Series 3-3 Against Norway, Scotland Welcomes Euro 2024 Qualification With Supporters At Hampden

Scotland celebrates its pass to Germany. (photo: x @ScotlandNTGoals)

JAKARTA - Scotland's National Team coach Steve Clarke is enjoying the opportunity to celebrate the Euro 2024 qualifiers with spectators at Hampden after his team closed their campaign with a 3-3 "strange" draw against Norway.

Scotland have qualified two games before and finished second behind Spain in Group A after a second straight draw which ensures they only lost once in the preliminary round.

The players, including the injured captain Andy Robertson, carried out an honorary lap to mark their achievements.

"It was fun - and fun for the supporters - to say thank you to the team, a good night for the team and staff to thank the supporters. It's always fun to qualify for a big tournament. Of course the latter was limited by Covid so we missed that connection and feelings with the fans," Clarke said.

"It's good for everyone in this country that we have something to look forward to next summer," he added.

Scotland managed to keep up after being missed twice in the first half with John McGinn's penalty and an own goal before Stuart Armstrong scored a goal in good cooperation to take the lead before the 60th minute.

However, former Celtic winger Mohamed Elyounoussi came off the bench to score with a header in the 86th minute when Norway scored their third goal from a cross from right-back Julian Ryerson.

"It's a strange game," Clarke said. "I need to go and analyze it. What we've worked hard on is being competitive, being a competitive team every time we're on the pitch. That's why I'm a bit disappointed with the first half, I don't think we're competitive enough. More competitive in the second half. We're Scotland, we have a certain way of playing, we like to play aggressively."

A win with a goal difference of two will put Scotland in pot two for the draw on December 2. But there is an argument that they are better off in pot three because now they will avoid teams like the Netherlands, Italy and Croatia.

"I don't care," Clarke said. "I don't even know who's in pot three and pot two. I'm sure I'll find out when I get to Hamburg."

Norway's head coach, Stage Solbakken, feels his team should have taken the lead in the first half but feels Scotland will make it difficult for other participants in Germany later.

"Overall, we are a better team and should have won but not easy, Scotland has always been very organized," he added. "They have great coaches and very disciplined players who know their strengths and boundaries. That's very important - they play according to their strengths and don't pretend to be something else."

"They also have a tournament experience so I think they can be a challenge for everyone next summer. They also play with two valuable systems. There will be no easy matches for teams meeting Scotland," said Solbakken.