Scottish National Football Team / World Championships

Scotland
Scotland
Alba [ ˈaləpə ] ( gäl. )

World Cup record goalscorer:	Joe Jordan (4)
World Cup record players:	Jim Leighton (9)
Rank :	32
Balance sheet
23 World Cup games 4 wins 7 draws 12 defeats 25:41 goals
statistics
First World Cup game Scotland 0: 1 Austria Zurich ( CHE ); June 16, 1954
Biggest World Cup win Scotland 5-2 New Zealand Málaga ( ESP ); June 15, 1982
Biggest World Cup defeat Scotland 0: 7 Uruguay Basel ( CHE ); June 19, 1954
successes
World Championship
Participation in the finals	8 ( first : 1954 )
Best results	Preliminary round (1954, 1958, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1998)
Best placements in the countries that host the FIFA World Cup
(Status: After qualifying for the 2018 World Cup )

The article contains a detailed description of the Scottish national football team at World Cups . Scotland have participated in the finals eight times so far, but have always been eliminated in the preliminary round, making them the team that most often did not survive the preliminary round. In the eternal ranking Scotland occupies 32nd place. Scotland has not yet qualified in the 21st century.

Overview

year	Host country	Participation until ...	Last opponent	Result	Trainer	Comments and special features
1930	Uruguay	not participated
1934	Italy	not participated
1938	France	not participated
1950	Brazil	withdrawn				In qualifying , the Scots took second place behind England , but did not want to take part in the finals in Brazil as second in the group
1954	Switzerland	Preliminary round	Uruguay , Austria	15th	Andy Beattie	Biggest defeat
1958	Sweden	Preliminary round	France , Yugoslavia , Paraguay	14th	Dawson Walker
1962	Chile	not qualified				In qualifying at the Czechoslovakia failed
1966	England	not qualified				In the qualification of Italy failed
1970	Mexico	not qualified				In the qualification of Germany failed
1974	Germany	Preliminary round	Zaire , Brazil , Yugoslavia	09.	Willie Ormond	Unbeaten third in the group with the same number of points as Yugoslavia and Brazil, but worse goal difference
1978	Argentina	Preliminary round	Peru , Iran , Netherlands	11.	Ally MacLeod
1982	Spain	Preliminary round	New Zealand , Brazil , USSR	15th	Jock stone
1986	Mexico	Preliminary round	Denmark , Germany , Uruguay	19th	Alex Ferguson	During the last qualifying game against Wales , the Scottish national coach Jock Stein suffered a heart attack from which he died.
1990	Italy	Preliminary round	Costa Rica , Sweden , Brazil	18th	Andy Roxburgh
1994	United States	not qualified				In the qualification of Italy and Switzerland failed
1998	France	Preliminary round	Brazil , Norway , Morocco	27.	Craig Brown
2002	South Korea / Japan	not qualified				In the qualification to Croatia and Belgium failed
2006	Germany	not qualified				In the qualification of Italy and Norway failed, which failed in the play-offs also
2010	South Africa	not qualified				Failed in the qualification to the Netherlands and again to Norway , which failed again as the worst second in the group
2014	Brazil	not qualified				In the qualification , Scotland failed to Belgium , Croatia , Macedonia , Serbia and Wales and was on March 26, 2013 as the first European team that can no longer qualify.
2018	Russia	not qualified				In the qualification of England and Slovakia failed, which also could not qualify.

Statistics (data including 2018: 21 World Championships; percentages are rounded)

• Not participated: three times (15%; 1930, 1934, 1938)
• Unqualified: nine times (43%; 1962, 1966, 1970, 1994, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018)
• No participation in the final round: once (5%; 1950)
• Athletic qualification: eight times (38% and 44% of the attempts)
  • Preliminary round: eight times (38%; 1954, 1958, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990 and 1998)

World Cup tournaments

1930 in Uruguay to 1938 in France

In the period before the Second World War, the British football associations had not yet consented to professional players taking part in football World Cups. The Scottish national team therefore took part in neither the 1930 World Cup nor the qualifying competitions for the 1934 and 1938 World Cups.

