He scored Scotland’s last goal at the Euros. Their ONLY goal at the finals two years ago.

And Callum McGregor jokes that if he’s ever feeling a bit down he watches footage of his Hampden strike against Croatia. But Celtic’s captain feels slightly hollow when he thinks about it. A 3-1 defeat to the Croats at home, which rounded off a miserable tournament after a loss to the Czech Republic and a Wembley draw with England.

At the time, it was a nice moment for McGregor. But in the grand scheme it meant nothing as Scotland fell at the group stage once more. That’s why the midfielder is desperate to get back on that stage again in Germany next summer. Unlike the last Euros, delayed by a year due to Covid, stadiums will be full in 2024. And if he gets on the scoresheet this time, McGregor wants it to be a pivotal goal – either to win three points or seal qualification for the next stage.

Tonight at Hampden, it’s party time against Norway as Steve Clarke’s side celebrate reaching their second Euros on the trot. And as McGregor reflected on the last one, he said: “It’s a team game so if we don’t qualify or don’t win, it doesn’t really mean anything.

“When we go to the next one hopefully we’ll be in a better place and we can show a bit more. That’s progression. And that’s the ambition for this group.

“When we get to Germany in the summer we want to give a proper show of ourselves. To get an individual achievement of scoring at a major tournament, it’s great and good for your CV.

“But ultimately it doesn’t mean a thing if you don’t win the game or qualify. Hopefully we can have a more successful group stage than we did last time.

“Euro 2020 didn’t have that tournament feel the way next summer will. It will feel like a proper tournament. That’s not to say the last one didn’t happen – but this one will feel different, for sure.

“Hampden was less than a third full and football’s about supporters bringing an atmosphere. That lifts everything and I’m sure you’ll see a totally different tournament in Germany.

“Do I watch the Croatia goal back? Occasionally, when I’m feeling a bit down. I’m joking. No, it was a good goal but it just didn’t mean too much because we didn’t go through. Hopefully this time the experience will be much more positive as a group.”

When it comes to key moments in this successful Euro 2024 campaign, beating the Norwegians in Oslo probably tops the list. Two late goals from Lyndon Dykes and Kenny McLean didn’t just send belief surging through the Scotland players – it was like a dagger to the heart of Stale Solbakken’s team.

McGregor watched it unfold from the bench after being sacrificed as Clarke attempted to turn the game on its head. And the 30-year-old admits the victory is up there with beating Spain at Hampden when it comes to key points in the group.

He said: “That was a tough day but I think that’s what’s brilliant about this squad. When you make changes late in a game it’s important that you have quality to come on.

“We managed to turn it on its head and get what has probably been the stand-out result in the group. Especially when you look at head-to-head, second v third.

“It was always going to be a shootout for second place so it was a big result and it took the pressure off us. I could feel it turn from the side. When you score you think: ‘Here we go, we have a chance.’

“At that point we would probably have taken 1-1. But there was a real sense we could get the second goal and it turned out to be really important for us.

“Nobody expected us to beat Spain at Hampden. And I think that result gave us the belief that we could go and qualify. Once you beat those two, you know it’s going really well.

“But in terms of mapping out the way we thought the group would go, Oslo was a big result for us.”

Norway were devastated that night in June because they felt they were destined to follow Spain to the Euros at Scotland’s expense. Solbakken’s side probably still feel aggrieved. But McGregor says this final Group A game gives Clarke’s players a chance to prove they deserve to be going to Germany.

Asked if it’s an opportunity to show we’re better than Norway, he said: “Absolutely. Every game is a chance to prove where we are as a group. There is now an expectation that we’ll deliver a performance and a result.

“Norway may feel they were hard done by but Sunday is another stepping stone for us. The points don’t matter as we have qualified but every time you play for your country you want to give the best you can.”