Scotland v Switzerland: Euro 2024 – live

9 min: A speculative ball down the Swiss right. Hanley ushers it out of play under pressure from Widmer, only to fall on the ball as it crosses the byline. It should be a corner, but neither referee nor linesman spots the error and Scotland get away with it. Goal kick.

8 min: Switzerland get their foot on the ball for the first time since the kick-off. Some patient passing. But then Shaqiri ships possession to McTominay, who attempts to slip Adams clear down the middle. Rodriguez slides in to intercept.

6 min: Hanley’s loose pass out from the back is pounced on by Vargas, but the Swiss miscontrols and what looked like a chance to launch a dangerous counter is gone. “My bet’s on Widmer to join that illustrious scoring list,” writes Phil West, a crack you can parse in more than one way.

4 min: McTominay whips this one higher, but it’s an easy pick for Sommer in the Swiss goal. A decent front-foot start by the Scots, though. Exactly what they need in the wake of that cowrin, tim’rous performance against Germany.

3 min: McTominay hits it flat and can’t beat the first man, falling over as he does so, putting the tin lid on it. But the ball sails out for a throw, which Tierney launches long. Adams and Robertson cause enough hassle in the box to win another corner. McTominay to take this one, too.

2 min: Robertson takes a quick throw down the left flank and McGinn wins a corner off Akanji. McTominay to take.

1 min: Almost immediately, a footrace down the Swiss left between Ndoye and Tierney. The Scottish defender wins this one, but only just, and only because he’s wily enough to draw a foul. This could be a battle to watch.

Scotland get the ball rolling. What an atmosphere! It’s not quite at Turkey-Georgia levels, but it’s something all right.

The teams are out! Scotland in their famous dark blue, Switzerland in second-choice white. The national anthems are belted out: hymns to radiant morning skies growing red, of fighting for your wee bit hill and glen and sending folk homeward tae think again. The latter positively ringing around the Müngersdorfer Stadion. Marvellous! “On most days a single malt will win over a slab of Toblerone,” notes Krishna Moorthy, pouring everyone a 43.8%ABV drop of hope. We’ll be off in a minute.

Pennant watch. Here are the commemorative trinkets Andrew Robertson and Granit Xhaka will be handing over before kick-off. Have to say, without any bias, the Scottish one is a thing of timeless grace and beauty …

… whereas the Swiss effort has a real quickly-cobbled-together, will-this-do vibe. The worry is, of course, that we’ll be using exactly the same phrases to describe the teams later, just not necessarily assigned to the same countries. Anyway, good luck everyone.

Steve Clarke talks to the BBC. “It was always our intention to start Billy Gilmour in this game, and that’s why he starts … the only difference between any other games is it’s a Friday-Wednesday build-up as opposed to normally Saturday-Wednesday … that’s all! … we do the same things … work the same way … tonight hopefully you’ll see the real Scotland on the pitch … we have to play better … we have to do better … we believe if we play to the best of our abilities we’ll get something from the game.”

Here is the complete unabridged all-time list of goalscorers for Scotland at the European Championship finals. It’s probably time something was done about this.

• Paul McStay (v Commonwealth of Independent States, Euro 92)

• Brian McClair (v Commonwealth of Independent States, Euro 92)

• Gary McAllister (v Commonwealth of Independent States, Euro 92)

• Ally McCoist (v Switzerland, Euro 96)

• Callum McGregor (v Croatia, Euro 2020)

• Antonio Rudiger (v Scotland, Euro 2024)

The other Group A game finished in a 2-0 win for hosts Germany over Hungary. Let Barry Glendenning take you on a trip …

… and all of that means Germany have qualified for the knockout phase. The Swiss can join them tonight with a win, though a draw would almost certainly prove to be enough to see them through when it all comes down, one way or another. Scotland won’t be out if they lose tonight, but they’d be seriously pushing their luck, especially if their goal difference takes another hammering, compromising any chances of squeaking through with one of the best third-placed finishes. However if they can get something, anything, from tonight’s game, they’ll go into Sunday night’s showdown with the Hungarians still brimful of hope.

The history books don’t give us too much of a hint about what may happen tonight. Alternatively, they can tell you whatever you want to hear. Scotland and Switzerland haven’t met for 18 years, since the Swiss won a Hampden Park friendly 3-1 in 2006. But the last time the teams met competitively, at Villa Park during Euro 96, Ally McCoist’s 37th-minute piledriver proved decisive. It wasn’t enough to get the Scots out of the group, of course; it still stands as the last winner scored by Scotland at any tournament (and much as we’d like to, we just can’t count the 2006 Kirin Cup). So it’s swings and roundabouts … even when it comes down to the broader historical sweep, with Scotland winning five of their first six fixtures against Switzerland (between 1931 and 1976) but only winning two of the subsequent eight (losing three). But whichever way you spin it, one thing is true: at least there’s no heavy baggage here.

Scotland make two changes to the side that started the 5-1 opening-night capitulation against Germany. One of them is enforced: Grant Hanley comes in at the back for the suspended Ryan Porteous. The other is tactical: Billy Gilmour replaces Ryan Christie to bolster the midfield.

Switzerland make one change to their starting XI in the wake of their 3-1 win over Hungary. The Powercube is back: Xherdan Shaqiri replaces Kwadwo Duah in attack.

The teams

Preamble