Scotland v England: international football friendly – live

Pre-match reading

Euro 2024 qualifying

There are games in both Scotland and England’s groups tonight. We’ll keep you posted on those. There’s an outside chance Scotland will qualify for Euro 2024 tonight, though it would need Georgia to draw away to Erling Haaland.

Group A

• Spain v Cyprus

• Norway v Georgia

Group C

• Italy v Ukraine

• Malta v North Macedonia

Scotland are unchanged; England are much changed. More than half the team that started against Ukraine on Saturday have been rotated/dropped. Aaron Ramsdale, Lewis Dunk, Kieran Trippier, Kalvin Phillips, Phil Foden and Marcus Rashford replace Jordan Pickford, Harry Maguire, Ben Chilwell, Jordan Henderson, Bukayo Saka and James Maddison. It’s a big night for Dunk in particular: his second England cap, and his first appearance in five years.

Scotland (3-4-2-1) Gunn; Porteous, Hendry, Tierney; Hickey, Gilmour, McGregor, Robertson; McTominay, McGinn; Adams.
Substitutes: McCrorie, Clark, Souttar, Dykes, Christie, McKenna, S Armstrong, Ferguson, Nisbet, Jack, Patterson, McLean, Shankland.

England (possible 4-1-2-3) Ramsdale; Walker, Dunk, Guehi, Trippier; Rice; Phillips, Bellingham; Foden, Kane, Rashford.
Substitutes: Chilwell, Johnstone, Henderson, Maguire, Tomori, Saka, Eze, Colwill, Maddison, Gallagher, Pickford, Wilson, Nketiah.

Referee Davide Massa (Italy).

Tonight’s game is a celebration of international football’s oldest rivalry. Scotland and England first met each other 151 years ago, hence tonight’s 150th Anniversary Heritage Match. The actual anniversary was 30 November 2022, slap bang in the middle of the World Cup, and happily the delay has enhanced the fixture.

Last November, Scotland were merely Scotland. Now they are Scotland, the team that can’t stop winning football matches. They’ve won all five of their Euro 2024 qualifiers and are in the top tier of the Nations League, which puts them two up on England. A first win over England since 1999 – and a first worthwhile victory since 1985 – would turn a very good year into a piece of Latin. England will have other ideas.

With so many competing demands, it’s hard to know exactly how much this rivalry means in 2023. The first 50/50 ball should enhance our understanding.

Kick off 7.45pm.

It’s Scotland v England at Hampden. There’s your preamble!