Steve Clarke labels Scotland 'serial qualifiers' as he sets target for heroes before taking on Euro 2024

Jubliant Scotland boss Steve Clarke last night hailed his players as ‘serial qualifiers’ as they celebrated clinching their place at next summer’s Euros.

A 1-0 win for Spain in Oslo was enough to seal the deal as the nation clinched qualification for the tournament for only the fourth time in 63 years. It’s the first time a Scotland side has qualified directly for a tournament through the group stages since France 1998. And Clarke becomes the first Scotland manager of all time to lead the country to back-to-back European Championships, after ending a 23-year absence from major finals when he made it to Euro 2020 with a nail-biting Nations League play-off win over Serbia.

But this time it’s been a great deal more straightforward for a Scotland side which is coming of age under Clarke on the international stage. And the manager said: “I would like to congratulate the players for their efforts in qualifying for back-to-back tournaments. I’m not sure they will fully realise the significance of their achievement yet but to qualify for successive Euros after more than 20 years is phenomenal and testament to their hard work.

“I would also like to thank my backroom team for their support and, of course, the fans who have packed Hampden Park to capacity and made it a place to be feared once again. They have played a key part in our success, both home and away, and they can now look forward to making their plans for Germany – although I suspect many had done so before tonight.

“I said after Euro 2020 that we wanted to be serial qualifiers again and reaching successive Euro finals shows the progress we’ve made. We will raise a glass tonight to celebrate but then it’s back to work tomorrow in preparation for our friendly against