Scotland 1-1 Switzerland: Scott McTominay strikes as Steve Clarke's side keep Euro 2024 last-16 hopes alive (2024)

Scotland wrestled free from the shackles of injury and self destruction to muster a precious point against Switzerland to keep their Euro 2024 campaign alive.

Qualification hero Scott McTominay's deflected shot almost lifted the roof off the deafening Cologne Stadium on 13 minutes.

However, a bewildering blind back pass from Anthony Ralston giftwrapped an opportunity for Xherdan Shaqiri to sweep home a sublime first-time shot high beyond Angus Gunn.

Kieran Tierney pulled up clutching his hamstring as Dan Ndoye ran on to squander a golden chance when through on goal and will miss the Hungary game on Sunday.

But the Scots, already patched up in defence, roused themselves heroically in the closing stages which saw Grant Hanley strike a post with a header from an Andy Robertson free-kick.

The Swiss spurned a host of late chances, but not enough to deny Scotland a point to move third in Group A, with victory against the Hungarians surely enough to see them out of a group stage for the first time in their history.

At the foot of the gargantuan Kolner Dom, tens of thousands of Scotland supporters steadied themselves to watch their team attempt to scale a challenge of a similar scale.

In the 5-1 defeat by hosts Germany on Friday, the Scots were a shadow of the team which a year ago stunned Norway or beat the Spanish in qualifying.

The guile and doggedness deserted them in the vast expanses of the Allianz Arena.

In this intense cauldron, they rattled a Swiss team which swept away the Hungarians on match day one.

The opener was vintage Scotland from the qualifiers. A McTominay header cleared a corner, with Andy Robertson carrying the ball the full length of the pitch on a cavalry charge.

When Callum McGregor eventually laid a heavy pass to the Manchester United midfielder, his first-time shot took a big deflection off Fabian Schar to rocket high into the net.

Nervousness at the back was still there on the right side of defence in that first half, and there were more than a few hearts-in-mouths moments as Switzerland missed a glut of glaring chances as the clock and finger nails ran down.

But in the second half Scotland attacked with fervour and without fear, and they've given themselves a chance. That's all Steve Clarke, or the bumper Scotland crowd who travelled from the city centre, could have asked for.

Switzerland drew so many plaudits from their performance against Hungary, particularly in a thrilling first half.

Against Scotland, when they broke in the opening 45 minutes they were terrifying. Particularly down the Scots' troublesome right side.

In Shaqiri, they have a talisman like few others. With his wonder strike, he has now scored in the last three World Cups and European Championships.

The Swiss, who knew a win would see them through to the last 16, also had the ball in the net twice with narrow offside margins denying them.

There were also two glaring misses to boot.

But in the second half as the game opened and they threatened on the counter, they too demonstrated a fragility at the back.

They'll be looking at this as an opportunity missed, with Germany now looming in their final group game. But four point may well still be enough to see them through.

Scotland head coach Steve Clarke: "It was nice to see them. We didn't turn up in the first game. We're a good team when we play.

"We always knew that the points we require would come from these two games. We've got one point now, that means we have a chance going into the last game.

"I believe if we get those three points, we go to the next stage."

Scotland captain Andy Robertson: "More like us, much more like us. Aggressive, on the front foot, couldn't get off to a better start.

"We make a mistake but Tony Ralston was unbelievable after that. Second half, he was different class.

"We had our chances but so did they. We were a lot more happy with that performance. We've taken it into the last game and that's all we can ask."

Scotland midfielder Billy Gilmour: "We gave everything out there. We knew we had to bounce back after the last performance and it puts us in a good place.

"We're a good team. We know our strengths. Tonight was more like a Scotland performance. Getting after the ball, passionate - everything was there."

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