World news – GB – How Scotland has qualified for every major tournament in its history (including the World Cup they never played in)

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Scotland will seek to end a series of 10 failed qualifying campaigns tomorrow by beating Serbia in the Euro 2020 Championship supplement final in Belgrade.

But the national team has enjoyed its fair share of successes over the years as well – it has reached the European Championship Finals or the World Cup on no fewer than 11 occasions.

Ahead of the game at Rajko Mitik Stadium, we look back on those successes

Scotland missed its first three World Cups in 1930, 1934 and 1938 due to the fact that the Swiss Football Confederation resigned from FIFA membership in 1928 in protest of what they considered unacceptable interference by the governing body of world football

They finally returned in 1946 and qualified to play in the 1950 Finals in Brazil after finishing second in the 1949/50 British Main Championship however, they refused to take their place.

George Graham, president of the Saudi Sports for All Federation, said earlier that the national team would only participate as winners. George Young, the Rangers player and captain of Scotland, appealed to Graham to reconsider but refused to budge.

Scotland reached the finals of its first major tournament when it finished second in the British House Championship 1953/54. They defeated Northern Ireland 3-1 in Belfast and drew 3-3 with Wells in Glasgow and won first over second place by a point On this occasion, the Saudi Sports Federation accepted the invitation

That is why FIFA decided to divide the teams into several continental regions, allocate a predetermined number of places to each region and authorize the organization of tournaments to its federations.

Scotland snatched first place in Group Nine UEFA, by one point, after defeating Spain 4-2 at home and defeating Switzerland 2-1 outside their home country and 3-2 at home.

The national team failed in its attempts to reach the World Cup in 1962, 1966 and 1970, but they succeeded in reaching the 1974 championship with an additional match.

Willie Ormond’s men thrashed Denmark 4-1 away, then 2-0 at home, and came back from behind to defeat Czechoslovakia 2-1 in Hampden in their penultimate match in UEFA Group H

A crowd of 95,786 spectators erupted as Joe Jordan returned home in the second half to end 16 years of failure and disappointment.

Scotland’s bid to reach Argentina got off to an ominous start when they lost their opening UEFA Group G match to Czechoslovakia 2-0 in Prague.

But Allie McLeod’s men rebounded with a 1-0 win over Wales and a 3-1 victory over the Czechs in Hampden

The Welsh Football Association decided to transfer the match from Ninian Park to Anfield after the crowd had trouble in Cardiff in a match against Yugoslavia the previous year.

They thought that by playing in such a large place they could get a bigger crowd and earn more money they did – but only because a huge battalion of the Tartan Army landed

With tens of thousands of their fans shouting at them, Scotland scored a controversial 2-0 victory

French referee Robert Wortz awarded them a penalty kick in the 78th minute when he determined that David Jones had touched a throw-in from Asa Hartford inside his area and TV replays later indicated that it was Joe Jordan.

Don Mason was indifferent about his penalty kick and Kenny Dalglish scored a superb header five minutes before the match.

Scotland won four and tied in three of their first seven UEFA Group F matches to qualify for the World Cup Finals for the third time in a row with a match to play

The 2-0 victory over Sweden in Hampden in 1981, thanks to Joe Jordan’s first-half goal and a late penalty from John Robertson, ensured the success of Jock Stein’s men.

This success is shrouded in tragedy. Coach Jock Stein suffered a fatal heart attack at the end of the 1-1 draw with Wales in Cardiff, which means that Scotland finished second in Group G UEFA.

Alex Ferguson, his assistant, took charge part-time and led the national team through the UEFA-OFC Intercontinental match against Australia Oceania winners

Davy Cuper’s goals in the second half were enough to give the country a 2–0 victory in the first-leg match at Hampden. Jim Layton then delivered a series of impressive saves in a 0-0 draw in the rematch at Olympic Park in Melbourne

Maurice Johnston scored six goals – including a brace in a famous 2–0 victory over France in Hampden – to top the scoring charts in UEFA Group E and help Scotland reach the World Cup for the fifth consecutive time.

But it was Rangers striker Allie Maquist who clinched second place in the division with a first-half blow in the final against Norway in front of 63,987 fans in Hampden in 1989.

Richard Gove’s 96th-minute winning goal against Cyprus away from home that year proved very important, too.

The 4-0 victory over Minos San Marino in Hampden, along with the 1-0 defeat of their closest competitors Switzerland in Romania, resulted in Scotland finishing first in Group Two and reaching the first-ever European Championship Finals after six unsuccessful attempts.

The victories over Finland, the Faroe Islands, Greece and San Marino, and two draws with Russia in Group H, were sufficient to see the national team qualify for the 1996 Euro 1996 tournament as the fourth best team in second place.

The injustice of having to replay a match in which an opponent failed to attend did not prevent Scotland from reaching France 98

The national team had started their Group D match against Estonia in Tallinn in 1996 despite their rivals, who had protested the kick-off date due to insufficient lighting and their absence.

FIFA orders match replay in neutral venue Craig Brown’s team drew 0-0 in Monaco

But Scotland responded positively, with a 2-0 victory over Latvia at Parkhead in their final match that left Sweden ahead of Sweden to second place by two points and the lead.

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