CALLUM McGREGOR is ready to come face to face with Manchester City’s goalscoring sensation Erling Haaland following the Euro 2024 qualifying ballot in Frankfurt this afternoon.
Scotland have been drawn against Spain, Norway, Georgia and Cyprus in Group A with the top two winning directly through to the Germany Finals.
Celtic skipper McGregor and his club team-mates Anthony Ralston, Greg Taylor and David Turnbull were all named in boss Steve Clarke’s most recent squad for the UEFA Nation League matches last month.
SCOTLAND THE RAVE…Callum McGregor on the ball for his country.
It could mean the Hoops’ inspirational onfield leader and his colleagues attempting to curb the threat of Norway’s main man Haaland who has netted an astonishing 20 goals in 13 games at the start of his Manchester City career.
The towering hitman has also claimed 21 goals in 23 outings for his country. Arsenal midfielder Martin Odegaard is the country’s captain.
Spain, ranked seventh in the world, have been European champions on three occasions in 1964, 2008 and 2012.
International boss Clarke, speaking to the BBC, said: “We certainly have a lot of respect for our opponents but no fear.
READY FOR ACTION…Greg Taylor in a recent appearance for Scotland.
“It’s going to be competitive. Hopefully, the other teams are looking at Scotland thinking ‘this is a tough group’.
“We feel we’re improving, we feel we’re on the up. There were a lot of difficult teams in pot three and Norway were ones that jumped out.
“There are no easy international games for Scotland, we always have to play to our best to get the points and that’s what we’ll try and do.”
If Clarke’s men miss out, they are guaranteed a play-off place after topping their Nations League section.
The qualifying action will start on March 23 and reach a conclusion on November 21 2023.
EURO 2024 QUALIFYING GROUPS
Group A: Spain, SCOTLAND, Norway, Georgia, Cyprus.
Group B: Netherlands, France, Republic of Ireland, Greece, Gibraltar.
Group C: Italy, England, Ukraine, North Macedonia, Malta.
Group D: Croatia, Wales, Armenia, Turkey, Latvia.
Group E: Poland, Czech Republic, Albania, Faroe Islands, Moldova.
Group F: Belgium, Austria, Sweden, Azerbaijan, Estonia.
Group G: Hungary, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Lithuania.
Group H: Denmark, Finland, Slovenia, Kazakhstan, Northern Ireland, San Marino.
Group I: Switzerland, Israel, Romania, Kosovo, Belarus, Andorra.
Group J: Portugal, Bosnia, Iceland, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Liechtenstein.
The opening game of Euro 2024 is June 14 with the Final taking place on July 14 at the Olympiastadion, Berlin.
