A decade of highs and lows for Scotland's (male) international football team
Scotland used to be quite good in the 1980s.
'We're making the big trip, to Mexico
The World Cup is waiting, we're set to go
We've reached the Finals, four in a row
So sang (well they tried their best) the men of the Scotland international football team in 1986 as they set their sights on the World Cup finals in Mexico that year.
Readers of a young age may find the concept of Scotland's men qualifying for a football World Cup difficult to grasp. The idea of them qualifying for four in a row must sound like the stuff of make-believe for fans who have grown up knowing only 20 years of failed qualifying campaigns. But it did happen. In fact, they made it five in a row four years later at Italia 1990. The 1980s were a period where Scotland at least managed to make it on to the world stage, even if they did continually find ways to break the hearts of the nation once they got there.
Scotland qualified for the World Cup at their first attempt in 1950. Though the tournament began in 1930 Scotland didn't take part in the first three stagings due to a dispute with FIFA. The Scots qualified for the 1950 tournament by finishing second in the British Home Championship, an annual tournament between Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland which back then also doubled as World Cup qualifying. However the Scottish Football Association (SFA) had announced prior to the Championship that they would only travel to Brazil for the finals if they finished top of the group, and in spite of protests from players of Scotland and England, the SFA stood firm and Scotland withdrew from the finals.
History was to repeat itself four years later with the Scots again finishing second in the British Home Championship. This time the SFA allowed the Scots to take their place in the finals though many wished they hadn't bothered as Scotland's campaign was a glorious failure, only without the glory. They fell to a 1-0 defeat to Austria in their opening game, and then lost 7-0 to Uruguay in their second game, and were eliminated without scoring a goal or winning a point.
Four years later Scotland were was back for more, qualifying for the finals in Sweden by topping a group containing Spain and Switzerland. They got their first World Cup point and goal in their opening match at these finals, with Hearts Jimmy Murray scoring the historic goal against Yugoslavia. Scotland found the net another three times over their two remaining matches but lost both and exited the tournament bottom of their group.
[Ally MacLeod's] contagious confidence led to a wave of optimism about the Scottish national team
Scotland ended a 16-year absence from the World Cup by successfully qualifying for the 1974 finals in West Germany. Goals from Jim Holton and Joe Jordan won the decisive qualifier against Czechoslovakia at Hampden. Scotland was the only home nation to qualify for the finals, and they performed creditably while making unwanted history. Managed by Willie Ormond the Scots were wasteful in beating Zaire (now known as Democratic Republic of Congo) 2-0 in the opening match. Following battling draws with Brazil (in which captain Billy Bremner missed a great chance to seal a famous win) and Yugoslavia they were made to pay for their profligacy against the African side by being eliminated on goal difference. They became the first team in World Cup history to exit the tournament without losing a match. Yay Scotland!
Following a defeat in Czechoslovakia in their opening qualifying match for the 1978 World Cup, Scotland claimed three successive wins to top a group containing Czechoslovakia, the 1976 European Champions, and Wales. Ormond was replaced midway through the campaign, so the final two wins came under the stewardship of his successor Ally MacLeod, whose contagious confidence led to a wave of optimism about the Scottish national team never seen before or since. Scotland again was the only home nation to make it through qualifying.
The main reason the optimism didn't endure was Scotland's wretched performance at the 1978 finals in Argentina. A 3-1 defeat to Peru and a 1-1 draw against outsiders Iran left them all but out, needing a win by a three-goal margin against the much-fancied Netherlands. MacLeod's men went behind to a Dutch penalty but bounced back to lead 3-1 with Archie Gemmill scoring one of the best goals in World Cup history (a goal that has been further immortalised by 'Trainspotting'). However, the Netherlands pulled one back and in spite of an excellent 3-2 victory, Scotland once again bowed-out on goal difference.
In terms of the European Championship (also known as the Euros), as with the World Cup, Scotland was late to the party, with their first attempt to qualify being for the 1968 Finals. However, heading into the 1980s they had yet to successfully qualify for the tournament. Nonetheless, the country went into the decade buoyed by consecutive World Cup Finals appearances.
For those who are totally discombobulated by the notion of Scotland regularly qualifying for World Cups, it'll be a comfort to know that we begin our round-up of the decade with Scotland in a more familiar place. In this instance they were watching on as the European Championship Finals took place in Italy in 1980. In spite of the stewardship of the legendary Jock Stein, who had led Celtic to European Cup success in 1967 and nine league titles in a row, Scotland finished their qualifying campaign in fourth spot behind Belgium, Austria and Portugal. Scotland fans were mere spectators as West Germany defeated Belgium 2-1 to win the trophy.
