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As much as I’d like to let my heart rule my head – and that’s what I do to a large extent in the rest of this group profile – we can’t look beyond Germany.
The hosts have pressure and expectations on their shoulders, that’s true, and hopefully the Scots can take advantage of the opening night nerves at the Allianz, but man for man, the German team is far superior to anything else in the section, and they will. come to top it off.
Middle ground
There’s a case for naming all three of Germany’s opponents in this category, given how close the matches between them should theoretically be, but even though Scotland are the lowest-ranked team in the group, I’ll give the advantage to Steve Clarke’s men. doubt and make them fight for second place.
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Alongside the Scots are the Swiss, who may not be the sexiest team on paper, but whose greater tournament experience marks them out as a greater threat to Scotland’s progress ahead of the Hungarian.
Scotland’s match against Germany is rightly considered the biggest match the country has played in 25 years or more, but the next match against Switzerland is likely to be far more important in terms of Scotland’s chances of progressing. the National team. Avoid defeat, and that should set Scotland up for a final day match.
The weakest link
Which brings us to Hungary. Calling them the weak link is probably unfair, and could come back to bite me, but in terms of overall team quality, I think Hungarian 26 is (just) the weakest in this section.
Yes, they have Liverpool star Dominik Szoboszlai and a few other reliable performers, like RB Leipzig duo Peter Gulasci and Willi Orban, but if Szoboszlai can be canceled out, there’s not really much threat from elsewhere at first sight. .
Famous last words and all that.
Star Men
Unfortunately, most of them are in the German ranks. Toni Kroos has come out of international retirement and it will be fascinating to see how the Scottish midfielder fares against the Real Madrid metronome.
There’s also plenty of young attacking talent in their team, which we’ll get to soon, but for star quality, Kroos is your man.
There are, however, a handful of other top stars in this group, with Scotland not lacking a few in the form of Andy Robertson, John McGinn and Scott McTominay.
Hungary have the aforementioned Szoboszlai, while Switzerland don’t really have a standout star in their attack, with their biggest name now arguably being Manchester City defender Manuel Akanji.
Those to watch out for
Florian Wirtz or Jamal Musiala could easily have been included in the section above as star men, and this dynamic duo are the players who will likely have given Steve Clarke sleepless nights in recent weeks.
Wirtz has had an incredible season with Bayer Leverkusen, while Musiala has already earned a reputation for stepping up in big games with crucial goals. The Scottish defense will have their hands full against these two.
It will be a tall order to surpass them, but in Billy Gilmour, Scotland have a talent that could be announced on the world stage at this tournament.
The talented midfielder’s career stalled for a bit after a poor loan spell from Chelsea to Norwich City, but he is now flourishing at Brighton and looked a class above everything else on the pitch of Hampden last Friday evening. Big things are expected from the former Rangers kid in Germany.
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Elsewhere, Hungarian Milos Kerkez has enjoyed a brilliant season in Ryan Christie’s Bournemouth side, with the 20-year-old left-back considered one of the most exciting young talents in world football.
Scottish connection
Well, we’re in the section, but there are other (very tenuous) links to Scotland in the opposition ranks as well.
As mentioned, Kerkez is a teammate of Christie at Bournemouth, while German Fabian Groβ often lines up alongside Gilmour in Brighton’s midfield.
Callum Styles, the Bury-born Hungarian midfielder, was signed by former Rangers manager Michael Beale, while Gulasci, Orban and Szoboszlai were part of the RB Leipzig team that beat Celtic twice in Champions League last season.
