Scotland hosts Austria in round 1 of the World Cup Qualification. The match will be played on Thursday, March 25th at Hampden Park (Glasgow)
Scotland will finally return to the major tournament. The Tartans will go to the Euro this summer, and it will happen for the first time in this century. The last time the national team qualified for the major tournament was back in 1998 (by the way, the Scots did not show much in France). The Tartans did not get through the usual qualification in 2019, as Belgium and Russia unconditionally dominated in that group. But according to the Nations League quota, it was the Scots who made it to the Euro. Marshall became the hero in the playoffs - 36-year-old goalkeeper of Derby County won two penalty shootouts against Israel and Serbia. Moreover, Steve Clark is lucky, as there are really cool players on the team right now. Robertson, Tierney, McTominay, McGinn, Ryan Fraser, and Che Adams are playing in the strongest football league in Europe. And Scotland showed itself well in the last Nations League, gaining 10 points in a company with the Czech Republic, Israel, and Slovakia.
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Austria returns to a high level after an unsuccessful cycle. Das Team made people talk about it after confident qualifying for the last Euro. But the Austrians didn’t achieve much at the tournament itself (one draw in three matches), and they did not shine in the qualification for the World Cup. But under Franco Foda, Austria managed to confidently take 2nd place in 2019 (although Poland seriously pulled away from its neighbor). Ans for the last Nations League, the Red-Whites won their group in autumn, gaining 13 points in a company with Romania, Northern Ireland, and Norway (although the latter was prevented by the coronavirus restrictions of their country, which resulted in a forfeit defeat). Now Das Team has a strong roster led by Alaba and Sabitzer. However, for various reasons, it will have to do without several stars (captain Baumgartlinger, Laimer, and Arnautovic).
These national teams played for the first time at the 1954 World Cup. So far, Austria has an advantage - four wins against three for Scotland in ten meetings. The latter was held back in 2007. Now Scotland is not as weak as it was a couple of years earlier. But it is unlikely that the Scots will offer Austria open football, and the Red-Whites will not necessarily strive for victory. We think the upcoming match won’t please the fans of scoring football.
Prediction for the match: Under 2.5 goal scored