Stein remained in post as qualifying for World Cup 1982 got under way, which in Scotland's case involved a trip to Stockholm on 10 September 1980. Stein's men claimed victory, with the only goal coming from Gordon Strachan (who was 32 and a half years away from himself becoming Scotland manager). Scotland's competitive action for 1980 was rounded off the following month with a goalless draw at Hampden against Portugal.
In the first half of 1981 Scotland managed wins home and away against Israel, along with a draw against Northern Ireland, leaving them in decent nick in the qualifying campaign. Manager Jock Stein also gifted the country with a rare Wembley win over England, John Robertson netting from the spot for the only goal of the British Home Championship game. Scotland were was in good shape to win the trophy for this tournament but the competition was abandoned with fixtures still to be fulfilled due to the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
When the 1981-82 season began Scotland was back on the World Cup qualifying trail and remained unbeaten with a home victory over Sweden before sealing qualification with a goalless draw in Northern Ireland. The latter match was described by esteemed commentator Archie MacPherson as 'Alan Rough's finest hour', as the Partick Thistle goalie produced heroics to keep the hosts at bay. The campaign concluded with a defeat in Portugal but Scotland topped the group, qualifying for a third successive finals.
The big downside to Scotland qualifying for the 1982 World Cup was that the nation was subjected to yet another Scotland World Cup song. 1974 gave us 'Easy, Easy', and its lyrics inspired in part by a Fred Flintstone catchphrase, while 1978's 'Olé, Ola' by Rod Stewart proved to be less iconic than Andy Cameron's unofficial anthem 'Ally's Tartan Army'. However 1982's 'We Have A Dream' is regarded as one of Scotland's better efforts. Penned by Scottish songwriter B A Robertson with a narration from John Gordon Sinclair, a year after he played the lead role in football-themed coming-of-age classic 'Gregory's Girl', the song peaked at number five in the UK Charts.
The draw for the World Cup finals was more nightmare than dream however, pitting the Scots against the might of Brazil, the Soviet Union who had qualified unbeaten, and the unknown quantity of New Zealand, giving Scotland fans traumatic flashbacks to their failures against Peru and Iran in 1978.
Scotland kicked off their campaign in Spain against New Zealand, and a goal from Kenny Dalglish followed by a John Wark double had them cruising at the interval. However midway through the second half Scotland found themselves pegged back to 3-2, before late goals from John Robertson and Steve Archibald sealed a 5-2 triumph. Those two concessions would, however, come back to haunt Stein's men.
The next game against the brilliant Brazilians got off to an unexpected start. Scotland rocked the world in the early stages, opening the scoring through a finish that Brazil themselves would have been proud of. The goal came from an unlikely source — Dundee United defender David Narey who averaged roughly a goal a season throughout his professional career and this was the only goal that he would score for Scotland. English pundit Jimmy Hill, in his half-time analysis, sneeringly described Narey's goal as a 'toe-poke', inadvertently creating a new and rather unsavoury ditty for the Tartan Army songbook.
Archie MacPherson, who was commentating on the game alongside Celtic great Billy McNeill, sums up the strange mixture of emotions that the goal invoked among Scotland players and fans:
'Billy and I were in raptures, at least for a few minutes, until it dawned on us that such a goal would be a provocation for the Brazilians, forcing Billy to comment, "I hope we didn't score too early".'
Scotland could not get the winner, and were eliminated on goal difference
Scotland had indeed scored too early, after just 18 minutes, and it provoked quite the reaction from one of the most gifted international teams ever assembled. An unstoppable free-kick from Zico drew Brazil level at half-time before a second-half masterclass flattened the Scots, who eventually fell to a 4-1 defeat in the sweltering Seville heat, and when the Soviet Union claimed a 3-0 win over New Zealand the following evening it left Scotland needing to with their final match to pip the Russians to a place in the next round.
Scotland took the lead in this pivotal match, Joe Jordan netting early in the first half, but a fortunate equaliser from a mis-hit shot as the hour mark approached gave the Soviet Union the parity that they required to qualify. In the closing minutes Alan Hansen and Willie Miller, who had an uneasy relationship, collided going for the same ball and allowed the Russian forward a clear path to goal. He scored, leaving Scotland two goals from victory with just five minutes remaining. Graeme Souness netted an equaliser with two minutes to go, but Scotland could not get the winner, and were eliminated on goal difference for the third successive World Cup.
In the end it was Italy who lifted the trophy, vanquishing West Germany 3-1 at the Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid.
While Scotland seemed to be caught in a cycle of qualifying for World Cups only to crash out in the group stages on goal difference, they were equally unable to break the habit of failing to qualify for the European Championship. That routine continued in 1982 and 1983 with a wretched attempt to reach the 1984 finals in France. While qualifying was tougher than for World Cups (there were only seven places up for grabs, compared to the 13 on offer for Europe for the 1982 World Cup) Scotland regularly toiled in the qualifying stages, and the same was true of their attempts to make it to France. Still under the stewardship of Jock Stein, Scotland won a solitary game and finished bottom of their four-team qualifying group.
