England’s only other previous meeting at a major tournament was in the group stages of Euro 1996, also at Wembley.
England
It’s a huge game, and perhaps the pick of fixtures in Group D as England take on traditional rivals Scotland at Wembley. Coincidentally, their only other previous meeting at a major tournament was in the group stages of Euro 1996, also at Wembley. England won that game 2-0 and have scored 2 goals in five of the six meetings since. That’s a far cry from the 0-0 in the first H2H back in 1872 – football’s first-ever international. Beyond wanting to get one over their rivals, a victory for Gareth Southgate’s men will likely be enough to see them into the knockouts. They’ll make history if they do secure that win as the ‘Three Lions’ have never won their first seven matches in a calendar year, as they attempt to move closer to the national record of ten consecutive wins that has stood since 1909.
Scotland
Scotland suffered defeat on matchday one (2-0, Czech Republic), ending their scoring run of five consecutive matches. That result means Scotland have never netted after going behind in a Euro finals match, and they’ve now failed to score in five of their seven all-time European Championship matches. Unfortunately for the Scots, both games in which they scored were matchday three encounters (3-0 vs CIS in 1992, 1-0 vs Switzerland in 1996). Anything but a positive result would make qualification unlikely for Scotland. Therefore their recent record of just one win in their last 11 matches vs England will be a worry. No matter the result, fans from both sides should anticipate excitement, given the four H2Hs this century have averaged a high four goals per match.
England’s Raheem Sterling has ended on the winning side in his 11 previous international goalscoring matches – the best scoring 100%-win record in England’s history. Of the 18 players who hit 2 shots on target in matchday one, Scotland’s Lyndon Dykes was one of five not to have scored. It is the 33rd H2H at Wembley; none of the previous 32 have finished goalless.