Andy Robertson, Scotland’s captain, apologized to the country on Sunday night after his team was eliminated from Euro 2024.
The Tartan Army faced Hungary in their final group stage match, and both teams were desperate for a win to go to the round of 16. Scotland might have qualified with a draw, but since they would have only gained two points from their three games, this was generally regarded as an unlikely enough result to advance them.
The majority of Scotland’s performance in Stuttgart was disappointing and they not tactical until the final 10 minutes of stoppage time in the second half. They attempted just four shots, all of which were after the break and all of which missed the net.
After a swift counterattack by Hungary in the 100th minute, Kevin Csoboth’s goal sealed the victory. Manager Steve Clarke has come under fire for his tactics, once again sticking to a back-five formation till the end of the game.
Scotland captain Robertson stated after the game: “It will take a long time to get over this one.”
“We knew there was going to be a point in the game where we could go for it and bring on the players we had on the bench to go for it that wee bit more. We did go for it but we got sucker-punched at the end. A draw wasn’t going to be enough realistically so both teams had to go for it and unfortunately one of us had to lose.
“Tonight is devastating. There is no buttering it up. All the lads are absolutely gutted. It’s up to us to pick them up and that will only happen slowly but surely. What I will say is thank you to the country because we felt everyone behind us and we knew the excitement back home. Sorry for letting you down.”
For all 12 competitions which Scotland qualified they have been eliminated in the group stages, including four European Championships.
Hungary, who presently sit third out of six in the mini-table, must still finish among the top four third-place teams in order to guarantee their place in the knockout stages.
