Mini football figure - Scotland

Tartan army

The Scotland football team is a national team of the best Scottish players representing Scotland in international football matches. It is under the auspices of the Scottish Football Association. Players are selected on the basis of the eligibility requirements for selection as a British player.

The Scottish national team is one of the two oldest national teams, along with England, against whom they played the first ever official international match in the history of football in 1872. Scotland is one of the three nations that make up Great Britain, along with England and Wales, to have its own football team. However, it cannot compete in the Olympic Games because Great Britain is a member of the International Olympic Committee and is therefore represented in football as in other sports by a team from Great Britain.

Scotland is considered an average national team because of its modest record. They managed to qualify for most of the finals of major championships (especially the World Cup) from the early 1970s until the late 1990s. However, the Scottish team has the distinction of systematically failing in the group stages of the first round at all tournaments, including a distinct lack of success at the time when they were most competitive: narrowly eliminated on goal difference at the 1974, 1978 and 1982 World Cups, including once coming out of the tournament unbeaten (1974).

Football is the most popular sport in Scotland.

The Scots play in navy blue and white. The Tartan Army (named after their supporters) play their home games at Hampden Park. The Scottish Football Association celebrates its players who have reached 50 caps through the Scottish Football Team Roll of Honour, launched in February 1988, when 11 players had reached this number of caps. 

Debut

The Scottish team played their first match against England on 30 November 1872 at Hamilton Crescent Stadium in Glasgow. It was the first ever official international match in the history of football. The game ended in a scoreless draw. However, the two teams had already met in unofficial matches: on 5 March 1870 (1-1 at Kennington Oval in London), then on 25 February 1871, 18 November 1871 and 24 February 1872. Scotland then dominated British football with England for the next few decades. Between 1884 and 1939, Scotland won the British Home Championship 27 times between the four British teams each year (England won 26 times). The biggest Scottish victory in history was recorded on 23 February 1901, against Ireland, with a score of 11 goals to 0. The Scottish Football Association was founded in 1873. It was affiliated to FIFA between 1910 and 1920, between 1924 and 1928 and since 1946. It has been a member of UEFA since its creation in 1954.

In 1950, Scotland were about to play in the World Cup for the first time, for which they had qualified. However, the Scottish FA, frustrated at having finished 'only' second to England in the qualifying British Championship, decided that their team was not worthy of going to the World Cup and withdrew. However, the top two teams in the British Championship did qualify. The decisive match for the title was held at Wembley and the English won with great difficulty 1-0 whereas a draw would have been enough for the Scots to win the British Championship.

1954 to 1973: World Cup debut

The Scottish football team finally played in their first World Cup in Switzerland in 1954. In the first round, they were unsurprisingly eliminated by both seeds in their group: beaten 1-0 by Austria and then outclassed 7-0 by Uruguay. This second score is still Scotland's biggest defeat. In 1958, they scored their first ever finals point with a 1-1 draw against Yugoslavia, then lost to Paraguay (2-3) and France (1-2), again finishing bottom of their group. The 1960s were a barren period: from 1962 to 1970 Scotland couldn’t qualify for the World Cup, especially the 1966 World Cup in England, and failed to enter the first two editions of the European Championship.

1974-1992: Scotland on the international stage

The Scottish team returned to the World Cup in 1974 after winning their qualifying group against one of the best European teams of the 1970s - Czechoslovakia. In Germany they came close to qualifying for the second round. After a good start and a 2-0 win against Zaire, they drew two 0-0 games against Brazil and Yugoslavia. Tied on four points with the latter two, Scotland then finished third in the group on goal difference (+2 to Yugoslavia's +9 and Brazil's +3) and were eliminated without a loss. In 1978, in a group with Peru, the Netherlands and Iran, they again failed to qualify due to unfavourable goal difference, being edged out for second place in the group by the eventual finalists, the Netherlands, whom they managed to beat 3-2 in the final match, but by an insufficient score. Earlier they had lost to Peru (1-3) and drawn with Iran (1-1). In 1982, goal difference meant that Scotland were eliminated in the first round for the third time in a row! After beating New Zealand (5-2) and losing to Brazil (1-4), Scotland had to win on the final day to qualify and could only draw 2-2 with the USSR, with whom they finished level on points (3); unlike the Scots, the Soviets had scored more goals than they conceded. At the 1986 World Cup, Scotland managed only one point and finished last in their group (0-1 against Denmark, 1-2 against West Germany and 0-0 against Uruguay). In 1990, they participated in their fifth consecutive finals and were eliminated from the Italian World Cup once again in the first round. They finished third in their group with a win against Sweden (2-1) and two defeats against Brazil (0-1) and Costa Rica (0-1), but were not among the 'best thirds' to reach the last 16.

