Football World Cup 1978 / Scotland
The Scottish national football team took part in the 1978 World Cup in Argentina .
qualification
Scotland met the reigning European champions Czechoslovakia in this World Cup qualification and received support from the British Isles. Wales beat the Czechs 3-0 at home and opened the gate to the World Cup for the Scots. Since they lost the first leg against Czechoslovakia in Prague 2-0, they had to win the second leg in Glasgow and the team won 3-1.
With a draw in a friendly against Argentina a year before the World Cup , the Scottish public already saw themselves as favorites for the title. With this advance praise, the Scottish team went to South America.
| rank | country | Gates | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |
 Scotland
|
6: 3 | 6: 2 |
| 2. |
 Czechoslovakia |
4: 6 | 4: 4 |
| 3. |
 Wales |
3: 4 | 2: 6 |
| Czechoslovakia | - | Scotland | 2: 0 (0: 0) |
| Scotland | - | Wales | 1: 0 (1: 0) |
| Scotland | - | Czechoslovakia | 3: 1 (2: 0) |
| Wales | - | Scotland | 0: 2 (0: 0) |
Scottish contingent
| No. | Surname | Club before the start of the World Cup | birthday | Games | Gates |
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| goalkeeper | |||||||
| 1 | Alan Rough |
Partick Thistle
|
11/25/1951 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Jim Blyth |
 Coventry City
|
02/02/1955 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20th | Bobby Clark |
Aberdeen FC
|
09/26/1945 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Defender | |||||||
| 2 | Sandy Jardine |
Glasgow Rangers
|
December 31, 1948 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Willie Donachie |
Manchester City
|
05.10.1951 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4th | Martin Buchan |
Manchester United
|
03/06/1949 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Gordon McQueen |
Leeds United
|
06/26/1952 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Stuart Kennedy |
Aberdeen FC
|
05/31/1953 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14th | Tom Forsyth |
Glasgow Rangers
|
01/23/1949 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22nd | Kenny Burns |
Nottingham Forest
|
09/23/1953 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| midfield player | |||||||
| 6th |
Bruce Rioch 
|
Derby County
|
09/06/1947 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7th | Don Masson |
Derby County
|
08/26/1946 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Asa Hartford |
Manchester City
|
October 24, 1950 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Willie Johnston |
West Bromwich Albion
|
December 19, 1946 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15th | Archie Gemmill |
Nottingham Forest
|
March 24, 1947 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 16 | Lou Macari |
Manchester United
|
06/07/1949 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18th | Graeme Souness |
Liverpool FC
|
05/06/1953 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19th | John Robertson |
Nottingham Forest
|
01/20/1953 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| striker | |||||||
| 8th | Kenny Dalglish |
Liverpool FC
|
03/04/1951 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Joe Jordan |
Manchester United
|
December 15, 1951 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 17th | Derek Johnstone |
Glasgow Rangers
|
04/11/1953 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21st | Joe Harper |
Aberdeen FC
|
01/11/1948 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Trainer | |||||||
|
Ally MacLeod
|
02/26/1931 | ||||||
Scottish Games at the 1978 World Cup
| rank | country | Gates | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 Peru
|
7: 2 | 5 |
| 2 |
 Netherlands
|
5: 3 | 3 |
| 3 |
Scotland |
5: 6 | 3 |
| 4th |
 Iran |
2: 8 | 1 |
- Scotland 1-3 Peru - Goals: 1-0 Jordan (15th min.), 1: 1 Cueto (42nd min.), 1: 2 Cubillas (70th min.), 1: 3 Cubillas (76th min.) .)
- Scotland 1-1 Iran - Goals: 1-0 Eskandarian (43rd min. - own goal), 1-1 Danaeifard (77th min.)
- Scotland 3-2 Netherlands - Goals: 0-1 Rensenbrink (34th minute from a penalty kick), 1: 1 Dalglish (43rd minute), 2: 1 Gemmill (46th minute from a penalty kick), 3-1 Gemmill (67th min.), 3-2 rep (71th min.)
The Scottish team, which was highly praised before the tournament, started against Peru with a false start, from which the team only recovered against the Netherlands when almost everything was already lost. Scotland should have won the last game by three goals. The 3-2 success was too little and Scotland was eliminated again prematurely.