The host nation won Euro 1984, inspired by striker Michel Platini, who netted a remarkable nine goals in the finals, the ninth of those coming in a 2-0 victory over Spain in the final.
Stein remained in post as qualifying for the 1986 World Cup got under way. Scotland was in a tough four-team group containing Spain, Wales and Iceland, but they got off to a great start with two impressive victories at Hampden. A double from 19 year-old Paul McStay inspired them to a 3-0 victory over Iceland in October 1984, while the following month it was the turn of 21 year-old Mo Johnston to notch a double in a 3-1 triumph over Spain. That evening, however, belonged to veteran striker Kenny Dalglish, who at the age of 33 scored his 30th international goal for Scotland, matching Denis Law's international scoring record. And what a goal it was too, with Dalglish cutting in from the right and launching an unstoppable left-foot shot into the top corner.
manager Jock Stein had suffered a heart attack at the end of the game
A mini-slump followed with two 1-0 defeats in Spain and at home to Wales before a late Jim Bett goal gave the Scots a vital victory in Iceland, meaning they headed into their final qualifier in Wales just needing to avoid defeat to guarantee at least a play-off place. But on that evening in Cardiff of 10 September 1985, it would not be events on the park that made the headlines. Scotland trailed most of the evening following an early Mark Hughes goal, but was given a late lifeline in the shape of a soft penalty award. Rangers winger Davie Cooper stepped up and scored, his penalty just eluding Welsh goalie Neville Southall's grasp, and Scotland held on for a draw. For once, dreaded goal difference went in their favour as the Scots edged Wales in that category, and were guaranteed at least second place in the group.
However elation in the Scotland camp was short-lived when news broke that manager Jock Stein had suffered a heart attack at the end of the game. He was rushed to the medical room but pronounced dead minutes later. Bill Shankly, another legendary Scottish manager, once famously said that football was 'much more serious' than life and death' but anyone who witnessed events in Cardiff — whether in person or on television — would agree to differ.
The qualifying group concluded with an inevitable win for Spain over Iceland, sending the Spanish to the finals in Mexico, with Scotland needing to negotiate a play-off against Australia to make it to a fourth successive World Cup. Stein's assistant manager, one Alex Ferguson, had the thankless task of lifting the nation's spirits for the double-header.
Scotland won the home leg 2-0 on 20 November 1985 with goals from Cooper and Frank McAvennie in front of over 60,000 spectators at Hampden (including this writer, attending his first-ever Scotland game on the day he turned nine). A drab goalless draw was played out in Melbourne two weeks later and Scotland sealed the (big) trip to Mexico the following summer.
Scotland was given perhaps their its toughest draw yet for the finals, landing in Group E alongside West Germany and Uruguay with the ever-improving Denmark — the supposed minnow in the group. After the draw it was widely earmarked in the media as the competition's 'Group of Death'. Alex Ferguson remained in charge, combining the duties with his manager role at Aberdeen, and he was assisted by future Rangers gaffer Walter Smith.
Preparations for the finals suffered a setback with an injury to the iconic Kenny Dalglish, while Alan Hansen was a surprising omission from Ferguson's squad and Mo Johnston was dropped due to indiscretions off the park during the trip to Australia. As well as lacking some stars on the pitch, there were no stars behind Scotland's World Cup song, 'Big Trip to Mexico', which is quoted at the beginning of this essay. If 'We Have a Dream' was the Scotland team's 'Bohemian Rhapsody', the 1986 effort was their 'Cotton Eye Joe'.
Scotland opened their World Cup campaign against fast-rising Denmark, who had reached the semi-finals of Euro 1984, then topped a qualifying group containing Scotland's 1982 foes Soviet Union to make it to Mexico. The game kicked off late at night in UK time, though many bleary-eyed Scots stayed up to watch a 1–0 defeat. Scotland performed decently in a tight game but was undone by an unlucky break of the ball following a Willie Miller tackle which set up the decisive goal for Elkjær Larsen as the hour mark approached. Scotland did manage to find the net in reply, but Roy Aitken's effort was chalked off due to Charlie Nicholas being offside. Nicholas was taken out of the game by a shocking challenge late in the match and Scotland, having used up its substitute allocation (which was just two back then) finished the match with ten men and no points.
West Germany awaited in the second game, and Scotland made a positive start, taking a surprise lead through Strachan. The diminutive midfielder scored from a narrow angle then tried to jump the advertising hoardings behind the goal to celebrate with the Tartan Army, but realising the difficulty of the task instead posed with a single leg on top of them. The lead was to be short-lived, with Rudi Völler equalising within five minutes, and another unkindly ricochet (detecting a theme yet?) setting up a German winner early in the second-half. Scotland had performed well again but remained pointless after two matches.
