International Friendly
Scotland v Finland
Friday, 7 June 2024 (7.45pm kick-off)
Hampden Park

 

Scotland supporters’ long wait for UEFA EURO 2024 draws to a close tomorrow night, as Finland provide the opposition for what has the potential to be a going away party for the squad at Hampden Park.

Fresh from their victory over Gibraltar in Portugal on Monday night, the Scotland squad now have the opportunity to bid farewell to their loyal fans on home ground before embarking on their travels to a major tournament finals for the first time in more than 25 years.

With COVID depriving supporters of a chance to see their heroes play a going-away match prior to Scotland competing at EURO 2020, the atmosphere is set to be raucous as the players complete their preparations for Germany against Finland.

Previous Meetings

Scotland will be aiming to keep up their near-perfect record against the Finnish, with their eight meetings over the years resulting in victories on six occasions and only two draws.

The last time the two nations met also served as a tournament preparation match for Scotland, way back in 1998 before the FIFA World Cup in France.

That fixture, played more than 25 years ago at Tynecastle Park in April 1998, saw Scotland come from a goal behind to draw 1-1 thanks to a 15th minute Darren Jackson strike.

The sides last met in competitive action in the qualification campaign for EURO 1996, Scotland emerging victorious in both home and away fixtures on their way to successfully qualifying for the finals in England.

Duncan Shearer and John Collins netted in a 2-0 victory in 1994 in Helsinki, while a solitary Scott Booth strike was enough to seal the points at Hampden Park in 1995.

Team News

The Scotland squad has been bolstered this week with the additions of forwards Tommy Conway and Lewis Morgan, following the withdrawal of Lyndon Dykes and Ben Doak.

Conway joined the squad a day after scoring for Scotland Under-21s in Turkiye, while Morgan’s form for New York Red Bulls – where he has scored nine goals this season – has given him the opportunity to add to the two caps he earned in summer 2018.

Scotland Head Coach Steve Clarke has revealed that Scott McTominay has recovered from injury sufficiently to feature from the subs bench and will be hoping to add to the seven goals he scored in qualification.

Pre-Match Thoughts

Scotland Head Coach Steve Clarke: “We'd love to finish with a win because that sends everyone away happy. A good performance, no injuries and ready to go for the game that matters.

“It’s disappointing to lose the players we’ve lost but I think in Tommy Conway and Lewis Morgan, we’ve got two good additions to the squad.

“They (Finland) reached the play-offs and are a decent team. They will come here to be party poopers. That's their job. They want to show everyone they're equally as good as team that made it so it'll be a tough night."

Where to watch

The game will be shown live on Premier Sports 1 and BBC Scotland, kick-off 7.45pm.