Football Manager is extremely popular and has been an escape from real life for football fans across the world for decades.
The game has been on the go for 20 years now and releases an updated version every year. All that time the forums have been full of supporters discussing wonderkids and their potential. So, just for fun, we went back into our Steam library and downloaded Football Manager 2014 and set the game to simulate for ten years, bringing us in line with present day in real life.
We took a look at how the game expects Scotland to line up for their opening match of Euro 2024 and while quite a few players will be familiar to the Tartan Army there are plenty names who had fantastic virtual careers but didn’t hit the same heights in our world. Here is how FM14 thought the Scotland starting XI would look for their Euro 2024 opener:
(As anyone who has played the game will expect, the squad did feature a number of re-gens - computer generated players created by the game to replace real life players who age out. We did not include these players in our starting XI and replaced them with the next best player in the squad in their position)

1. GK - Marc McCallum (simulation)
In our sim the Dundee United keeper signed for Reading in 2015 and then Manchester City one year later. He had three seasons at AFC Wimbledon then returned to Scotland with St Mirren and in 2024 is first choice stopper at Rotherham United. | SNS Group

2. GK - Marc McCallum (real life)
McCallum had several loan spells at clubs like Arbroath and Livingston before signing for the Lions. He then went down south with Plymouth Argyle and returned to Scotland with Forfar Athletic where he has been since 2017. | SNS Group

3. RB - Jack Grimmer (simulation)
Fulham loaned him out to Motherwell, Notts County and Millwall before he signed for Dundee United on a free. Three impressive seasons saw him earn a move to Everton and then Norwich City. | SNS Group 0141 221 3602

4. RB - Jack Grimmer (real life)
Port Vale and Shrewsbury Town were the Aberdonian's loan clubs before he signed for Coventry City in 2017. Since 2019 he has been a regular for Wycombe Wanderers. | Getty Images