1950 in Brazil

The Scottish team had actually qualified for the finals in Brazil by finishing second at the British Home Championships , but had previously announced that they only wanted to participate as qualifying winners. The Scottish Association stuck to this when they were offered a starting place after other teams withdrew.

1954 in Switzerland

Again, the British Home Championship 1953/54 were also the qualification for the World Cup finals and this time Scotland also participated in second place. At the last game of the championship, Andy Beattie was the first head coach to take over responsibility. A selection committee of the SFA had previously put together the team for 82 years.

In Switzerland, the Scottish team was drawn into a group with defending champions Uruguay and Austria and Czechoslovakia . Since Scotland and Czechoslovakia were not seeded due to the one-time mode, the Scots only had to play against Austria and Uruguay. Against the also not seeded Czechoslovaks, however, was not played. In their first World Cup match, the Scots, who had only 13 players, lost 1-0 to Austria on June 16, 1954 in Zurich . This was followed by a 7-0 defeat against the defending champion, the Scots' biggest defeat to date. As third in the group, the Scots were eliminated and Andy Beattie resigned as national coach.

1958 in Sweden

For the first time Scotland competed against other European teams in the qualification and prevailed against Spain and Switzerland with three wins and one defeat. Matt Busby was supposed to lead the Scots at the World Cup , but he was seriously injured in the crash of the plane in which the Manchester United team flew back from a European Cup match . Dawson Walker took over his duties on an interim basis .

In the finals , for which the other British teams had qualified for the only time to date and each was drawn into a different group, Scotland met France , Yugoslavia and Paraguay . With only one draw against the Yugoslavs, but defeats against the French and Paraguayans, the Scots were eliminated as the bottom of the group and left the World Cup for 16 years. With the departure, the tenure of interim coach Dawson Walker ended and Matt Busby took over responsibility again - but only for two games.

1962 in Chile

Scotland could not qualify for the third World Cup in South America . Czechoslovakia and Ireland were the group opponents. At the end of the group stage, Scots and Czechoslovaks both had 6-2 points. Since the goals scored were irrelevant, there was a play-off in Brussels , which the Czechoslovaks won 4-2 after extra time. Head coach Ian McColl stayed in office and got another chance in the next qualification.

1966 in England

In 1966 the World Cup took place in neighboring England, a special incentive for the Scots to qualify. With Italy and Poland , however, two strong opponents in the qualification were drawn. Only Finland was rated as weaker. In the end, the Italians were ahead of the game, as they defeated Scots 3-0 in the last game with the same points. The Scots had started the qualification under Ian McColl , but in May 1965 he became the head coach of Sunderland AFC . His successor was Jock Stein , whose term of office ended when he missed the qualification. He was first followed by John Prentice , then Malcolm McDonald , before Bobby Brown took over the post during qualifying for the European Football Championship in 1968 .

1970 in Mexico

For the first World Cup finals in Central America, Scotland was drawn into a qualifying group with Germany , Austria and Cyprus . Before the penultimate game, the Scots had 7: 1 and Germany 9: 1 points, but the Scots still had to compete in Germany and Austria. On October 22, 1969, the decisive game came to Hamburg . The Scots, who had never lost to Germany, took the lead in the 3rd minute through Jimmy Johnstone , but this was evened out by Klaus Fichtel with his only international goal in the 11th minute. Gerd Müller took the 2-1 lead for the German team in the 60th minute, but Alan Gilzean equalized two minutes later. Since a draw was likely enough for the Germans, while the Scots had to win or had to win in a draw high in Austria, the Scots pushed for the winning goal. In this urge phase, the final decision for the Germans was made by a goal from Reinhard Libuda . Scotland then lost the last meaningless game against Austria with 0-2. Despite the unsuccessful qualification, Bobby Brown remained as national coach, but then resigned in the ongoing qualification for the European Championship in 1972 . He was succeeded by Tommy Docherty .

