The history of the Scotland national football team dates back to the first ever international football match in 1872. Until the Second World War, Scotland mainly competed against the other Home Nations in the British Home Championship, with the most keenly contested fixture being the match with England. The Scottish Football Association, which governs the team, joined the international governing body FIFA in 1910, but along with the other Home Nations withdrew from FIFA in 1928. This meant that Scotland did not participate in the World Cups of 1930, 1934 or 1938. The Home Nations rejoined FIFA after the Second World War and Scotland then started to participate in international competitions. Scotland have since participated in eight World Cups and three European Championship tournaments, but have never progressed beyond the first stage.
Early history (1872–1939)
Scotland and England are the oldest national football teams in the world. Teams representing the two sides first competed at the Oval in five matches between 1870 and 1872. The two countries contested the first official international football match, at Hamilton Crescent in Partick, Scotland on 30 November 1872. The match ended in a goalless draw. All eleven players who represented Scotland that day played for Glasgow amateur club Queen's Park. Over the next forty years, Scotland played matches exclusively against the other three Home nations—England, Wales and Ireland. The British Home Championship began in 1883, making these games competitive. The encounters against England were particularly fierce and a rivalry quickly developed.
The first international against Wales came on 25 March 1876 when the Scots were comfortable 4–0 winners.
Between 1872 and 1929, Scotland only played matches against the other Home Nations of England, Ireland and Wales. Initially the matches between the Home Nations were merely annual friendly fixtures, but the introduction of the British Home Championship in 1884 provided competitive international football for the first time. The lack of games against other opponents was largely due to the assumed dominance of the Home Nations in football and the logistical problems of arranging internationals in the days before air travel was commonplace.
During these early years, defeats for Scotland were something of a rarity, losing just two of their first 43 international matches. It wasn't until a 2–0 home defeat by Ireland in 1903 that Scotland lost a match to a team other than England. Scotland won 26 of the 51 British Home Championships held before the Second World War, sharing nine of those titles. The 7–2 defeat by the Scots in 1878 stood England's record loss until 1954. Another particularly notable Scotland win against England was a 5–1 win at Wembley against England in 1928, which led to that team being dubbed the Wembley Wizards. However, the Scottish eleven in that match never played together again, and soon a dispute with the English authorities over the release of players in 1930 led to the SFA only selecting home-based players for some time. There had been eight 'Anglos' involved in the 1928 victory, but it would be a decade later before so many were involved in the fixture again.
The SFA joined FIFA in 1910, but the relationship between FIFA and the Home Nations was fraught. All of them withdrew from FIFA in 1928 in a dispute over payments to amateur players. Scotland played their first match outside the British Isles in 1929, beating Norway 7–3 in Bergen. Scotland contested more friendly matches against continental opposition and enjoyed wins against Germany, the Netherlands and France before being beaten 5–0 by the Austrian Wunderteam and 3–0 by Italy.
Due to their withdrawal from FIFA, Scotland did not participate in the 1930 FIFA World Cup. Several Scottish-born players played for the United States, who reached the semi-finals. They lost 6–1 to Argentina, with Jim Brown scoring the American goal.
1950s Scotland had to wait until 1954 before taking part in their first World Cup, even though they had qualified for the 1950 FIFA World Cup. Two places were allocated to the Home Nations with the 1950 British Home Championship acting as a qualifying group. However, the SFA stated that they would only send a team to the World Cup if they won the Home Championship. Going into their last game with England this was a possibility, but a 1–0 defeat meant that Scotland finished second behind England and the SFA declined to send the national side to the World Cup.Official Blundering Leads To Scottish Defeat, The Glasgow Herald, 17 April 1950Scots May Yet Take Part In World Cup Series Strong Pressure On Selectors To Change Decision, The Scotsman, 17 April 1950, via London Hearts Supports Club Scottish-born Ed McIlvenny was part of the United States team that beat England 1–0 at the finals.
The SFA took a more relaxed stance for the next World Cup and Scotland qualified along with England from a combined World Cup qualifying group and British Home Championship in second place. Andy Beattie was appointed as the team's first ever manager, a position he held on a part-time basis as he was also managing Huddersfield Town. Beattie resigned during the World Cup after the SFA had decided to take only 13 players, despite FIFA allowing 22 to be selected. Scotland were beaten 1–0 and 7–0 by Austria and Uruguay respectively in the finals. the defeat by Uruguay is the heaviest defeat that Scotland have ever suffered.
Scotland also qualified for the 1958 World Cup ahead of Spain, and in the same year achieved a friendly win away to World Cup holders West Germany. The team earned their first World Cup point with a 1–1 draw with Yugoslavia, but they lost their other two matches to Paraguay and France and therefore finished bottom of their group. Matt Busby was due to manage the team at the World Cup, but due to the severe injuries he suffered in the Munich air disaster, trainer Dawson Walker took charge of the team.
