Scotland at the UEFA European Championship
Scotland's first qualifying match was a 1–1 draw in Cardiff against Wales on 22 October 1966, with Denis Law scoring an 86th-minute equaliser for the Scots.
[3] Scotland were drawn into a very difficult group, facing defending champions the Netherlands, the CIS (the successor of the Soviet Union team defeated in the 1988 final), and Germany, World Cup holders and semi-finalists in 1988.
Despite competing well in defeats against the Netherlands and Germany and a fine 3–0 win against the CIS, the team was knocked out at the group stage.
[4] Brown successfully guided Scotland to the 1996 European Championship tournament, in second place behind Russia, in a qualifying group also featuring Greece, Faroe Islands, Finland and San Marino.
[4] Gary McAllister missed a penalty kick and a goal by Paul Gascoigne led to a 2–0 defeat.
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia and Lithuania all finished seven points behind Scotland, with the Faroe Islands bringing up the rear.
On 13 November 1999, England won the first leg 2–0 at Hampden Park, with Paul Scholes scoring both goals.
[7] Don Hutchison scored the winner for Scotland in a 1–0 win, which wasn't enough to prevent England qualifying for Euro 2000.
[10] Scotland faced Italy and France, who had contested the 2006 World Cup final, in their qualifying group for UEFA Euro 2008.
[14] On 24 March 2007, Scotland won 2–1 against Georgia with a late goal from Craig Beattie,[15] before falling 2–0 to World Champions Italy in Bari.
[19] A 3–1 victory over Ukraine on 13 October 2007 saw Scotland strengthen their position at the top of the group,[20] but a 2–0 defeat to a youthful Georgia side saw the campaign turn.
[21] Scotland required a win over Italy in their final game to qualify for Euro 2008, but fell to a 2–1 defeat after a late Italian goal put the Scots out.
Scotland finished third in their UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying group, behind World and European Champions Spain and the Czech Republic.
On 3 September 2011, a stoppage time Czech penalty saw them steal a point from Hampden Park, which ultimately proved vital for Scotland's qualification chances.
Scotland hosted three group games and a last 16 match during UEFA Euro 2020, which was held at venues across Europe including Hampden Park, but was delayed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
[28] Defeats by the Czech Republic and Croatia at Hampden, either side of a goalless draw with England at Wembley[29] (all played with a limited number of spectators present due to COVID-19 restrictions) meant that Scotland finished bottom of Group D.[30] A record-breaking winning run at the start of Euro 2024 qualifying, of five consecutive matches, meant that Scotland qualified for Euro 2024 with two matches to spare.