1974 in Germany

Scene from the game against Zaire, duel between Billy Bremner and Maku Mayanga (left)

Scene from the game against Yugoslavia, Dušan Bajević (Yugoslavia, left) with a header on the Scottish goal. Right Jim Holton (Scotland)

For the first time Scotland was able to qualify for a World Cup that England could not qualify for. In a group with Czechoslovakia and Denmark , the Scots were able to qualify for the finals on the penultimate matchday with a home win against Czechoslovakia. The final defeat in Czechoslovakia could therefore be coped with. They benefited from the fact that Czechoslovakia had left a point in Denmark. They had started the qualification under Tommy Docherty , but in December 1972 he took over the post of head coach at Manchester United . He was succeeded by Willie Ormond , who successfully completed the qualification.

In the finals, they met World Cup newcomers Zaire in their first game and did not get past a 2-0. In the games against defending champions Brazil and Yugoslavia there were no winners and since Brazil and Yugoslavia also split goalless in the opening game, the goals scored against Zaire were decisive for the placements. Then the two goals that the Scots had scored were too few, because Brazil had won 3-0 and Yugoslavia even 9-0 against the Africans, with which the Yugoslavs set Hungary's record from 1954 against South Korea . The Scots were thus eliminated undefeated.

1978 in Argentina

Scotland was also able to qualify for the fourth World Cup in South America , while England failed to qualify again. Again the team met Czechoslovakia and Wales . Since the Scots won all home games and also in Wales, while the Czechoslovaks only won their home games, the Scots were in the lead again in the end. In the first two qualifying games, the Scots had gone under Willie Ormond and they had also won a subsequent friendly against Sweden under his leadership, but then he was replaced by Ally MacLeod .

In Argentina they lost the first group game against Peru with 1: 3. Against the newcomer to the World Cup Iran it was only enough to score 1-1. In the last group game against vice world champions Netherlands they managed a 3-2 win. So both had 3: 3 points, but the Dutch had the better goal difference - the direct comparison therefore played no role. With that, the Scots were eliminated as third party. National coach Ally MacLeod stayed in office until the first game after the World Cup, a European Championship qualifier that was lost 3-2 to Austria , but was then dismissed and replaced by Jock Stein .

1982 in Spain

For the first time, the European qualification was mainly carried out in groups of five, with the two best group qualifying for the final round. Scotland qualified as group winners ahead of Northern Ireland , which qualified for the first time since 1958, and ahead of Sweden , Portugal and Israel . The qualification was made perfect by a 0-0 win in Northern Ireland on the penultimate matchday. The subsequent only defeat in Portugal was there.

In Spain, the Scots met World Cup newcomers New Zealand in the first group game and won 5: 2, but then lost the next game against title favorites Brazil with 1: 4. In the last decisive group game against the Soviet Union , they only achieved a 2-2. Both were tied on points, but since the Soviet Union only lost 2-1 to Brazil and defeated New Zealand 3-0, the goal difference spoke against the Scots, who were eliminated in third.

1986 in Mexico

For the second World Cup in Mexico , Scotland qualified via the intercontinental playoffs. Since Scotland was drawn into a group of four, the team as second-placed behind Spain was not directly qualified as the second-placed group of five. Instead, the Scots had to first receive the Australians , who they defeated 2-0, and then travel to Australia. There they were 0-0 for qualification. The Scots had started the qualification under Jock Stein , who had brought Alex Ferguson , who was also coach of FC Aberdeen , to his side as assistant coach. In the last qualifying game against Wales , the Scots needed one point to reach the play-offs. The Welsh led 1-0 up to the 81st minute of the game. Then the Scots were awarded a penalty. Davie Cooper , who was substituted on in the 61st minute, scored to equalize 1-1. In the general excitement, Jock Stein suffered his second heart attack, attempts at resuscitation in the stadium's hospital room failed and he died on the spot. Alex Ferguson then took over as head coach until after the World Cup.

In Mexico they met in their first group game against newcomers to the World Cup, Denmark, and lost 1-0. In the second group game against runner-up world champions Germany she brought Gordon Strachan into the lead in the 18th minute. Rudi Völler and Klaus Allofs managed to turn things around. In the last group game, despite 89 minutes of superiority - José Batista had received the red card in the first minute - they did not manage to score a goal against Uruguay that did not score either. As a result, Scotland was only in last place. while Uruguay made it to the round of 16 as one of the four best third party.

