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Final international break of the year offers another round of incredible fixtures this week but for the biggest story look no further than Serbia v Scotland tonight, where one of the most absurd, chaotic & heartbreaking tales in qualifying could finally see a happy ending THREAD:
After qualifying for 6 out of 7 World Cups from '74 to '98 the Scottish National Team had become a familiar sight in international football alongside their brilliant travelling fanbase ‘the tartan army’ who made their presence known no matter where the tournaments took place
But the Scot’s role in major tournaments came to an abrupt end after France 98 thanks to 22 years of qualifiers that have been nothing but a source of constant pain, bad luck and heartbreak for Scottish football fans. Here’s just some of what they’ve been through:
For Euro 2000, Scotland actually had a decent qualifying campaign, coming second in their group which meant making the playoffs and drawing England over two legs. But despite winning the away leg at Wembley, the Scots went out on aggregate.
For the 2002 World Cup, Scotland only lost one match the entire qualifying campaign but in a tough group still missed out on making the tournament in Japan/South Korea.
For the 2004 Euros qualifIers Scotland once again made the playoffs, this time drawing a star studded Dutch side featuring Sneijder & Van Nistelrooy. Having won the 1st leg, Scotland headed to Amsterdam with one foot in the tournament but capitulated away, losing the 2nd leg 6-0
Things went downhill in their next qualifying campaign for the Germany 2006 World Cup, where the Scots didn’t even get their first win until halfway through the campaign and had their qualification dreams ended by an infamous home loss in the rain to lowly Belarus
But its the Euro 2008 qualification campaign most Scots consider the most heartbreaking of all. Drawn in what was no doubt the group of death, Scotland found themselves in a group with Italy & France, the 2 finalists of the previous World Cup + Ukraine who had made the qtr finals
Surprisingly, Scotland took the group by storm winning their first three matches and beating France home *and* away, their win in Paris coming thanks to this 35 yard screamer from James Mcfadden. https://twitter.com/scotlandnt/status/1039789269357916161
But despite their success against France, loses to minnows Georgia, meant they went into their final match vs Italy needing a win to guarantee qualification.
With the score tied 1-1 deep into the 2nd half, in a carbon copy Gazza v Germany at Euro 96 moment, Kenny Miller crossed the ball across the Italian goalmouth for Mcfadden to finish... unlike Gazza McFadden connected, but sprayed the ball just wide
Any lingering hope after that was killed off by a late Italian goal that came from one of the most scandalous free kicks ever given.
Things only got worse over the next decade where the WC2010 qualifying campaign kicked off with a loss to lowly Macedonia, shortly followed by a 0-0 draw at home to Norway that featured what could still to this day be described as the world’s worst miss.
Yet somehow, things got worse the following match where a 3-0 loss to Holland led to the infamous 'Boozegate' scandal which saw captain Barry Ferguson & Allan McGregor partake in an all-night drinking session in front of hotel guests after the defeat.
The scandal saw both players benched for the next qualifier against Iceland but instead of take their punishment on the chin the pair were caught showing their feelings to cameras with these two-fingered gestures whilst sat on the bench at Hampden Park.
The Euro 2012 qualifiers got worse with their only wins vs Lichtenstein & Lithuania (one in the 97th min) & the infamous '4-6-0' formation played in a loss to Czech Republic @guardian_sport described as “representing depressing stuff for any remaining lovers of Scottish football”
Then there’s Brazil 2014’s qualifiers which began with veteran Steven Fletcher texting the manager he didn’t want to play and Scotland not winning a match at home until the final matchday at which stage they had already been knocked out. Here’s Rod Stewart enjoying that campaign.
Even with Euro 2016 expanded to 24 teams Scotland missed out, the only British side to not qualify, best summed up by Scotland fan @findlaymarks “Having to watch that whole tournament like a Dickensian orphan peering in through the window of a bakery was so f*cking depressing”
Tonight, however, Scotland can put two decades of qualification pain to bed as they stand only 90 minutes (or 120 plus penalties) from a return to a major tournament.
Furthermore, with their iconic Hampden Park one of the 12 hosts for next years tournament, Scotland have even more incentive to win tonight with a guaranteed three home matches in the group stage if they go through.
One of the international games best fanbases making their long awaited return after two decades in a tournament they’ll play host to? That sounds pretty good to us.
