Scotland ready to ´prove people wrong´ against Hungary, says McGinn

John McGinn believes Scotland have the mentality and capability “to prove people wrong” heading into their final Group A fixture against Hungary in Stuttgart.

Steve Clarke’s side know a victory is a must to give them the best chance of qualifying for the knockout stages of a major international tournament for the first time in their history.

Scotland have won two of their last three meetings with Hungary (L1), with this their first encounter since a 1-0 away win in March 2018.

Following their 5-1 thrashing to hosts Germany in their opening game, an injury-hit Tartan Army got a point on the board against Switzerland to keep their hopes of qualification alive.

“We’ve obviously had a lot of injuries along the way – but us Scots are best at enduring adversity,” said McGinn. “Hopefully we can prove a lot of people wrong.

“We have players who’ve been involved in high-pressure matches, but we’re not feeling pressure, we feel anticipation about being that team who changes things for Scottish football.

“I don’t think a lot of people across Europe thought we could do it, so we want to be the ones who do.

“We all know the magnitude of the occasion. We have the chance to write our name into the history books.”

The day you’ve been waiting for

Scotland v Hungary
@EURO2024
8pm
Stuttgart Arena, Stuttgart
Live on @BBCOne Scotland & @BBCiPlayer
Preview: https://t.co/oZtX0RSO8x#EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/pIFXgPocJH

— Scotland National Team (@ScotlandNT) June 23, 2024

A win for Clarke’s side would put them on four points from their three group games which in previous tournaments, has proved enough to qualify as one of the best-ranked third-placed sides.

Hungary arrived in Germany on the back of a 14-game unbeaten run, but are winless in their last eight Euros matches (D4 L4). However, the Scotland head coach is not underestimating his opponents despite their form at the tournament.

“Nothing except three points for us is what we’re thinking,” said Clarke. “We need to get three points to at least finish third in the group and we’ll see where that takes us in the competition.

“Everybody knows how big a game it is. You can talk and talk and talk about it.

“We probably did a little bit too much with the first one, so we’re trying to underplay this one, if you ever can with a game of this magnitude. But we’re trying to make sure we’re well prepared and ready to go.”