of the midfield (starting line-up, mind, before McSauce darts forward!) and behind McGinn and Ryan Christie could be argued either way but I’d like to see Gilmour start with the option to bring McGregor on to change things up. Both could start, with McGregor more advanced at the expense of Christie, but that’s unlikely given the creativity the Bournemouth man brings.” – Alex Dakers


STAY TUNED FOR MORE EURO 2024 COVERAGE!

A reminder that we’ll be covering the European Championship in great detail this summer.

Part of that coverage will be the usual team-by-team guides on all competing 24 nations in Euro 2024.

But we’ll also have team reveals, strategy guides and much more. The official UEFA Fantasy game will be the main game we’re covering, which you read about below:

There’ll also be £500+ worth of prizes if you join our mini-league! Click the below to sign up:

If you want to be part of our coverage and are a fan of one of the countries competing, do get involved via the below:



51 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Alan The Llama
    • 15 Years
    5 months, 16 days ago

    I can't see McGregor not being in the starting XI against Germany. He only missed the last two internationals due to injury. I wouldn't have McCrorie starting either. I would've thought both Ralston and Forrest would be ahead of him in the pecking order.

    Could be wrong though. The upcoming friendlies - the Finland game more so than the Gibraltar one - should shed a bit more light on matters.

    1. The Knights Template
      • 11 Years
      5 months, 16 days ago

      I’d have Gemmell in there somewhere.

  2. circusmonkey
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 14 Years
    5 months, 16 days ago

    Teams like Scotland shouldn't be in the Euros. The whole dilution of quality from going from 16 to 24 qualifiers ruins the qualifiers and the finals. The finals have third place teams going through, so lame.

    You could identify maybe 14 of the last 16 before the whole thing started, so the only point of what precedes the last 16 is to ram more beer and pizza adverts in our faces and to add to football's carbon footprint.

    1. Men in green tights
      • 6 Years
      5 months, 16 days ago

      That’s a cynical view point , but I do agree it’s money driven as is all competitions are now days look at the champs league etc and the introduction of playoffs

    2. theodosios
      • 7 Years
      5 months, 16 days ago

      They should create a Superleague Euro where 8 national teams always participate: France, Spain, England, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, and the remaining 4 teams will be drawn by the most popular YouTuber or TikToker at that moment.

    3. theplayer
      • 11 Years
      5 months, 16 days ago

      What a completely arrogant viewpoint. I'm Scottish and we deservedly qualified finishing ahead of Norway. Even beat Spain in the group stage and ran them close away from home too.

      Who are you to say Scotland shouldn't be there?

      1. panda07
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 12 Years
        5 months, 16 days ago

        Agree, being from a smaller nation just getting to go to these tournaments and having an almighty piss up is immense! The Scottish fans usually endear themselves to the citizens of the home nation too as they can handle their booze!

    4. ᶠᶦˡᵗʰʸLucre $$$
      • 9 Years
      5 months, 16 days ago

      I'd make it 32 teams - the more the merrier!

      1. Goro Majima
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        5 months, 16 days ago

        You are Gianni Infantino and I claim my £5.

        1. ᶠᶦˡᵗʰʸLucre $$$
          • 9 Years
          5 months, 16 days ago

          😆

    5. Ginkapo FPL
      • 13 Years
      5 months, 16 days ago

      Why do we not want more teams to gain tournament experience to increase the level of competition over time?

      I would prefer cricket tier style as I think it balances better but lets not be elitist

    6. Herger
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 3 Years
      5 months, 16 days ago

      Could maybe have a separate tournament for the likes of Scotland, San Marino, Seychelles, etc.

      1. Drop Dead Tsimikas
        • 12 Years
        5 months, 16 days ago

        That's what the Nations League is ostensibly for. Does anyone actually watch it?

    7. bitm2007
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      5 months, 16 days ago

      Agreed that the Euros have become too diluted and sadly the World Cup if going to be the same now it's gone to 48 teams with 8 of the 12 third placed teams in the groups qualifying. The best World Cups were back when there 24 or fewer teams, and I liked the old 8 team Euro format, but can understand why they have been increased in in numbers since but a 16 team Euros, 32 team WC were right compromises IMO. Think you are being a bit harsh on Scotland though there are worst teams in this blotted format and I think they deserve their place after beating Spain and knocking out Norway.

    8. The Knights Template
      • 11 Years
      5 months, 16 days ago

      Why aren’t the Subway Socceroos there? We’re allowed to join the Eurovision tourney! We have Harry Souttar, you know!

    9. Hangman Page
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      5 months, 15 days ago

      Troll alert.

  3. PartyTime
    • 3 Years
    5 months, 16 days ago

    Any prize in euro fantasy?

    1. Funkyav
      • 15 Years
      5 months, 16 days ago

      good question, i havent seen anything mentioned

      Youd expect better prizes than the crap they give out for FPL.

    2. Men in green tights
      • 6 Years
      5 months, 16 days ago

      Trip to Qatar all expenses paid for apparently.

    3. The Hunt
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 15 Years
      5 months, 16 days ago

      £100k in the free (and in my opinion better) Bet365 game.

