UEFA EURO 2024 qualifier
Cyprus v Scotland
Friday, 8 September 2023 (kick-off 7.45pm - UK time)
AEK Arena, Larnaca

Scotland will aim to take another stride towards the UEFA EURO 2024 finals on Friday when they face Cyprus in Larnaca. 

Steve Clarke’s side have made an unprecedented start in this qualification campaign, with Scotland winning all four of their matches in the group for the first time in history.

A fifth consecutive win in the group – which would also amount to a ninth competitive victory in a row – would see Scotland at the top of the group on 15 points with only three matches left to play in the campaign.

Scotland have already defeated Cyprus this year, having begun the qualification campaign with a 3-0 victory over the Cypriots at a sold-out Hampden Park. John McGinn put Scotland in the lead that night – taking his goals tally to 16 in a Scotland jersey and moving him up to 7th in the all-time top scorers list – with a late Scott McTominay double making the scoreline more emphatic.

McTominay bagged himself another brace three nights later in an historic victory over top seeds Spain at Hampden leaving Scotland atop the group going into June’s fixtures.

Scotland’s fine form continued in June with two victories achieved in remarkable fashion. First, Scotland fought back after going behind to an Erling Haaland penalty in Oslo to win 2-1 thanks to goals from Lyndon Dykes and Kenny McLean.

The side then overcame Georgia 2-0 thanks to goals from Callum McGregor and Scott McTominay – his fifth of the campaign – in a sodden Hampden Park, in a match that was delayed for nearly two hours as a result of a deluge of summer rain.

Previous Meetings

Scotland boast a 100 percent record against Cyprus from eight previous meetings, the first a 5-0 victory in a FIFA World Cup qualification campaign in 1968 and the most recent the 3-0 victory at Hampden that began this UEFA EURO 2024 campaign.  

Steve Clarke’s first match as Scotland Head Coach of Scotland was against Cyprus at Hampden Park in June 2019, goals from captain Andy Robertson and a late winner from Oli Burke getting his reign off to the perfect start.

Scotland last played in Cyprus in 2019, goals from Ryan Christie and John McGinn enough to secure a 2-1 victory over the hosts.

While Scotland have dominated the fixtures with eight wins from eight, five of those victories have been tightly-fought affairs settled by only one goal – indeed, prior to March’s 3-0 victory a one goal margin of victory was all that separated the teams in the last five consecutive matches.

Team News 

The squad is boosted by the return of Ché Adams and Scott McKenna, who both missed the victories over Norway and Georgia in June, while Nathan Patterson also returns having been forced to withdraw from the last squad due to injury.

After earning his first call-up to the squad, Elliot Anderson was forced to withdraw after picking up a knock during training. Goalkeeper Liam Kelly joined Anderson in withdrawing due to injury, with Rangers goalkeeper Robby McCrorie drafted in to replace the Motherwell stopper.

Pre-match thoughts 

Scotland assistant coach John Carver: "In all my years working with football teams, this is the most focused group of people I've worked with, which is a really good thing and an honour for these guys. I've worked with some good teams and some good players, but these guys are right on it.

"We need to make sure we take care of this game. What you find with the players is that they're very level-headed, so they don't listen to the outside noise.

"I know Cypriot football pretty well and the standard's got much better in recent times, so we know it's going to be a difficult game."

Scotland Squad

Goalkeepers
Zander Clark Heart of Midlothian
Angus Gunn Norwich City
Robby McCrorie Rangers

Defenders
Jack Hendry Al Ettifaq
Aaron Hickey Brentford
Scott McKenna Nottingham Forest
Nathan Patterson* Everton
Ryan Porteous Watford
Andy Robertson Liverpool
John Souttar Rangers
Kieran Tierney Real Sociedad

Midfielders
Stuart Armstrong Southampton
Billy Gilmour* Brighton
Lewis Ferguson Bologna
Ryan Jack Rangers
John McGinn Aston Villa
Callum McGregor Celtic
Kenny McLean Norwich City
Scott McTominay Manchester United

Forwards
Ché Adams Southampton
Ryan Christie Bournemouth
Lyndon Dykes Queens Park Rangers
Kevin Nisbet Hibernian
Lawrence Shankland Heart of Midlothian

*Denotes Scottish FA JD Performance School graduate