Scotland national football team

The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in men's international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. They compete in three major professional tournaments: the FIFA World Cup, UEFA Nations League, and the UEFA European Championship. Scotland, as a country of the United Kingdom, are not a member of the International Olympic Committee (as Scottish athletes compete for Great Britain), and therefore the national team does not compete in the Olympic Games. The majority of Scotland's home matches are played at the national stadium, Hampden Park.

Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872. Scotland has a long-standing rivalry with England.

Scotland have qualified for the FIFA World Cup on nine occasions, and the UEFA European Championship four times. The team have achieved some special results, such as beating the 1966 FIFA World Cup winners England 3–2 at Wembley Stadium in 1967. Archie Gemmill scored a great goal in a win during the 1978 World Cup against the Netherlands. In their qualifying group for UEFA Euro 2008, Scotland defeated 2006 World Cup runners-up France.

Scotland supporters are collectively known as the Tartan Army. Kenny Dalglish holds the record for Scotland appearances, having played 102 times between 1971 and 1986. Dalglish scored 30 goals for Scotland and shares the record for most goals scored with Denis Law.

History

Scotland and England are the oldest national football teams in the world. They first played each other in 1872 at Hamilton Crescent in Partick, Scotland. No one scored in that game. For many years, Scotland only played against England, Wales, and Ireland. These games became competitive when the British Home Championship began in 1883.

Scotland did very well in the early years, losing only two of their first 43 games. They won the British Home Championship many times. One famous win was in 1928 when they beat England 5–1. That team was called the "Wembley Wizards". Scotland started playing teams outside the British Isles in 1929, beating Norway 7–3. They played friendly matches against other European teams like Germany and France.

After World War II, Scotland tried to qualify for the FIFA World Cup. In 1950, they didn’t go because of rules. In 1954, they went but lost to Uruguay. In 1958, they didn’t go far in the tournament.

In the 1960s, under manager Ian McColl, Scotland had some good results. In 1967, they beat England, who were world champions at the time, 3–2. But they still didn’t qualify for big competitions.

The 1970s saw Scotland get to the World Cup in 1974 and 1978. In 1974, they didn’t lose any games but didn’t advance because of goal difference. In 1978, they came close but didn’t advance after a game against the Netherlands.

In the 1980s, Scotland qualified for the 1982 and 1986 World Cups. In 1982, they were close but didn’t advance. In 1986, they qualified but lost all their games.

The 1990s were busy for Scotland. They went to the World Cup in 1990 and 1998, and the European Championship in 1992 and 1996. They didn’t go far in any of these tournaments.

In the 2000s, Scotland had some good and bad times. They tried to qualify for several tournaments but didn’t always succeed. In 2008, they came close to qualifying for the European Championship but just missed out.

In the 2010s, Scotland struggled to qualify for big tournaments. But in the 2020s, under manager Steve Clarke, they started to do better. They qualified for the European Championship in 2020 (held in 2021) and the World Cup in 2026, their first World Cup since 1998.

Stadium

Hampden Park in Glasgow is where the Scotland football team usually plays its home games. It is called the National Stadium. The current building opened in 1903 and has been the main home for the team since 1906. The stadium can hold up to 52,000 people after being rebuilt in the 1990s. Sometimes, friendly matches are held in other places like Pittodrie Stadium in Aberdeen or Easter Road in Edinburgh.

Media coverage

Scotland’s football matches are shown on BBC Scotland. This began in March 2025 after an agreement with UEFA. Before that, other channels like Sky Sports, STV, Setanta Sports, Channel 5, BT Sport, Pick, Premier Sports, Viaplay, ITV4, and YouTube also showed Scotland games.

Matches can also be heard on the radio through BBC Radio Scotland, and sometimes on BBC Radio 5 Live if schedules allow. In the past, people needed subscriptions to watch Scotland matches, but now they are free to air on BBC Scotland. This change happened so more fans could enjoy the games without paying extra.

Colours

Scotland's team usually wears dark blue shirts with white shorts and dark blue socks. These colors come from the Queen's Park team, who played in the first international match for Scotland. The blue shirt often has a thistle design, which is Scotland's national flower, and a crest based on the Royal Standard of Scotland.

Sometimes, Scotland uses different colored kits. For example, they have worn blue shirts with white shorts and red socks, or navy shorts and socks when they play against teams with similar colors. In the past, they even used a special tartan kit for the UEFA Euro 1996 matches. Change kits are often white or yellow, and in some years, they have worn pink or amber shirts for special occasions.