1992-1998: Scotland's last appearances in international competitions

Scotland played in their first European Nations Championship finals in 1992. In Group 2, they were beaten by the Netherlands 0-1 and Germany 0-2, before saving their honour against the short-lived CIS (USSR), winning 3-0. Although Scotland did not qualify for the 1994 World Cup, they were present in England for Euro 1996. After an opening draw against the Netherlands (0-0) and then a defeat against their old enemy, England (0-2), Scotland was still in the running to qualify for the quarter-finals on the last day of the group. Their narrow 1-0 win against Switzerland was not enough for Scotland, who did not benefit from the Netherlands' rout of England in the other game. With the Dutch on equal points and goal difference, it was the number of goals scored that allowed the Dutch to go through at the expense of the Scots. The 1998 World Cup in France marked Scotland's last appearance in the global tournament. Scotland were eliminated in the first round for the eighth time and finished bottom of their group with only a single point against Norway (1-1) and a heavy defeat by Morocco (3-0), despite having held off Brazil in their opening match (a narrow 1-2 loss).

From 1998 to 2006: the void

Since the end of the 1990s, due to the lack of a competitive domestic league, Scotland has not been able to produce players with the talent of those of the 1970s and 1980s such as Kenny Dalglish, Joe Jordan, Graeme Souness or Gordon Strachan (not to mention Denis Law or Billy Bremner). The Scottish football team was absent from any European or world finals for twenty years. In the Euro 2000 qualifiers, Scotland was beaten by England (0-2; 1-0). Then they were eliminated from the 2002 World Cup race by Croatia and Belgium. In the play-offs for Euro 2004, Scotland was beaten by the Netherlands (1-0; 0-6). Then they were knocked out of the 2006 World Cup by Italy and Norway.

From 2006 to 2018: a surge during the Euro 2008 qualifiers, then the confirmation of the decline

Scotland's victories against France (1-0 in Glasgow and 0-1 in Paris) in the Euro 2008 qualifiers nevertheless suggested a revival. Scotland's victory over France (1-0 in Glasgow and 0-1 in Paris) in the Euro 2008 qualifiers was a sign of things to come, as they beat the odds and joined the fight for one of the two qualifying places that Italy and France, the two finalists of the previous World Cup, had been expected to win. The team managed to keep pace with these two teams throughout the qualifiers. The final match against the Italians proved fatal for the Scottish team, which lost 1-2 to a 90+1 minute Christian Panucci goal. This improvement in the Scottish team's fortunes led to a big jump in the FIFA world ranking, to 13th place in October 2007.

However, the progress was not confirmed in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, where Scotland finished third in their group, equal on points with Norway, but far behind the Netherlands, the only team to qualify for the finals.

For the Euro 2012 qualifiers, the Scottish team was placed in Group I, with reigning world champions Spain. It was another disappointment for the Scots, who won only three games, two of them against lowly Liechtenstein. They finished third in the group, two points behind the Czechs, who were in the play-offs, but well behind Spain.

In the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, Scotland were placed in a balanced group with Croatia, Serbia, Belgium and Wales. Despite three wins, including one in Zagreb, in their last three games, the Thistle players finished a mediocre fourth, well short of qualification.

Scotland once again couldn’t qualify for Euro 2016, finishing 6 points behind second-placed Poland and 3 points behind third-placed Ireland in the play-offs, with a total of 4 wins, 3 draws and 3 losses.

Scotland were eliminated from the 2018 World Cup, finishing 3rd in their qualifying group (5 wins, 3 draws and 2 defeats) on equal points with Slovakia, who also failed to make the top 8 2nd place finishers to reach the play-offs.

Since 2018: improved performance in the Nations League and qualification for Euro 2021

In League C Group 1 in the 2018-2019 edition of the Nations League, Scotland won their group with 3 wins and only one loss (1-2 in Israel) and were promoted to League B for the following edition. They failed to win a second consecutive promotion, narrowly edging out the Czechs, but remained in League B with 3 wins.

In the Euro 2021 qualifiers, Scotland missed out on a 3-0 win against Kazakhstan and failed to match Belgium and Russia, who moved into the top two direct qualifying places. However, the Scots are eligible for the play-offs due to their position in the 2018-2019 Nations League. Scotland first beat Israel on home soil on 8 October 2020 after a goalless draw in extra time (0-0, 5-3 on penalties), before repeating the trick in the 'final' of their play-off route against Serbia on 12 November 2020. Indeed, the Scots were more enterprising than the Serbians, who were considered favourites at the start of the match, and opened the score in the 52nd minute through Ryan Christie before conceding the Serbian equaliser at the end of regulation time through Luka Jović (90th minute, 1-1). The scoreline remained unchanged in extra time, with Scotland again winning the penalty shoot-out (5-4 on penalties) and securing their ticket to the European Championship finals, 24 years after Euro 1996, and 22 years after the 1998 World Cup in France.)

Placed in group D of Euro 2020 with England, Croatia and the Czech Republic, Scotland had the advantage of playing two of their three group games in Glasgow but were unable to take advantage of it. The Tartan Army were beaten 2-0 at home by the Czech Republic, with Patrik Schick scoring twice. Against all odds, played 0-0 against England at Wembley on the second day in a match marked by sterile English attacking play and remarkable Scottish tactical organisation. To be among the four 'best thirds' and qualify, they need to win their final game at home against Croatia, an opponent they have never lost to and who also have only one point from two games. Despite a huge amount of heart and fighting spirit, Andrew Robertson's teammates had to lose to the former world champions (1-3); the Croatians, buoyed by a decisive Luka Modrić, making the difference in the second half, after Callum McGregor had put the two teams back on level terms just before the break.