GARY LINEKER AND MICAH RICHARDS LEFT RED-FACED OVER SCOTLAND COMMENT BEFORE EURO 2024

Gary Lineker and Micah Richards ' prediction that Scotland would progress to the Euro 2024 knockout stages came to a crashing halt against Hungary

The Tartan Army suffered a heartbreaking last-minute defeat to Hungary on Sunday to end their participation in the tournament. Their exit occurred in the most devastating fashion as Kevin Csoboth scored 100th minute winner to ensure Scotland would end Euro 2024 bottom of Group A, thus confirming their elimination.

It is the 12th time in 12 attempts that Scotland have failed to progress past the group stage at a major tournament. Yet, before the action got underway in Germany, Match of the Day pundits Lineker and Richards believed history wouldn't repeat itself as they predicted Scotland to reach the knockout stages in a pre-tournament episode of The Rest is Football podcast.

When asked about Scotland's chances of progression, Richards said: "In terms of qualifying they were really good, they go defensive when they need to [and] counter-attack when they need to. They've got some good individual players so I think it will be difficult for them to get out of the group but something tells me they've just got enough team spirit to maybe get out of that group."

Lineker agreed with his podcast partner, remarking: "I think Scotland will get through, I think it might be in third but that still counts as going through." Alan Shearer, on the other hand, opted for Switzerland to reach the final 16 alongside Germany.

Scotland leave Germany having earned just one point from three games. They scored just two goals in the competition, with one of those being an Antonio Rudiger own goal in their 5-1 defeat to the host nation in the opening game of the tournament.

Hungary's triumph leaves them in good stead to qualify from the group as one of the highest-ranked third-placed teams with three points, but their progression is not yet guaranteed.

The match itself was marred by a harrowing injury suffered by Barnabas Vargas. Play had to be stopped for a significant amount of time after the Hungary star collided with Angus Gunn. The striker is now said to be in a stable condition in a statement released by the Hungarian Football Federation.

It read: "Barnabas Varga's condition is stable. The Ferencvaros player is currently in one of the hospitals in Stuttgart. We will inform you immediately if there is any news about his status."

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2024-06-24T07:22:18Z dg43tfdfdgfd