Uruguay suffered a 6-1 thrashing to Denmark in the second round of fixtures, meaning that a Scotland victory against them in the final series of matches would be enough to seal qualification for the next round. Scotland captain Graeme Souness was dropped, having struggled to make an impact in the first two matches, and Arthur Albiston, Paul McStay and Graeme Sharp were all given their first action of the tournament. Quicker than you can say 'call Norris McWhirter' Uruguay were was reduced to ten men following a scything assault on Strachan by José Batista. Batista's red card remains the fastest dismissal in World Cup history. The rest of the match was broken up by fouls, play-acting and time-wasting by the South Americans. Scotland were wasunable to find any real rhythm against the Uruguayans and exited the tournament following a goalless draw. Graeme Souness announced his retirement in the wake of the tournament, while Alex Ferguson stepped down from the managerial position.
A Diego Maradona-inspired Argentina lifted the World Cup in July 1986. In the quarter-final defeat of England, Maradona had scored one of the best goals in World Cup history as well as one of the most controversial (the infamous 'Hand of God') before claiming another double to see off Belgium in the semi-final. He didn't get on the scoresheet in the final, but Argentina triumphed 3-2 over West Germany regardless.
Scotland went down a different route with Alex Ferguson's replacement. Andy Roxburgh had impressed with his coaching work at the SFA, among other things leading Scotland to victory in the European Under-18 Football Championship. European Championship qualification again eluded Scotland, who finished fourth in a tight group, though they did produce their two best results in the closing stages of the campaign. A 2-0 home win against Belgium and a 1-0 win in Bulgaria suggested better things may be round the corner. The win in Sofia made Hearts midfielder Gary Mackay a hero in the Republic of Ireland as his late winner sealed their first-ever major tournament qualification. The Netherlands triumphed in Euro 1988 in West Germany, with goals from the brilliant Marco Van Basten and Ruud Gullit sealing a win over the Soviet Union.
Scotland started their journey to Italia 1990 with a win in Norway in September 1988, with the reinstated Mo Johnston scoring the decisive goal in a 2-1 triumph. The Nantes striker was again on the scoresheet in a 1-1 Hampden draw with Yugoslavia the following month.
A humiliation in Cyprus in March the following year was narrowly averted by two Richard Gough goals, the second scored six minutes into stoppage time, turning a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 victory. The following month saw a brilliant performance from the Scots, as a double from Johnston sealed a 2-0 home win against France. In April they claimed a narrow win at home against Cyprus, with Johnston and Ally McCoist the scorers. Scotland ended the 1988-89 football season in a great position to qualify for a fifth successive World Cup.
The Scottish National team rarely makes a habit of doing things the easy way, so naturally they stumbled in the autumn resumption, shipping three goals away to qualification rivals Yugoslavia and France. However Scotland went into their final match at home to Norway needing just a draw to qualify. Ally McCoist scored on the stroke of half-time to settle nerves, but a late screamer from Erland Johnsen ensured that the home fans would need to endure a nervy finale. Scotland held on for the draw and ended the decade on a high with their fifth successive appearance at a World Cup Finals.
Scotland's 1990 World Cup campaign was like a greatest hits compilation of all that had gone before, with some ignominy (defeat to Costa Rica), a soupçon of false hope (a rousing win against Sweden) and the usual agonising denouement (Brazil scoring a late winner to eliminate Scotland). Two years later Andy Roxburgh finally ended a 32-year wait by qualifying the country for a European Championship Finals. Scotland performed admirably, with narrow defeats to the Netherlands and Germany before a 3-0 win against the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Roxburgh lost his job following failure to make it six World Cups in a row, but his assistant Craig Brown stepped up to lead Scotland to two successive finals, starting with a European Championship Finals in England (which contributed a Gary McAllister missed penalty and another goal difference elimination to Scotland's tales of woe). Then came France 1998 and a late own goal against Brazil and a mauling from Morocco.
And that 3-0 defeat to Morocco remains Scotland's men's last act at a major finals. They have made it to two play-off matches since, but defeats to England in 1999 and The Netherlands in 2003 put paid to qualification for the European Championships of 2000 and 2004 respectively. Defeat to Kazakhstan early in 2019 has undermined Scotland's hopes of qualifying for the 2020 European Championship, though they have qualified for the Nations League play-offs in March 2020.
Women have been flying the flag on the big stage, making it to the last two major tournaments (though their capitulation against Argentina in the 2019 World Cup wrote yet another chapter in Scotland's Big Book of Major Tournament Failure). Over 20 years on since Scotland's men last graced a major finals this supporter remains hopeful that dodgy music, difficult draws, unlucky ricochets and glorious failure will soon once again become a regular part of following Scotland's male international side.