1990 in Italy

The Scots qualified under national coach Andy Roxburgh , who took over the post after the 1986 World Cup. With four home wins and two draws and two defeats in the away games, the Scots qualified for the second World Cup in Italy in second place behind Yugoslavia . France , Norway and Cyprus were left behind.

In Italy they lost their first group game against newcomer Costa Rica with 0: 1. A 2-1 win against Sweden then succeeded, but after a 0-1 against Brazil it was only enough for third place. Since Scotland was the worst third in the group, this meant the end in the preliminary round.

1994 in the United States

Scotland could not qualify for the World Cup in the USA . In a group of six, the Scots took fourth place behind Italy , Switzerland and Portugal . Only Malta and Estonia , against whom the only victories come, could leave Scotland behind. Since England could not qualify either, for the first time since the Second World War there was no British team at the World Cup finals. Andy Roxburgh resigned after the third to last qualifying game after seven years as national coach, his successor was Craig Brown .

1998 in France

After the missed World Cup finals in 1994, Scotland was able to qualify first under the new national coach Craig Brown for the European Championship in England in 1996 and then again for the 1998 World Cup finals . In the qualification, they came second behind Austria , but ahead of Sweden , Latvia , Estonia and Belarus . Scotland built on its home strength again, was the only team to win all home games and only lost the game in Sweden.

In France they lost 2-1 in the opening game against defending champions Brazil . Against Norway it was only enough to a 1: 1 and against Morocco they even lost 3: 0. This was the eighth time that Scotland left the group bottom in the preliminary round and said goodbye to the World Cup for at least 20 years. Morocco did not use the victory either, as Norway surprisingly won against Brazil.

2002 in South Korea and Japan

Scotland could not qualify for the first World Cup finals in Asia . In a five-man qualification group , they only finished third behind Croatia and Belgium, ahead of Latvia and San Marino . The Scots lost only in Belgium, but could not win the home games against Croatia and Belgium. They were also stingy with goals against Latvia and San Marino. After the missed qualification, Craig Brown resigned from his position as head coach. With nine years in office, he was the longest-serving Scottish national coach.

2006 in Germany

In the qualification for the second World Cup in Germany , the Scots went with Berti Vogts as national coach, who was the first non- Scots to train the team. He was called up after failing to qualify for the 2002 World Cup, but had also missed qualifying for the 2004 European Championship. Scotland had to grapple with Italy and Norway again. Other opponents were Slovenia , Belarus and Moldova . After only two points were taken from the first three games, Vogts resigned. He was succeeded by Walter Smith . In the fifth group game, they won their first victory against Moldova. Further victories were achieved in Norway and against Slovenia on the final day of the match, otherwise the Scottish qualification was determined by a draw. With a gap of five points, only 3rd place was taken. 2007 Smith resigned from the post of national coach.

2010 in South Africa

In the qualification for the first World Cup in Africa it was also only enough for 3rd place. Scotland began the qualification under George Burley . In a group with the dominant Dutch team , which won all eight games and had 14 points more than the Scots and Norwegians, who missed the playoffs as the worst runners-up in the group, only third place was taken again. Scotland could only win against Macedonia (once) and Iceland (twice). After missing qualification and a 3-0 defeat in a friendly against Wales, Burley was sacked on November 16, 2009.

2014 in Brazil

Four years later, qualifying for the second World Cup in Brazil was even worse. This time, after Belgium, Croatia and Serbia, only fourth place was taken, ahead of Wales and Macedonia. The Scots won two away games (in Croatia and Macedonia), but could only win the home game against Croatia, which was already second in the group but had no chance of finishing first. The Scots had started the qualification under Craig Levein , who was dismissed in November 2012 after the poor results in the first four qualifying games. His successor was Gordon Strachan , who achieved at least a balanced record in the qualifying games: 3 wins and 3 losses.