Crest

The team's crest has a shield with 11 thistles and a lion rampant. The words “Scotland” and “Est 1873” are written on the crest, showing when the team was first established. Since 2005, the Scottish Gaelic language has been included on the team's clothing to honor its importance in Scotland.

Kit suppliers

Supporters

Main article: Tartan Army

Scotland fans are called the Tartan Army. In the 1970s, some fans caused trouble in England. Since then, the Tartan Army has been known for their loud cheering, kindness, and helping others. They have won many awards, including a Fair Play prize. They have been named the best fans at big tournaments like the 1992 European Championship and the 1998 World Cup in France. They are respected for their good sportsmanship and fair play.

Results and fixtures

This section lists the recent games and upcoming matches for the Scotland national football team. You can find details about when and where these games take place, as well as the results of past games.

Coaching staff

In May 1954, the role of a team manager began, with Andy Beattie leading the team for six matches, including the 1954 FIFA World Cup. Before this, a committee chose the players. After the tournament, the committee took control again until Matt Busby became manager in 1958. Busby couldn’t start right away because of injuries from the Munich air disaster.

Many managers have led the team since then. Craig Brown managed for the longest time—9 years—with two major tournaments and 71 matches. Some managers, like Jock Stein and Alex McLeish, served two times. German coach Berti Vogts was the first foreign manager in 2002, but the team’s ranking dropped. Later managers improved the ranking, but some had worse results and were let go. Steve Clarke became manager in 2019 and helped the team qualify for major competitions again.

Current personnel

As of 13 August 2025

Statistical record

The table below shows how each Scotland manager did in World Cup and European Championship games. Alex McLeish was the most successful, winning seven of ten games in his first time as manager. George Burley had the fewest wins, with only three in 14 games, if we count managers who led more than ten games.

Last updated: Ivory Coast v Scotland, 31 March 2026. These statistics include official matches recognized by FIFA, plus some extra games that were later counted as full international matches.

Players

See also: List of Scotland international footballers

Current squad

These players were picked to play friendly matches against Japan and Ivory Coast in March 2026.

Caps and goals updated as of 31 March 2026, after the match against Ivory Coast. Clubs correct as of 2 February 2026.

Recent call-ups

These players have also been picked by Scotland in the past twelve months.

Honoured players

The Scottish Football Association has a roll of honour for players who have played more than 50 matches for Scotland. As of June 2025^[update] there are 41 members of this roll, with Kieran Tierney the most recent addition to the list.

The Scottish Football Museum has a hall of fame for players and managers involved in Scottish football. Sportscotland has a Scottish Sports Hall of Fame, which has inducted some footballers.

Records

Scotland's biggest win was 11–0 against Ireland in 1901. Their biggest loss was 7–0 against Uruguay in the 1954 FIFA World Cup[/w/2].

In 1937, Scotland played against England, and it was the most watched football match at that time. Over 149,000 fans were at Hampden Park to watch.

Kenny Dalglish has played the most games for Scotland, with 102 appearances between 1971 and 1986. Jim Leighton is next, with 91 games as a goalkeeper.

Scotland's top goalscorers are Denis Law and Kenny Dalglish, who each scored 30 goals. Hughie Gallacher also scored many goals, with 24 in just 20 games.

Competitive record

See also: Scotland national football team results

FIFA World Cup

Main article: Scotland at the FIFA World Cup

Scotland did not play in the first three World Cup tournaments because of disagreements about paying players. The team did not join FIFA again until 1946 and chose not to play in the 1950 tournament even though they had qualified.

Since then, Scotland has played in nine World Cup tournaments, including five in a row from 1974 to 1990. However, they have never gone past the first round of any tournament.

UEFA European Championship

Main article: Scotland at the UEFA European Championship

Scotland has played in four European Championships but has not gone past the first round. Their last appearance was at Euro 2024.

UEFA Nations League

When the UEFA Nations League started in 2018–19, Scotland were in League C. They moved up to League B by beating Israel 3–2 in their last match.

Scotland then moved up to League A in 2022–23 with a draw against Ukraine. However, they dropped back to League B in 2024–25 after losing a playoff against Greece.

Honours

Regional

The Scotland national football team has won the British Home Championship 41 times. Some of these titles were shared with other teams.

Friendly

They have also won a few friendly tournament titles. These include the Rous Cup in 1985, the Kirin Cup in 2006, and the Qatar Airways Cup in the 2014-15 season.

Notes

• ^s Shared titles

United Kingdom team

Main articles: United Kingdom national football team and Great Britain men's Olympic football team

Scotland has its own team for big football events like the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championship. During the Olympic Games, only one team can represent the whole United Kingdom, called the Great Britain Olympic football team. Scotland chose not to join this team to keep its special status as an independent team.