THE recent EURO2020 qualifying draw gave Scottish football supporters their first glimpse of the teams that will be visiting Glasgow next summer.
Scotland's participation in the tournament that begins on June 10 remains a matter for conjecture with a play-off series against Israel and Norway or Serbia to negotiate at the end of March.
Nevertheless, the draw still provided some mouthwatering prospects should Scotland ultimately negotiate their way through the choppy waters of the play-offs.
England were already confirmed in Group D prior to the draw after they won their qualifying group and Scotland know that if they are to progress to the finals next year then they will travel to Wembley for a formidable challenge against Gareth Southgate's side on June 19. After that they would host World Cup finalists Croatia at Hampden on June 23 in another tough match that could potentially decide their fate in the competition.
Much, then, would depend on Steve Clarke's side getting off to a good start against the Czech Republic on June 14 but even that fixture looks tricky since Jaroslav Šilhavý's men finished runners-up to England in qualifying Group A.
Whatever happens, Scotland fans now know the identity of the teams playing in Glasgow next summer, so here's a closer look at Group D's qualified teams, their tournament history and what they might have to offer next June.
READ MORE: EURO2020 app to provide free public transport as part of Glasgow carnival
Group D
ENGLAND
Group A record: P8 W7 D0 L1 F37 A6
Qualifying top scorer: Harry Kane (12)
UEFA EURO best: third place (1968)
UEFA EURO 2016: round of 16, lost 2-1 to Iceland
Coach: Gareth Southgate
Best remembered for his EURO '96 semi-final penalty miss until he took to reviving his country's fortunes from the dugout.
Key player: Raheem Sterling
Has gone from tricky winger to predatory forward at Manchester City under Josep Guardiola. Ten goals in his last ten England appearances.
One to watch: Jadon Sancho
England have arguably not had a player since Wayne Rooney who has been this advanced in their development at just 19.
Did you know?
The Three Lions were 43 successive European Championship and World Cup qualifiers without defeat until October's loss to the Czech Republic.
READ MORE: EURO2020 draw: Two sides Hampden will host have England on their minds
CROATIA
Group E record: P8 W5 D2 L1 F17 A7
Qualifying top scorer: Bruno Petković (4)
UEFA EURO best: quarter-finals (1996, 2008)
UEFA EURO 2016: round of 16, lost 1-0 aet to Portugal
Coach: Zlatko Dalić
A former midfielder who never represented his country, Dalić took over from Ante Čačić in 2017 and led the team to the 2018 FIFA World Cup final.
Key player: Luka Modrić
The 2018 Ballon d'Or winner has collected over 120 caps for his country, not only captaining the side but setting the midfield tempo with his vision, energy and slick passing.
One to watch: Tin Jedvaj
Currently on loan at Augsburg from Bayer Leverkusen, the young defender announced himself with two goals in a 3-2 defeat of Spain in the UEFA Nations League last November.
Did you know?
Croatia climbed 122 places in the FIFA rankings from 125th to third between 1994 and 1999.
READ MORE: EURO 2020 draw: It's daunting for Scotland but could have been much worse
CZECH REPUBLIC
Group A record: P8 W5 D0 L3 F13 A11
Qualifying top scorer: Patrik Schick (4)
UEFA EURO best: winners (1976, as Czechoslovakia)
UEFA EURO 2016: group stage
Coach: Jaroslav Šilhavý
Holder of the record for most Czech top-flight appearances (465), the 58-year-old won two titles as coach before taking the Czech reins in September 2018.
Key player: Vladimír Darida
All-action midfielder who plies his trade at Hertha Berlin. He leads by example and inspired October's surprise victory over England.
One to watch: Tomáš Souček
The beating heart of midfield who redefines what it means to have "good feet for a big man". Czech player of the season in 2018/19 as Slavia Praha won the title.
Did you know?
Czech Republic are ever-present at the UEFA European Championship as an independent nation, reaching seven successive final tournaments.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article