Scotland do not have the most storied history at the European Championships making just three appearances so far. This means that the honour of being Scotland’s all time top scorer at the Euros is a distinction held by many players.
5⃣0⃣ days to go...
— Scotland National Team (@ScotlandNT) April 25, 2024
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The 1992 European Championships in Sweden saw Scotland drawn into Group 2 with the Netherlands, CIS (the Soviet Union) and Germany.
In qualifying Scotland had beaten out the likes of Switzerland, Romania, Bulgaria and San Marino, although they were out scored by Switzerland and Bulgaria in that group.
At the actual tournament, Scotland picked up one win and two losses in three games. This one win was a 3 - 0 win over CIS, but it wasn’t enough as they finished third in their group and were eliminated.
However, Scotland made back-to-back appearances at the European Championships, competing at the 1996 Championships in England.
Scotland managed to qualify for the tournament by virtue of being the fourth best runner-up, finishing above Denmark, France, the Netherlands and Ireland.
Group A saw Scotland draw against hosts and rivals England, Switzerland and the Netherlands. In three games, Scotland picked up a win, a draw and a loss, leaving them on four points, tied with the Netherlands.
The two sides drew 0 - 0 in their clash meaning qualification couldn’t be decided on head-to-head. Both sides had a goal difference of - 1 so it was decided on goals scored, to which the Netherlands had scored three in comparison to Scotland’s single goal giving Scotland another Group stage exit.
The last appearance at the European Championships was in the 2020 Championships across Europe. Scotland had to go through the Play-offs to make the Championships, beating Israel on penalties in the Semi Finals and beating Serbia, again on penalties, in the Final.
Group A saw Scotland once again grouped with rivals and hosts England along with Croatia and the Czech Republic.
Scotland picked up one draw and two losses in three games leaving them on one point, three points from third-place Czech Republic and once again out of the Euros at the Group stage.
⏪ #OnThisDay in 2020, David Marshall became a Scotland hero as his penalty save sent us to EURO 2020 🙌 🏴
— Scotland National Team (@ScotlandNT) November 12, 2022
Relive all the drama from that night in Serbia - or just skip to good stuff at 3.36 🧤 pic.twitter.com/Zl1RxAesJF
The top scorers for Scotland at the Euros all have the same amount of goals. Gary McAllister, Brian McClair, Ally McCoist, Paul McStay and Callum McGregor have all scored one goal at the European Championships.
Scotland have always had a scoring problem at the Euros, scoring just once at both the 1996 Championships and 2020 Championships.
McStay opened the scoring in the seventh minute for Scotland against CIS with McClair doubling the lead before halftime. A penalty from McAllister in the 84th minute to secure the 3 - 0 win, the only game they scored in at the 1992 Championships.
The one goal for Scotland at the 1996 Championships was scored by McCoist in the first half of the 1 - 0 win over Switzerland.
McGregor was the lone scorer at the 2020 Championships, scoring in the first half of Scotland’s 3 - 1 loss to Croatia.
In the qualifying for this tournament, Scotland were drawn into Group A with Spain, Norway, Georgia and Cyprus.
In eight games, Scotland picked up five wins, two draws and one loss, leaving them on 17 points, four points behind Spain and six points ahead of Norway and crucially qualified for the Championships.
Perhaps the most important aspect of this qualifying run was the amount of goals scored for Scotland. The Tartan Army scored 17 goals just eight behind notoriously high-scoring Spain.
Scott McTominay
McTominay was the standout performer for Scotland in qualifying, scoring seven goals in eight games. This included two goals against Spain, two goals against Georgia and a goal against Cyprus.
In a poor season for Manchester United, McTominay has picked up ten goals and three assists in 39 games, with a lot of these goals directly giving United the win.
Since his Scotland debut in 2018, McTominay has made 49 appearances and has scored eight goals.
John McGinn
McGinn was also amongst the goals for Scotland during qualifying, grabbing three goals, one against Norway and two against Cyprus.
However, McGinn has had a successful domestic season with Aston Villa in the Premier League. In 50 games, McGinn has picked up nine goals and seven assists in 50 games for Villa, averaging a goal every 450 minutes.
McGinn has been in the Scotland team since 2016 and has made 64 appearances, scoring 18 goals. This makes him the sixth all time top scorer for Scotland in general, tied with Kenny Miller and one goal from equaling McCoist. McGinn is also the most recent player for Scotland to bag a hat-trick, this coming back in 2019 against San Marino.
The midfielder could be coming into the tournament with a lot of momentum with Aston Villa in prime position to secure Champions League football next season.
Callum McGregor
McGregor is already on the Euros top scorer list for Scotland following his goal at the 2020 Championships which also makes him a prime candidate to become the all time top scorer for Scotland in the competition.
Celtic are on track to win the Scottish Premiership once again, with McGregor picking up two goals and five assists for Celtic in 32 games. Since his debut in 2017, McGregor has made 58 appearances for Scotland and has scored three goals.
Lyndon Dykes
A more out there pick for top scorer could be Dykes who has scored recently for Scotland in qualifying, grabbing a goal in the 2 - 1 win over Norway.
In the Championship this season, Dykes has scored six goals in 41 games for QPR. However, since making his Scotland debut in 2020, Dykes has made 36 appearances and has scored nine goals.
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