England take on Scotland in a highly anticipated friendly clash at Wembley Stadium as international football’s oldest rivals meet for the first time in 14 years.
The Auld Enemy are set to renew their rivalry at England’s national stadium on Wednesday, August 1, in the latest England match held as part of the Football Association’s 150th anniversary celebrations.
Despite this officially being a friendly international, passions and emotions will be running high amongst both the players and supporters as Roy Hodgson and Gordon Strachan’s teams do all they can to secure a notorious victory.
England need a boost ahead of four crucial World Cup qualifiers in the next two months, which will decide their fate as to whether or not they travel to Brazil next summer for the finals.
This friendly is the last before those all important qualifiers resume with a game against Moldova at Wembley on September 6.
In a surprise move by Hodgson, Southampton’s Rickie Lambert has been called up for the first time to represent his country.
Wayne Rooney has also been picked despite not playing any pre-season games due to hamstring and shoulder injuries.
Jermain Defoe is also included in the 25-man squad despite a hamstring injury he suffered in pre-season friendly against Monaco.
Scotland’s World Cup hopes are already over but they hope to build on the momentum they gained in their impressive win away to Croatia last time out.
Strachan masterminded a surprise 1-0 win over the Croatians last month and the new boss will hope to give the 20,000 Tartan Army fans heading to the English capital something to cheer about on Wednesday night.
Celtic midfielder Scott Brown back in the squad after he missed last month’s World Cup qualifying win over Croatia through injury.
Club-mates Charlie Mulgrew and James Forrest, who sat out the 1-0 victory in Zagreb, return too.
Strachan also included uncapped Brighton defender Gordon Greer, Motherwell’s Steven Hammell and 68-cap striker Kenny Miller in his 29-man squad for the August 14 encounter.
England and Scotland last faced each other in 1999 during a fiery qualification play-off for Euro 2000.
Craig Brown’s men claimed a 1-0 victory at Wembley through Don Hutchison’s goal, but the Scots couldn’t claw back a 2-0 deficit suffered at Hampden days earlier.
Previous memorable encounters between the two nations include a 2-0 victory for England during Euro ‘96 in which Paul Gascoigne scored a famous solo goal and Scotland’s 2-1 win in 1977, after which the Wembley goalposts were torn down by fans.
This time Roy Hodgson’s men play for the first time since drawing 2-2 with Brazil in Rio de Janeiro back in June, while Gordon Strachan’s side will use the friendly as preparation for their own World Cup qualifier at home to Belgium in September.
Both ITV and STV will screen comprehensive coverage of this prestige friendly from Wembley. Full details below.
ITV has full live coverage from Wembley as international football’s oldest rivalry is renewed for the first time since 1999.
Adrian Chiles presents the action on ITV and ITV HD, with match build-up starting at 7.30pm ahead of an 8.00pm kick-off.
Joining him for expert analysis and comment in the studio will be ITV regulars Roy Keane and Lee Dixon along with new Manchester United manager David Moyes, plus touchline analysis from Gareth Southgate.
Match commentary will be provided by Clive Tyldesley and Andy Townsend, while pitchside reports and interviews will be conducted by Gabriel Clarke.
In addition to its live coverage, ITV will screen a one-hour highlights show in the evening, also presented by Adrian Chiles, with analysis in the studio from Andy Townsend, Gareth Southgate and former Scotland international John Collins.
ITV’s football website – itv.com/football – will have live streaming of the entire game, plus additional news, features, videos and live updates from Wembley.
For viewers north of the border, STV will screen its own dedicated coverage of the first England v Scotland international in 14 years.
Raman Bhardwaj will be joined by special guests Paul Lambert and Terry Butcher for our match preview ahead of the game, which will be on air from 7.30pm ahead of an 8.00pm kick-off, as well as for half-time and extensive post-match analysis.
Derek Rae and Alan Brazil provide commentary on the game, while Keith Downie provides reports direct from the pitchside at Wembley.
STV will also be bringing viewers extensive online coverage in the days building up to the game, looking back at classic games and looking at where the game can be won and lost.
Raman Bhardwaj told STV Sport: ”Scotland against England is one of the oldest rivalries in international football and I’m delighted the match will be live on STV.
“We’ll bring viewers every piece of the action along with all the analysis before, during and after the friendly – although I’m not sure there is ever such a thing when Scotland and England face each other on the pitch.”
It is the first time that an international match at Wembley featuring England will be shown on the Scottish ITV broadcaster since the main ITV network took over the rights in 2008, as STV chooses not screen both FA Cup and England matches.
STV will broadcast the main ITV network highlights show of the match following the news at 11.05pm.
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Wednesday 14th August
International Friendly: England v Scotland
Kick-off: 8.00pm | Wembley Stadium
LIVE: 7.30pm-10.25pm ITV / STV
Highlights: 11.05pm-12.00am ITV / STV
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Wednesday’s line-up of international football also features Northern Ireland’s FIFA World Cup Qualifier against Russia, plus an exhibition match between Wales and the Republic of Ireland at Cardiff City Stadium – both live on Sky Sports.
Northern Ireland have little to no chance of reaching next year’s World Cup, but they can certainly cause a stir with a positive result against Fabio Capello’s Russia.
Three draws and two defeats from five games isn’t a record to write home about and Michael O’Neill will be desperate to turn things around, especially as he’s still looking for his first win as manager.
Wales are in a similar position to their Northern Irish counterparts, whereas the Republic of Ireland are still very much in the hunt for a place in Brazil.
They are one of three teams on 11 points in Group C and victory over Wales would no doubt provide a welcome boost of confidence ahead of September’s crucial clashes with Sweden and Austria.
BT Sport will also screen its first international match since its launch when it covers the friendly between Switzerland and Brazil, while over on ESPN the Germans play host to Paraguay.
Wednesday 14th August Wales v Republic of Ireland – Friendly K/O: 19:45 LIVE: 7.30pm-10.00pm Sky Sports 1 Northern Ireland v Russia – FIFA World Cup Qualifier, Group F
K/O: 19:45 LIVE: 7.30pm-10.00pm Sky Sports 3 Switzerland v Brazil – Friendly K/O: 19:45 LIVE: 7.15pm-10.00pm BT Sport 1
Germany v Paraguay – Friendly K/O: 19:45 LIVE: 7.45pm-9.45pm ESPN Chile v Iraq – Friendly K/O: 17:30 LIVE: 5.30pm-7.30pm British Eurosport
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