2018 in Russia

In the qualification , which started in September 2016, the Scots faced neighbors England , Slovakia , Slovenia , Lithuania and Malta . The Scots had the chance to qualify at least behind England for the playoff games of the group runners up until the last match day, but needed a win in Slovenia or the help of the Maltese against the Slovaks in a draw. Although the Scots took the lead in the 32nd minute, they had to accept the equalizer 20 minutes later and fell behind another 20 minutes later. The equalization one minute before the end of the game was not enough, as the Slovaks won 3-0 in the parallel game against Malta. With the same number of points, they were ahead of the game with five fewer goals conceded. Here the Scots were a victim of the three-point rule , because with a two-point rule they would have had one point more and then also have reached the playoffs of the runners-up, which the Slovaks missed as the worst runners-up. With the missed qualification the term of office of national team manager Gordon Strachan ended .

player

Ranking of the Scottish World Cup players with the most appearances

01. Jim Leighton 9 in 3 tournaments

02. Kenny Dalglish 8 in 3 tournaments

03. Joe Jordan 7 in 3 tournaments

04. Roy Aitken , Alan Rough , Graeme Souness and Gordon Strachan 6 in 2 and 3 (Souness) tournaments respectively

07. Martin Buchan , Maurice Malpas , Alex McLeish , Danny McGrain , Willie Miller and David Narey 5 in 2 and 3 (McLeish) tournaments respectively

Ranking of the Scottish World Cup players with the most goals

1. Joe Jordan - 4 goals

2. Kenny Dalglish, Archie Gemmill and John Wark - 2 goals each

World Cup captains

• 1954: Willie Cunningham
• 1958: Tommy Younger , Bobby Evans (3rd game)
• 1974: Billy Bremner
• 1978: Bruce Rioch , Archie Gemmill (2nd game)
• 1982, 1986: Graeme Souness , Willie Miller (3rd game 1986)
• 1990: Roy Aitken
• 1998: Colin Hendry

Share of players playing abroad in the World Cup squad

All Scottish World Cup squads included players who played in England. Legionaries who played in other countries, on the other hand, were called to very few.

Year (games)	Number (countries)	Players (stakes)
1954 (2)	7 (in England)	Jock Aird (2), John Anderson (0), Allan Brown (2), Willie Cunningham (2), Tommy Docherty (2), Jackie Henderson (2), Alex Wilson (0)
1958 (3)	6 (in England)	Tommy Docherty (0), John Hewie (2), Stewart Imlach (2), Jackie Mudie (3), Alex Parker (1), Tommy Younger (2)
1974 (3)	12 (in England)	Billy Bremner (3), Martin Buchan (2), Peter Cormack (0), Willie Donachie (0), David Harvey (3), Jim Holton (3), Tommy Hutchison (2), Joe Jordan (3), Denis Law (1), Peter Lorimer (3), Gordon McQueen (0), Willie Morgan (2)
1978 (3)	15 (in England)	Jim Blyth (0), Martin Buchan (3), Kenny Burns (2), Kenny Dalglish (3), Willie Donachie (2), Archie Gemmill (3), Asa Hartford (3), Willie Johnston (1), Joe Jordan (3), Lou Macari (2), Don Masson (1), Gordon McQueen (0), Bruce Rioch (2), John Robertson (1), Graeme Souness (1),
1982 (3)	13 (12 in England, 1 in Italy)	Steve Archibald (3), Alan Brazil (2), Kenny Dalglish (2), Allan Evans (1), George Burley (0), Frank Gray (3), Alan Hansen (3), Asa Hartford (1), John Robertson (3), Graeme Souness (3), John Wark (3), George Wood (0); Joe Jordan (1)
1986 (3)	9 (7 in England, 1 in Italy, 1 in Spain)	Arthur Albiston (1), Andy Goram (0), Frank McAvennie (2), Steve Nicol (3), Charlie Nicholas (2), Graeme Sharp (1), Gordon Strachan (3), Chris Woods (0); Chris Waddle (7); Graeme Souness (2); Steve Archibald (1)
1990 (3)	9 (2 in Germany, 7 in England)	Murdo MacLeod (2), Alan McInally (1); Gordon Durie (1), Robert Fleck (2), Gary Gillespie (1), Bryan Gunn (0), Jim Leighton (3), Gary McAllister (0), Stuart McCall (3),
1998 (3)	10 (8 in England, 1 in France, 1 in the Netherlands)	Colin Calderwood (2), Christian Dailly (3), Matt Elliott (0), Kevin Gallacher (3), Scot Gemmill (0), Colin Hendry (3), Billy McKinlay (2), Neil Sullivan (0); John Collins (3); Scott Booth (1)

Players banned from World Championships

• 1998: In the second group match against Norway, Darren Jackson received the second yellow card and was suspended for the last group match. In the last group game against Morocco , Craig Burley received the red card , which had no further effect for the tournament due to the elimination.

