MONDAY at the European 2021 Championships sees Scotland make their first major tournament appearance in 23 years as they take on Czech Republic in their Group D opener at Hampden Park.

Captain Andrew Robertson will lead his country out in front of 12,000 fans at the national stadium, who will no doubt be in fine voice for what is a crucial game in the group.

With Croatia and England to come, qualification from the group could come down to this clash with the Czechs this afternoon.

Despite his players not having any major tournament experience, manager Steve Clarke believes the team have what it takes to handle the occasion.

"One of my assistants, Steven Reid, went to the World Cup with his country, so he has some experience, he will be able to share that with the players," Clarke said.

"We have also got a lot of big-game players. Andy Robertson has played in World Championships, he has won the Champions League. Billy Gilmour was involved with Chelsea a couple of weeks ago in the Champions League (final). Scott McTominay played in a European final. I have coached a team in the final of the Champions League myself.

"We understand big games, big moments. Big games are for big players and we believe we have enough big players to handle the occasion."

Elsewhere, Group E also gets underway later on.

The 5pm game sees Robert Lewandowski's Poland play Slovakia, where he will be hoping to lead his side out of the group.

Three-time winners Spain will take on Sweden in the 8pm showing. The Spaniards seem to have gone into the competition under the radar slightly and will want to make a good start to their campaign.