Billy Gilmour is confident Scotland can BEAT Spain into first place in the Euro 2024 qualifying group… with Steve Clarke’s side looking to ‘win every game’ after a flawless start
Billy Gilmour believes Scotland can now aim for top spot in their European Championship qualifying group thanks to an unprecedented start to this campaign.
Tuesday’s 2-0 victory over Georgia means the national team have won their opening four games for the first time.
Halfway through the race, Steve Clarke’s side are eight points ahead of Georgia and Norway and nine points ahead of Spain, although they have played two games more than the group favourites.
A victory in Cyprus on September 8 against a side still unpointed could be enough to see the Scots secure their spot in Germany with three games remaining.
Brighton midfielder Gilmour, one of the star players on a drenched Hampden pitch, believes Clarke’s men have now done enough to have aspirations beyond just being back at the European Championships.
Billy Gilmour insists Scotland’s players believe they can win their Euro 2024 qualifying group
The Brighton midfielder believes it is ‘possible’ they can beat Spain to take first place
Can we win the group? It’s possible,” said the 22-year-old. ‘We started very well. We have to take every game as it comes, but we want to win every game. So why not?’
Scotland made it to the delayed Euro 2020 via a play-off, meaning France 1998 was the last time a place in a grand final was sealed by conventional means.
Gilmour emphasized that reaching Euro 2024 would be cause for celebration anyway, saying: ‘Achieving the Euro is now a real possibility. We want to be there and we can’t lie about that.
Hopefully we can finish strong and make sure we are in Germany. There is confidence among the guys and we know what we want to do. Everyone knows the goal.
“We have a good enough team. We have great players in the whole team and we want to be in Germany. There aren’t two ways left.’
Gilmour’s finest performance in a Scotland shirt to date was the goalless draw at Wembley two years ago. Having missed out on defeat to Croatia that saw Clarke’s side knocked out in the group stage, he is desperate for the chance to shine on that podium again.
Steve Clarke’s team started the qualification flawlessly by winning the first four games
“At the last European Championship I was sent home after the game against England because I had contracted Covid,” he recalls.
‘That was so disappointing. We built on the European Championship and we were stunned to miss the World Cup. We know we let ourselves down. Last summer was tough when we let everyone down against Ukraine.
“We should have been at the World Cup. We were good enough to be there, but we never showed up in that game. Now we want to prove a point and show that we should be at the European Championship.
“We know we are a good enough team to be there with the players and staff we have. Hopefully we succeed.’