Scotland national football team

Scotland national football team

The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in men’s international football. The team competes in the three major professional tournaments, the FIFA World Cup, UEFA Nations League and the UEFA European Championship. Scotland and England are the oldest national football teams in the world, having played the world’s first international football match in 1872. Scotland have qualified for the World Cup on eight occasions and the European Championship three times, but have never progressed beyond the first group stage of a finals tournament.

About Scotland national football team in brief

Summary Scotland national football teamThe Scotland national football team represents Scotland in men’s international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. The team competes in the three major professional tournaments, the FIFA World Cup, UEFA Nations League and the UEFA European Championship. The majority of Scotland’s home matches are played at the national stadium, Hampden Park. Scotland and England are the oldest national football teams in the world, having played the world’s first international football match in 1872. Scotland have qualified for the World Cup on eight occasions and the European Championship three times, but have never progressed beyond the first group stage of a finals tournament. Scotland won the British Home Championship outright on 24 occasions, and shared the title 17 times with at least one other team. Kenny Dalglish holds the record for Scotland appearances,having played 102 times between 1971 and 1986. He shares the record with Denis Law for most goals scored with 30. Scotland lost just two of their first 43 international matches. It was not until a 2–0 home defeat by Ireland in 1903 that Scotland lost a match to a team other than England. Scotland played their first match outside the British Isles in 1929, beating Norway 7–3 in Bergen. Scotland continued to contest regular friendly matches against European opposition and enjoyed wins against Germany and France before losing to the Austrian \”Wunderteam\” and Italy in 1931. A noteworthy victory for Scotland before the Second World War was the 5–1 victory over England in 1928, which led to that Scotland side being known as the ‘Wembley Wizards’.

Scotland, like the other Home Nations, did not enter the three FIFA World Cups held during the 1930s. The four associations, including Scotland, returned to the FIFA fold after the Second WW War. A match between a United Kingdom team and a ‘Rest of the World’ team was played in 1947 to celebrate this reconciliation. The match ended in a goalless draw, with all eleven players who represented Scotland that day playing for Glasgow amateur club Queen’s Park. The teams have met only seven times since then, most recently in June 2017, with an upcoming group match during Euro 2020. The SFA operates a roll of honour for every player who has made more than 50 appearances for Scotland, with the record held by Denis Law, who has played more than 100 times for the national team. Scotland are the joint oldest team to have ever competed in an international match, alongside England, whom they played annually from 1872 until 1989. The first international match between the two sides was played at Hamilton Crescent in Partick, Scotland, on 30 November 1872, when Scotland beat England 1–0. The Scots won their first home match against England 1-0 in 1883, making these games competitive and a rivalry quickly developed. The two sides played exclusively against the other three Home Nations—England, Wales and Ireland. Scotland were excluded from FIFA due to a disagreement regarding the status of amateur players. The readmission of the Scottish FA to FIFA meant that Scotland were now eligible to enter the 1950 World Cup. The same qualification rules were used for the 1954 World Cup with a second qualifying group.