    4. theodosios
      • 7 Years
      5 months, 16 days ago

      Matchday prizes

      The following prizes are available for the first six matchdays (each matchday except the final):

      A shirt of your choice
      Get the highest score for a matchday and win a jersey from any team competing in EURO 2024.

      An official match ball
      Get the second highest score for a matchday and win an official ball designed specially for EURO 2024.

      €50 of football gear
      Get the third highest score for a matchday and win a €50 voucher to spend in the UEFA Online Store.
      Grand prizes

      A trip to Qatar for two
      Finish on top of the overall leaderboard and win a trip to Qatar for you and a friend – including flights and accommodation!

      A console & team jersey
      Finish in second place and win a PlayStation®5 Digital Slim or Xbox Series X. You'll also win a shirt from any team playing in EURO 2024.

      A team jersey & official match ball
      Finish in third place and win a shirt from any team playing in EURO 2024. You'll also win an official EURO 2024 match ball.

    5. panda07
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      5 months, 16 days ago

      First prize - a Cadillac Eldorado, second prize - a set of steak knives. Third prize is - you're fired.

  4. sirmorbach
    • 8 Years
    5 months, 16 days ago

    First attempt:

    Pickford / Lunin
    Dimarco / Pavard / Grimaldo / Dumfries / Schlotterbeck
    Bruno / Trossard / Olmo / Zinchenko / Güler
    Mbappé / Kane / Havertz

    1. Men in green tights
      • 6 Years
      5 months, 16 days ago

      Defence similar to mine
      Pickford , Luniin
      Mittelstadt, Dimarco,Dumfries,Cancelo ,castagne
      Wirtz,Szoboszlai,Jorginho.Bruno,Rodri
      Kane,Mbappe ,Yamal

      Your team looks ok

  5. FFS ManU
    • 2 Years
    5 months, 16 days ago

    I find it astonishing that Bayern Munich have appointed Kompany as their head coach after he did such a bad job at Burnley in relation to their tactical approach this season.

    1. Men in green tights
      • 6 Years
      5 months, 16 days ago

      Another title for Alonso then

    2. theplayer
      • 11 Years
      5 months, 16 days ago

      But he played under Guardiola so he must be good............

    3. LarryDuff
      • 9 Years
      5 months, 16 days ago

      Anyone who's ever been in peps presence is getting work

    4. Bushwhacker
      • 5 Years
      5 months, 16 days ago

      Quite the opposite. They wouldn’t have approached him if he’d played 10 at the back like United did most weeks.

    5. Hangman Page
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      5 months, 15 days ago

      On a points per game basis, another former manager in Sean Dyche should get the job.

      It’s not about your record now but your potential based on how committed you are to playing a fashionable style.

      1. Hangman Page
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 6 Years
        5 months, 15 days ago

        Former Burnley*

  6. fenixri
    • 8 Years
    5 months, 16 days ago

    Currently on this, will see after friendlies

    Pickford Lunin
    Dumfries(C3) Cancelo Mittelstadt Castagne DiMarco(C2)
    Saka Bruno(C5) Szobozlai Sudakov Baumgartner
    Mbappe(C4) Lukaku Havertz(C1)

    1. Men in green tights
      • 6 Years
      5 months, 16 days ago

      Exactly the same defence look above . Least with Germany first game we can still tinker if Mittelstadt doesn’t start.

      1. fenixri
        • 8 Years
        5 months, 16 days ago

        I will just get Faes if he doesnt start. Think Mittlestadt could be a trap amyway.

  7. Drop Dead Tsimikas
    • 12 Years
    5 months, 16 days ago

    More or less clueless on all but the biggest names, but this is what I've got in my team so far:

    Lunin | Bushchan
    Gvardiol | Theo | Bastoni | VvD | Bednarek
    Foden | Wirtz (c1) | McTominay | Khvicha | Bruno
    Mbappe | CR7 | Unal

    1. The Knights Template
      • 11 Years
      5 months, 16 days ago

      Nailed it.

      1. Baps hunter
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 7 Years
        5 months, 16 days ago

        Really?!?

        I qm playing tis game as casual, but....

        1. Sheffield Wednesday
          • 4 Years
          5 months, 16 days ago

          Would be rude to say he screwed it up.

  8. Jonesfromthere
    • 12 Years
    5 months, 16 days ago

    The RMTs coming out now, lovely. Currently on this lot:

    Berisha - Sels
    Cancelo - Hernandez - Dimarco - Di Lorenzo - Mittelschadt
    KDB - Fernandes - Wirtz - Szoboszlai - Chakvetadze
    Kane - Lukaku - Giroud

    1. The Knights Template
      • 11 Years
      5 months, 15 days ago

      Looks like you’ve nailed it!

  9. LarryDuff
    • 9 Years
    5 months, 16 days ago

    Congratulations to Olympiakos, hard fought victory

    1. Shark Team
      • 7 Years
      5 months, 16 days ago

      How Forest are battling for not getting relegated and their rejects win European cup?

  10. Holmes
    • 11 Years
    5 months, 15 days ago

    Apostolos Apostolopoulos

    Interesting name