Games

Scotland have played 23 World Cup games so far, four of which have been won, seven have ended in a draw and 12 have been lost. Scotland never played against the eventual world champions, but three times against the defending champions: 1954 against Uruguay and 1974 and 1998 (opening game) against Brazil and never won. Scotland never played against the hosts.

Scotland met World Cup newbies five times: 1974 / Zaire, 1978 / Iran, 1982 / New Zealand, 1986 / Denmark, 1990 / Costa Rica

Most frequent opponents are Brazil (4 times) as well as Yugoslavia and Uruguay (2 times each)

All World Cup games
No.	date	Result	opponent		venue	occasion	comment
1	June 16, 1954	0: 1 (0: 1)	Austria	*	Hardturm Stadium , Zurich ( CHE )	Group game	First international match in a neutral place
2	June 19, 1954	0: 7 (0: 2)	Uruguay (TV)	*	St. Jakob-Park , Basel ( CHE )	Group game	First international game against Uruguay, first game against a reigning world champion, highest defeat for Scotland, last game of Andy Beattie's first term
3	0June 8, 1958	1: 1 (0: 1)	Yugoslavia	*	Arosvallen , Västerås ( SWE )	Group game
4th	June 11, 1958	2: 3 (1: 2)	Paraguay	*	Idrottspark , Norrköping ( SWE )	Group game	First game against Paraguay
5	June 15, 1958	1: 2 (0: 2)	France	*	Eyravallen , Örebro ( SWE )	Group game	Last game under interim coach Dawson Walker
6th	June 14, 1974	2: 0 (2: 0)	Zaire	*	Westfalenstadion , Dortmund ( FRG )	First final round	First international match against Zaire
7th	June 18, 1974	0-0	Brazil (TV)	*	Waldstadion , Frankfurt ( FRG )	First final round
8th	June 22, 1974	1: 1 (0: 0)	Yugoslavia	*	Waldstadion , Frankfurt ( FRG )	First final round
9	0June 3, 1978	1: 3 (1: 1)	Peru	*	Estadio Olímpico Chateau Carreras , Córdoba ( ARG )	First final round
10	0June 7, 1978	1: 1 (1: 0)	Iran	*	Estadio Olímpico Chateau Carreras , Córdoba ( ARG )	First final round	First international match with Iran
11	June 11, 1978	3: 2 (1: 1)	Netherlands	*	Estadio Ciudad de Mendoza , Mendoza ( ARG )	First final round
12	June 15, 1982	5: 2 (3: 0)	New Zealand	*	Estadio La Rosaleda , Málaga ( ESP )	First final round	First international match against New Zealand
13	June 18, 1982	1: 4 (1: 1)	Brazil	*	Estadio Benito Villamarín , Seville ( ESP )	First final round
14th	June 22, 1982	2: 2 (1: 0)	Soviet Union	*	Estadio La Rosaleda , Málaga ( ESP )	First final round
15th	04th June 1986	0: 1 (0: 0)	Denmark	*	Estadio Neza 86 , Nezahualcóyotl ( MEX )	Group game
16	0June 8, 1986	1: 2 (1: 1)	BR Germany	*	Estadio La Corregidora , Querétaro ( MEX )	Group game
17th	June 13, 1986	0-0	Uruguay	*	Estadio Neza 86 , Nezahualcóyotl ( MEX )	Group game	Last game under coach Alex Ferguson
18th	June 11, 1990	0: 1 (0: 0)	Costa Rica	*	Stadio Luigi Ferraris , Genoa ( ITA )	Group game	First international match against Costa Rica
19th	June 16, 1990	2: 1 (1: 0)	Sweden	*	Stadio Luigi Ferraris , Genoa ( ITA )	Group game
20th	June 20, 1990	0: 1 (0: 0)	Brazil	*	Stadio delle Alpi , Turin ( ITA )	Group game
21st	June 10, 1998	1: 2 (1: 1)	Brazil (TV)	*	Stade de France , Saint-Denis ( FRA )	Group game / opening game
22nd	June 16, 1998	1: 1 (0: 0)	Norway	*	Stade du Parc Lescure , Bordeaux ( FRA )	Group game
23	June 23, 1998	0: 3 (0: 1)	Morocco	*	Stade Geoffroy-Guichard , Saint-Étienne ( FRA )	Group game	First international match against Morocco