1960s The British Home Championship was won in 1962 and 1963 under the management of Ian McColl. Jock Stein, John Prentice and Malky McDonald all then had brief spells as manager.
Bobby Brown was appointed Scotland manager in 1967. His first match as manager was something of a daunting one, against the 1966 World Cup winners England at Wembley. Despite including four Lisbon Lions and other greats including Denis Law, Jim Baxter and Billy Bremner, the team were considered underdogs against England, who were unbeaten in 19 internationals. Scotland emerged with a famous 3–2 victory, with the goals scored by Denis Law, Bobby Lennox and debutant Jim McCalliog. The victory led fans to call Scotland the "unofficial world champions". Towards the end of the match, Scotland winger Jim Baxter famously played keepie uppie at walking pace as he tormented the opposition. The Herald writer Glyn Edwards described the scene as follows:
Despite the famous victory at Wembley, Scotland missed out on the chance to play a quarter-final match against Spain in the 1968 European Championship because they finished one point below England in their qualifying group. The group was the total of the results in the 1967 and 1968 British Home Championships. Bobby Brown's managership continued to be inconsistent, as the team failed to qualify for the 1970 World Cup.
1970s Tommy Docherty was appointed as manager in 1971 and achieved some short-term success, including sharing a British Home Championship. He resigned from the Scotland job to become manager of Manchester United.
1974 World Cup Willie Ormond was appointed Scotland manager in 1973. Despite losing his first match in charge, a 5–0 thrashing by England in the SFA Centenary Match, the team qualified for the 1974 FIFA World Cup, their first in 16 years. Scotland qualified by winning 3 of their 4 games in a group including Czechoslovakia and Denmark. At the finals in West Germany, Scotland remained unbeaten but failed to progress beyond the group stages on goal difference after beating Zaire 2–0 and drawing 0–0 and 1–1 with Brazil and Yugoslavia respectively. Scotland also shared the 1974 British Home Championship with England but failed to qualify for the 1976 European Championship. Willie Ormond resigned in 1977 after several minor breaches of player discipline.
1978 World Cup Scotland appointed Ally MacLeod in May 1977 with qualification for the 1978 World Cup far from assured. Hopes were raised when, within a month of MacLeod's appointment, the team won the 1977 British Home Championship by beating England 2–1 at Wembley. After the game the Tartan Army infamously staged a pitch invasion during which the pitch was ripped up and the crossbar was broken. Scotland went on to assure qualification for the 1978 World Cup with victories over Czechoslovakia and a key victory over Wales at Anfield. They beat Wales largely thanks to a controversial penalty kick that was given for handball by a Welsh player, but the ball appeared to have been handled by Joe Jordan. Kenny Dalglish then sealed the victory with a memorable diving header.
During the buildup to the tournament, MacLeod fuelled the hopes and dreams of the nation by stating that even if Scotland didn't win the World Cup, they would most definitely come home with a medal of some kind. When asked what his plans were for after the World Cup, MacLeod quipped "Defend it!". As the squad left for the finals in Argentina, they were given a rapturous send off as they were paraded around a packed Hampden Park in an open-top bus. Thousands more fans lined the route to Prestwick Airport as the team set off for Argentina. Things began to go wrong soon after, however, as a row between players and the SFA regarding bonus payments began to emerge. Despite this, Scotland opened up their World Cup campaign against Peru and things appeared to be going well as a Joe Jordan goal put Scotland 1–0 up after just 14 minutes. They looked even better when they were awarded a penalty kick, but Don Masson spurned the chance to put them two up and Peru were level by half-time. After the break they took control of the match and a late second half double from Teófilo Cubillas condemned Scotland to a 3–1 defeat. Willie Johnston tested positive for a drug test after the game and was subsequently sent home in disgrace.
Scotland again took the lead in their second match against Iran but a 60th-minute equaliser from Iraj Danaeifard saw Scotland's World Cup hopes hanging by a thread. The disconsolate and shell-shocked mood of the nation was reflected by footage of Ally MacLeod in the dugout with his head in his hands. After taking just 1 point from their opening two games, Scotland had to defeat one of the tournament favourites, the Netherlands, by three clear goals to qualify. Despite the Dutch taking the lead, Scotland fought back to lead 3–1 with goals from Kenny Dalglish and a double from Archie Gemmill, the second of which is generally regarded as the best goal in Scotland's history as he beat three Dutch defenders before lifting the ball over goalkeeper Jan Jongbloed. The joy was short lived, however, as within three minutes the Dutch striker Johnny Rep had pulled a goal back and the match finished 3–2. Scotland bowed out of the tournament on goal difference for the second successive World Cup. After the finals MacLeod took charge of only one more match, a 3–2 defeat by Austria in the first match of the 1980 European Championship qualifiers, before resigning.
1980s