Two London Spots Left: Scotland Head to Rome for the Last EuroChamps27 Qualifier

London 2027 is nearly full. Two chairs are still empty, and eight teams are in Rome this week fighting over them.

The men’s EuroHockey Championship Qualifier I runs Thursday to Sunday in the Italian capital, a straight knockout. Win your quarter-final and your semi-final and you’re at the top table next summer, in the first 12-team European Championships since 2003. Lose on Thursday and the whole cycle is gone in one game. Brutal format. Great viewing.

Scotland’s to lose, on paper

Scotland are the top seeds and they open against Türkiye on Thursday at 12:15 pm CET. The history is not kind to the underdogs: Scotland won this fixture 10-0 in Championship II in 2023 and 7-2 back in 2018.

Neil Allan isn’t treating it like a formality, though. “We are delighted to name a full-strength squad with qualification for the 2027 European Championships on the line,” the Scotland coach said in EuroHockey’s tournament preview, pointing to a sixth-place finish at their first Nations Cup in Cape Town, above their world ranking, as the form line to trust.

The squad backs up the talk. Olympian Lee Morton is back in the panel. Tommy Orr makes his tournament debut, Callum Mackenzie and Jamie Green return from injury, and the goals threat runs through Edinburgh University’s Jamie Golden and Oranje-Rood’s Struan Walker, with Surbiton’s Calum Douglas in goal.

Türkiye’s route here was winning Championship III in Kirklareli last summer, and they bring scorers — Ali Akin Özkiliç goes at nearly a goal a game for his country. But a first-ever top-division appearance needs the game of their lives on Thursday.

The other side of the sector

Thursday starts even earlier, 10:00 am CET, with the game neutrals should watch: Switzerland v Croatia. Six meetings since 2018, two wins each and a 3-3 draw last summer. There is nothing between these two.

Switzerland are captained by Loris Grandchamp, the Royal Orée corner threat who just helped his club into the EHL finals weekend, and they carry six players from Swiss champions Rotweiss Wettingen. Croatia warmed up at the Alps Cup in Prague last weekend, beating an uncapped side 3-2 with Josip Krleža and captain Mario Mucić scoring, then losing to the Czech hosts and Austria.

One of these four teams — Scotland, Türkiye, Switzerland or Croatia — takes the first Rome ticket. The second comes from the other half of the draw later in the week.

For our money Scotland qualify, and probably without much drama. But knockout qualifiers have a habit of producing one mad Thursday, and if it comes anywhere, it comes in that 10 am game. Scotland’s game is having a good week off the pitch too — nine of their players just landed Winning Students 100 scholarships, and their men’s league served up a wild Premiership round on Saturday.