Records

• The most common preliminary round pairings (each 4 ×): Scotland against Brazil (1974, 1982, 1990 and 1998) and Brazil against Mexico (1950, 1954, 1962 and 2014), France against Mexico (1930, 1954, 1966 and 2010) and Argentina against Nigeria (1994, 2002, 2010 and 2014)
• A Scot scored an anniversary tour: Bobby Collins scored the 500th World Cup goal on June 11, 1958 with a 2: 3 final against Paraguay.

Negative records

• Scotland were eliminated the most in the preliminary round: 8 out of 8 participations

particularities

• The fastest dismissal was in the game between Scotland and Uruguay : Uruguayan José Batista was sent off after 56 seconds by referee Joël Quiniou (France). Scotland could not use the 89-minute numerical excess and did not get past a 0-0.
• Scotland is the first team to be knocked out undefeated after the preliminary round in third place in the group (1974). Later (1982, 1998 and 2010) this also happened to Cameroon , Belgium and New Zealand (Scotland only because of the worse goal difference). In 1974, Scotland was the only team that remained undefeated during the tournament (draw against Brazil and Yugoslavia , win against Zaire ), while world champions Germany lost to the GDR in the preliminary round . Cameroon was eliminated in 1982 only because of the fewer goals scored (2nd place Italy 2: 2 goals and 3 points, 3rd place Cameroon 1: 1 goals and 3 points).
• At the 1978 World Cup, Scotland was eliminated due to the worse goal difference compared to the Netherlands , although they had won the direct comparison. Previously, this had happened to Sweden at the 1970 World Cup , which was eliminated from Uruguay for the same reason.

Highest victories and defeats

The Scottish team achieved their highest victories against the following countries in World Cup tournaments:

•  New Zealand : 1st round of the finals 1982 5-2 (only win against New Zealand)
•  Zaire : 1st final round 1974 2-0 (only game against Zaire and the Democratic Republic of the Congo)

The Scottish team suffered their biggest defeats at World Cup tournaments against the following countries:

•  Brazil : 1st final round 1982 1: 4
•  Costa Rica : Preliminary round 1990 0-1 (only game against Costa Rica)
•  Morocco : Preliminary round 1998 0-3 (only game against Morocco)
•  Paraguay : preliminary round 1958 2-3 (only game against Paraguay)
•  Peru : 1st final round 1978 1: 3 (only defeat against Peru)
•  Uruguay : preliminary round 1954 - 7-0 (biggest defeat)

See also

• Scottish National Football Team / European Championships

Web links

• Football World - Statistics - Scotland on fifa.com
• fifa.com: "Statistical overview: records and milestones"

References and footnotes

1. ↑ The placements from 5th place onwards were determined by FIFA without any placement games. See: All-time FIFA World Cup Ranking 1930-2014 (PDF; 200 kB)
2. ↑ 1978 World Cup . BBC Scotland. Retrieved May 15, 2007.
3. ↑ eu-football.info: "Wales - Scotland 1: 1"
4. ↑ fifa.com: "Triumph and Tragedy in Cardiff"
5. ↑ scottishfa.co: Gordon Strachan & Mark McGhee to leave national team
6. ↑ The Scottish Federation only allowed Andy Beattie to take 13 players to the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland. After the 7-0 draw against Uruguay, he resigned. scottishfa.co.uk: Trainer profile  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English)