Scotland World Cup Information

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About the Scottish National Football Team

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. Although a constituent country of the United Kingdom, Scotland maintains its own national side that competes in all major professional tournaments, with the exception of the Olympics as Scotland is not a member of the International Olympic Committee.

Scotland have qualified for the FIFA World Cup on a few occasions, but have never progressed beyond the first stage of a tournament.

Scotland's World Cup Record

Scotland have played at eight World Cup Finals, including five consecutive tournaments from 1974 to 1990. During the preparations for the 1928 Olympic Football Tournament, FIFA ruled that all its member associations must provide "broken-time" payments to cover the expenses of players from their country who participated. In response to what they considered to be unacceptable interference, the football associations of Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales held a meeting at which they agreed to resign from FIFA. As a result, Scotland did not compete in the three interwar World Cup competitions. The Scottish Football Association did not rejoin FIFA as a permanent member until 1946.

Scotland have competed at eight World Cup Finals, but have never progressed beyond the first round of the finals competition. They have missed out on progressing to the second round three times on goal difference: in 1974, when Brazil edged them out; in 1978, when the Netherlands progressed; and in 1982, when the USSR went through. Although Scotland have played at eight finals tournaments, they have actually qualified on nine occasions. The Scottish Football Association declined to participate in 1950 as Scotland were not the British champions.

Scotland Supporters

Scotland fans are collectively known as the Tartan Army. During the 1970s, Scotland fans became notorious for their hooliganism, particularly after they invaded the Wembley pitch and destroyed the goalposts after the England v Scotland match in 1977. Since then, the Tartan Army have won awards from UEFA for their combination of vocal support, friendly nature and charity work. The Tartan Army have been awarded a Fair Play prize by the Belgian Olympic Committee and were named as the best supporters during the 1992 European Championship. The fans were also presented with a trophy for non-violence in sport and were voted by journalists to be the best supporters for their sense of fair play and sporting spirit at the 1998 World Cup in France.