Scotland at the FIFA World Cup
The Scotland national football team has appeared eight times at the FIFA World Cup,[1] including five consecutive tournaments from 1974 to 1990.
The Scottish Football Association (SFA) is the second oldest in the world; it was founded in 1873, the year after the first official international match was played between Scotland and England at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow.
[9][11] Sportswriter Brian Glanville later described the SFA as showing "baffling insularity and pique" in their refusal to send a team to the World Cup.
[9] The same qualification rules as in 1950 were in place for the 1954 FIFA World Cup, with the 1953–54 British Home Championship acting as a qualifying group.
[14] After falling out with the SFA, probably due to the poor preparation of the team, manager Andy Beattie resigned hours before the game against Uruguay.
[9] This meant that the teams had to play-off in a neutral venue for the qualification place, which the Czechs won 4–2 after extra time.
[10] A draw at home with West Germany meant that Scotland needed to avoid defeat in the return game to retain any hope of qualification.
Ormond lost his first match in charge 5–0 to England, but recovered to steer Scotland to the 1974 World Cup finals in West Germany.
Scotland then achieved their most impressive performance at a World Cup tournament,[22] as the team was unbeaten but failed to progress beyond the group stages on goal difference.
[25] This enthusiasm was not just generated internally, as respected coaches such as Rinus Michels and Miljan Miljanić rated Scotland amongst the favourites to win the competition.
[29] MacLeod had made strange selection choices, picking inexperienced full-backs and retaining the out-of-form Bruce Rioch and Don Masson.
[3] Despite the Dutch taking the lead, Scotland fought back to win 3–2 with a goal from Kenny Dalglish and two from Archie Gemmill, the second of which is considered one of the greatest World Cup goals ever;[25] Gemmill beat three Dutch defenders before lifting the ball over goalkeeper Jan Jongbloed into the net.
[25][30] The victory was not sufficient to secure a place in the second round, however, as Scotland were eliminated on goal difference for the second successive World Cup.
This match is best remembered for defenders Alan Hansen and Willie Miller colliding while chasing a long ball, which allowed the Soviets to run through and score.
[33] With only nine minutes remaining and Wales leading 1–0, Scotland were awarded a penalty kick, which was calmly scored by Davie Cooper.
[34] The 1–1 draw meant that Scotland progressed, but as the players and fans celebrated, national coach Jock Stein suffered a heart attack and died shortly afterwards.
[31] Scotland qualified by winning 2–0 against Australia in a two-leg playoff, but were again drawn into a group of death, this time with Uruguay, Denmark and West Germany.
[39] Craig Brown took over and guided Scotland to the 1998 FIFA World Cup, finishing behind Austria in the group but qualifying as the best European runners-up.
[46] Walter Smith was brought in to replace Vogts and some improved results followed, but the team finished third in their group behind Italy and Norway and failed to qualify.
[54] Craig Levein replaced Burley, but he left following a poor start to 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification, having taken just two points from four games.
[55] Gordon Strachan was appointed manager in January 2013,[56] but defeats in his first two competitive matches meant that Scotland were the first UEFA team to be mathematically eliminated from the 2014 World Cup.
In qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Scotland were drawn in the same group as England, facing their rivals in a competitive fixture for the first time since 1999.
