Scotland Sets Four-Point Goal For Euro 2024 Knockout Stages Leap

Steve Clarke aims to guide Scotland into the knockout stages of a major tournament for the first time at Euro 2024. Scotland's target is four points to progress. The team has failed in their previous 11 attempts across the World Cup and European Championship to make it past the group stages.

Hosts Germany await in the Group A opener for Clarke's side on Friday, followed by matches against Switzerland and Hungary. With the top two sides progressing, as well as four of the best third-placed finishers, Clarke has set clear ambitions for the UEFA tournament.

"The bottom line is we need four points to come out of the group, that guarantees that you'll come out of the group almost forever," Clarke told BBC Sport. "Three points and a zero goal difference would probably get out of the group, so that's what we have to look at every game in isolation."

Scotland will appear at their fourth European Championship, after 1992, 1996, and 2020, having failed to reach the knockout stages in each of those tournaments. Clarke's side has just two wins in the finals of the tournament's history—against CIS in 1992 and Switzerland in 1996—and have not found the net in six of their nine matches.

Clarke's Strategy

The Scotland manager will become just the third to lead his nation to consecutive international tournaments, along with Andy Roxburgh (1990 World Cup, Euro 92) and Craig Brown (Euro 96, 1998 World Cup). His message to the players is clear: take it to the last game.

"We play against Hungary in the last game; that's where we want to be in a similar situation where we know we can get a result and we can qualify," Clarke added.

Team Preparations

As for Scotland's starting line-up in Munich, captain Andy Robertson and Lawrence Shankland returned to training in Garmisch-Partenkirchen on Tuesday. "I've probably got two in my mind that I'm still mulling over and we'll work on that in the next couple of days," Clarke concluded.

All smiles at the end of day two #EURO2024

@ScotlandNT June 11, 2024