craigkillie Posted November 10, 2023 Share Posted November 10, 2023 (edited) Our current qualification campaign is the first time any Scotland team (male or female) has ever qualified for a major tournament with two matches to spare. The games listed below are the only times we've ever played a qualifying match after already being assured of qualification. 15/04/1950 - Scotland 0-1 England (World Cup 1950)* 03/04/1954 - Scotland 2-4 England (World Cup 1954) 17/10/1973 - Czechoslovakia 1-0 Scotland (World Cup 1974) 18/11/1981 - Portugal 2-1 Scotland (World Cup 1982) 15/11/1995 - Scotland 5-0 San Marino (Euro 96) 20/09/2016 - Iceland 1-2 Scotland (Women's Euro 2017) *Scotland had technically qualified for the World Cup prior to this game as one of the top two finishers in the 1949/50 Home Championship. However, the SFA decided we would only play in the World Cup if we won the championship, which would have required us to beat England. Therefore in practice this game still mattered. It's quite cool that we'll get to add two games to this list, 28 years on from the last time the men's team did it - though hopefully our record in these matches will improve slightly. Edited November 10, 2023 by craigkillie 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICTChris Posted November 10, 2023 Share Posted November 10, 2023 I was sure that we qualified for Italia 90 with a game to spare but obviously I was wrong. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Connolly Posted November 10, 2023 Share Posted November 10, 2023 3 minutes ago, ICTChris said: I was sure that we qualified for Italia 90 with a game to spare but obviously I was wrong. Qualified with a nervy 1-1 draw with Norway in the last game. Norway equalised with a minute to go with an absolute screamer, but we held on and finished one point ahead of France. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigkillie Posted November 10, 2023 Author Share Posted November 10, 2023 9 minutes ago, ICTChris said: I was sure that we qualified for Italia 90 with a game to spare but obviously I was wrong. We needed a point from our last three games, but lost the first two away to Yugoslavia and France. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarto Mutiny Posted November 10, 2023 Share Posted November 10, 2023 It didn't happen in the end, but the thought of playing Norway at home in our final game needing a point to qualify was giving me some unpleasant flashbacks. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microdave Posted November 10, 2023 Share Posted November 10, 2023 Going into these final two games with qualification already in the bag os giving me a warm fuzzy feeling. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2426255 Posted November 10, 2023 Share Posted November 10, 2023 1 minute ago, microdave said: Going into these final two games with qualification already in the bag os giving me a warm fuzzy feeling. Me too, but I'm sure others will still be sweating it out over seedings etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordopolis Posted November 10, 2023 Share Posted November 10, 2023 3 hours ago, Mark Connolly said: Qualified with a nervy 1-1 draw with Norway in the last game. Norway equalised with a minute to go with an absolute screamer, but we held on and finished one point ahead of France. That McCoist goal is my earliest memory of seeing Scotland playing - and the one that got me hooked. The Norway goal is spectacular, but surely Leighton's badly at fault there (unless there's a deflection or something you can't see in the footage)? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuttonDressedAsLahm Posted November 10, 2023 Share Posted November 10, 2023 I really just want to banish old Georgia memories - seems like an absurd fixation, but I seriously don't want to draw them a 4th time, having lost three late-stage qualifiers in Tblisi. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anfield 1977 Posted November 10, 2023 Share Posted November 10, 2023 3 minutes ago, HuttonDressedAsLahm said: I really just want to banish old Georgia memories - seems like an absurd fixation, but I seriously don't want to draw them a 4th time, having lost three late-stage qualifiers in Tblisi. We haven't lost three yet 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KirkieRR Posted November 10, 2023 Share Posted November 10, 2023 I remember we got off to a flier in the Spain 82 campaign but the wheels must've got shoogly along the way. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anfield 1977 Posted November 10, 2023 Share Posted November 10, 2023 4 hours ago, KirkieRR said: I remember we got off to a flier in the Spain 82 campaign but the wheels must've got shoogly along the way. We only lost one match in that qualifying group, the last match in Lisbon. We had qualified in the previous game with a point in Belfast. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey Tennis Posted November 10, 2023 Share Posted November 10, 2023 6 hours ago, Gordopolis said: That McCoist goal is my earliest memory of seeing Scotland playing - and the one that got me hooked. The Norway goal is spectacular, but surely Leighton's badly at fault there (unless there's a deflection or something you can't see in the footage)? I was at that game. It was an absolutely horrendous error from Leighton. A ridiculous mistake. It was just as his confidence was haemorrhaging that season. It continued and should have culminated in his being dropped for the FA Cup final replay. Alas he lived to fight another day. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey Tennis Posted November 10, 2023 Share Posted November 10, 2023 9 hours ago, craigkillie said: We needed a point from our last three games, but lost the first two away to Yugoslavia and France. We led in Yugoslavia having already had a goal disallowed. The roof fell in later though and there was suddenly an inevitability about us losing in France and facing a nervy final match. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewanandmoreagain Posted November 11, 2023 Share Posted November 11, 2023 20 hours ago, Monkey Tennis said: We led in Yugoslavia having already had a goal disallowed. The roof fell in later though and there was suddenly an inevitability about us losing in France and facing a nervy final match. IIRC our defence did not cover itself in glory at , at least , one of the Yugoslav goals. Up until then it has been a good performance ! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewanandmoreagain Posted November 11, 2023 Share Posted November 11, 2023 On 10/11/2023 at 11:36, Sarto Mutiny said: It didn't happen in the end, but the thought of playing Norway at home in our final game needing a point to qualify was giving me some unpleasant flashbacks. I did not realise until today that the league matches were not postponed ! WTF ! Another reason to be glad of Spain beating Norway !! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigkillie Posted November 11, 2023 Author Share Posted November 11, 2023 What league matches were you expecting to be postponed? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewanandmoreagain Posted November 11, 2023 Share Posted November 11, 2023 9 minutes ago, craigkillie said: What league matches were you expecting to be postponed? Today's ! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PSJ.84 Posted November 11, 2023 Share Posted November 11, 2023 Why would they? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewanandmoreagain Posted November 11, 2023 Share Posted November 11, 2023 Prevent ( more) players getting injured. It has happened before ! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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