UEFA Nations League A Group 1
Portugal v Scotland
Estadio Da Luz, Lisbon
Sunday, 8 September 2024, kick-off 7.45pm

Scotland will look to bounce back from their opening fixture heartbreak when they travel to Lisbon to take on Portugal on Sunday night.  

After going in two goals at half time, Scotland valiantly fought back to level terms in front of a packed Hampden Park. They pulled one back first through Billy Gilmour’s second-ever international goal before Scott McTominay’s tenth goal for his country brough them level on night, only for a 97th-minute penalty to cruelly deny them a point.

Steve Clarke will now take his side to go head-to-head with Portugal, winners of the first ever UEFA Nations League competition in 2019, looking to put their first points on the board in the top tier of the competition.

Previous Meetings

The two nations have met on 15 occasions over the past eight decades, Portugal enjoying the advantage over the course with eight victories to Scotland’s four, the two sides drawing three times in that period.

The first meeting between the nations way back in 1950 ended in a 2-2 draw in front of 68,000 fans in Lisbon, with goals from Willie Bauld and Allan Brown for the visitors.

The most recent meeting ended in a 3-1 victory for Portugal at Hampden in 2018. A Scotland side that had Andy Robertson, Scott McKenna and John McGinn in the starting 11 went down 3-1 on the night, Steven Naismith getting on the scoresheet late on for the hosts.

Portugal have dominated the most recent meetings between the sides, Scotland needing to go back to 1980 for their last victory. The Scots won emphatically on that occasion, however, goals from Kenny Dalglish, Andy Gray, Steve Archibald and Archie Gemmill securing a 4-1 victory.

Indeed, Scotland will need to make history tomorrow night if they are to emerge with a win, having never won on Portuguese soil in their seven previous visits.

Team News

Steve Clarke has no fresh injury concerns within the squad after Thursday night’s match, with all 23 players in the squad having travelled to Portugal.

Ben Doak and Ryan Gauld will be hoping to feature again having each made their Scotland debut on Thursday night, leaving Jon McCracken, Josh Doig and Max Johnston as the only uncapped players in the squad.

Scotland captain Andy Robertson won a milestone 75th cap on Thursday night, while vice-captain John McGinn picking up his 70th cap.

Pre-Match Thoughts

Scotland midfielder Ryan Christie: "We’ll probably have to be at our very best across the full park, all 11 players. We obviously know it's going to take 90 minutes of pure concentration across the pitch.

"We know how good a team they are, especially offensively. We came out in the second-half the other night and put in such a positive performance, you almost come away from the game thinking how you lose it? I thought we looked positive again and we've had positive results against big teams in the past."

 

Where to watch

The game will be shown live on ITV4 and ITVX from 7.30pm.