Friday’s briefing: Scotland beat Greece as England prepare for Thomas Tuchel bow

Scotland took a slender 1-0 lead from the first leg of their Nations League play-off against Greece in Athens, while the Republic of Ireland fought back to beat Bulgaria.

In the Nations League quarter-finals, there were first-leg wins for Germany, Denmark and Croatia, while European champions Spain scored a stoppage-time equaliser to draw away to the Netherlands.

Friday will see England manager Thomas Tuchel take charge of his first match with a World Cup qualifier against Albania at Wembley and Northern Ireland host Switzerland in a friendly.

Scott McTominay spot on for Scotland

Scott McTominay’s penalty gave Scotland a narrow 1-0 win over Greece after surviving a second-half barrage in the first leg of their Nations League play-off in Athens.

Napoli midfielder McTominay kept his cool from the spot, having been brought down just inside the box, and Scotland spurned a couple of other chances before the break.

An impressive performance began to flounder in the second half, when Greece hit the woodwork – although Scotland keeper Craig Gordon was not called upon to make too many saves.

Steve Clarke’s men can be confident going into the return leg at Hampden Park on Sunday where they look to remain in League A, while Greece will be hoping to pull off a comeback and get themselves out of League B.

Republic at the double in Bulgaria

Finn Azaz and Matt Doherty scored first-half headers as the Republic of Ireland battled back to beat Bulgaria 2-1 in the first leg of their Nations League play-off.

Marin Petkov fired the hosts into an early lead at a sparsely-populated Hristo Botev Stadium in Plovdiv, but midfielder Azaz quickly levelled with his first international goal.

Right-back Doherty completed the turnaround by nodding home the winner in the 42nd minute.

The deserved victory was a third from seven games under Icelandic coach Heimir Hallgrimsson as his side took a small step towards preserving their League B status ahead of Sunday’s return match in Dublin.

Tuchel wants England feel-good factor

New England manager Tuchel wants to bring the hunger and excitement back, having felt Sir Gareth Southgate’s side were inhibited by a fear of failure at Euro 2024.

The 51-year-old German will lead England for the first time on Friday night as the road to next summer’s bid for World Cup glory gets under way with a qualifier against Albania at Wembley.

Tuchel highlighted how he felt Southgate’s team had been “more afraid” of crashing out of last summer’s tournament than having the “hunger to win it”.

The former Chelsea boss, though, is confident the switch in mentality can be made.

“I want us to play with the excitement, the hunger and the desire to win – and the joy to win and the acceptance of failure is a part of it, especially in football”, Tuchel said.

“But we want to implement this togetherness and the joy, that everyone feels safe to express themselves and give their very best and we play (in a way) that it’s recognisable.

“We play with the hunger and the joy to win and not with the fear to lose. Anything can happen in football. We know this, but the focus is on winning.”

Spain leave it late while Les Bleus slip up

European champions Spain snatched a stoppage-time equaliser to draw 2-2 against the Netherlands in the first leg of their Nations League quarter-final in Rotterdam.

After Nico Williams had given Spain an early lead, the Dutch fought back with goals from Cody Gakpo and Tijjani Reijnders either side of half-time.

Ajax defender Jorrel Hato was sent off in the closing stages for a late challenge on Robin Le Normand, before Spain substitute Mikel Merino struck from close range in the third minute of added time to leave the tie in the balance ahead of Sunday’s second leg in Valencia.

Croatia’s Ante Budimir and Ivan Perisic struck in the first half as France slumped to a 2-0 defeat in Split.

Leon Goretzka struck the winner as Germany came from behind to earn a 2-1 victory over Italy in Milan, while Manchester United forward Rasmus Hojlund came off the bench to score the only goal as Denmark beat Portugal 1-0 in Copenhagen.

What’s on today?

All eyes will be on Wembley on Friday night for Tuchel’s first match in charge when England begin their World Cup Group K qualifying campaign against Albania.

Elsewhere, Northern Ireland host Switzerland in a friendly at Windsor Park.

Former Three Lions interim boss Lee Carsley returns to England Under-21s duty with a friendly away against France in Lorient.