I WAS asked, yesterday, after posting on Facebook, a run-down of Scotland's winning percentages in international football,in each decade since we started playing in the 1870s.
The exact question was: How did we get on against the leading nations? So, here is my effort to answer this.
What I have done is taken finishing places in the World Cup finals, between 1930 and 2014 as a guide to what were then the top nations. I have kept the results to other European nations, since we still today, rarely play South American opposition. It should also be noted, we never played outside the British Isles, until 1929. The results are collated between one World Cup and the next.
1930 World Cup
European nations' finishing positions in descending order
Yugoslavia – France – Romania – Belgium
We played two games v France,in 1930 and 1932, winning both.
Results against the “top” European nations
p. 2 – w.2
1934 World Cup
Italy – Czechoslovakia – Germany – Austria – Spain – Hungary – Switzerland – Sweden – France – Netherlands – Romania – Belgium.
We beat Czechoslovakia twice in 1937; we beat Germany in 1936; we drew with Austria in 1937; we beat Hungary in 1938 and we beat the Netherlands in 1938.
Results against the “top” European nations
p. 6 – w. 5 – d. 1
1938 World Cup
Italy – Hungary – Sweden – Czechoslovakia – France – Switzerland – Romania – Germany – Poland – Norway – Belgium – Netherlands.
We lost to France in 1948, but beat them in 1949 and 1950; we lost to Switzerland in 1948, but beat them in 1950; we lost to Belgium in 1947, but beat them in 1948.
Results against the “top” European nations
p. 7 – w. 4 – d. 0 – l. 3
1950 World Cup
Sweden – Spain – Yugoslavia – Switzerland – Italy – England.
We lost twice to Sweden, in 1952 and 1953; the only other top European nation we faced was England; we beat them in 1951, drew with them in 1953 and lost to them in 1952 and 1954.
Results against the “top” European nations
p. 6 – w. 1 – d. 1 – l. 4
1954 World Cup
West Germany (winners) – Hungary (2) – Austria (3) – England – Yugoslavia – Switzerland – Turkey – Italy – France – Belgium – Czechoslovakia – Scotland.
We lost to Austria during the actual tournament; we then lost to Hungary in 1954 and 1955, beat Austria in 1955 and drew with them in 1956; we lost to England in 1955, drew with them in 1956, lost to them in 1957 and again in 1958; we drew with Yugoslavia in 1955 and beat them in 1956; we beat Switzerland twice in the 1958 qualifiers, during 1957.
Results against the “top” European nations
p. 14 – w. 5 – d. 3 – l. 6
1958 World Cup
Sweden – France – West Germany – Yugoslavia – Wales – USSR – Northern Ireland – Czechoslovakia – Hungary – England – Scotland – Austria.
During the 1958 tournament in Sweden, we drew with Yugoslavia and lost too France; we then beat Wales and drew with Northern Ireland later in 1958; we lost to England in 1959; we beat West Germany in 1959; we also beat Northern Ireland and drew with Wales in 1959. In 1960 we drew with England and Hungary, lost to Austria, beat Wales and Northern Ireland. In 1961 we lost to England, beat Wales and Northern ireland, lost to, then beat and lost again to Czechoslovakia in World Cup qualifiers, then beat England in 1962.
Results against the “top” European nations
p. 20 – w. 8 – d. 5 – l. 7
1962 World Cup
Czechoslovakia – Yugoslavia – Hungary – West Germany – England – Italy – Spain – Bulgaria – Switzerland
We beat England in 1963, 1964, drew with them in 1965 and lost to them in 1966; we beat Spain in 1963 and drew with them in 1964; we drew with West Germany in 1964; in 1965 we beat, then lost to Italy in World Cup qualifiers.
Results against the “top” European nations
p. 9 – w. 4 – d. 3 – l. 2
1966 World Cup
England – West Germany – Portugal - USSR – Hungary – Spain – Italy – France – Switzerland – Bulgaria
You may never have heard, but, we beat reigning World Champions England in 1967, drew with them in 1968, lost to them in 1969 and drew with them in 1970; we drew with, then lost to West Germany in 1969 ijn World Cup qualifiers and we lost to the USSR in 1967. These were our only games against “top” European nations during the 1966-1970 World Cup round.
Results against the “top” European nations
p. 7 – w. 1 – d. 3 – l. 3
1970 World Cup
Italy – West Germany – England – USSR – Belgium – Sweden – Israel – Romania – Czechoslovakia – Bulgaria.
We lost to England in 1971, 1972, twice in 1973 but beat them in 1974; we lost to Belgium in 1971, beat them later that year, but lost again to them in 1974; we lost ot the USSR in 1971; we drew with Czechoslovakia in 1972, then beat them and lost to them in 1973; we drew with West Germany in 1973 and lost to them in 1974.
Results against the “top” European nations
p. 14 – w. 3 – d. 2 – l. 9
1974 World Cup
West Germany – Netherlands – Poland – Sweden – East Germany – Yugoslavia – Scotland – Italy – Bulgaria.
We beat East Germany in 1974, but lost to them in 1977; we beat Sweden in 1975 and again in 1977; we beat Bulgaria in 1978, then we beat the Netherlands during the 19789 World Cup finals.
Results against the “top” European nations
p.6 – w. 4 – d. 1 – l. 1
1978 World Cup
Netherlands – Italy – West Germany – Poland – Austria – Spain – Scotland – France – Sweden – Hungary.
We lost to Austria in 1978, then drew with them in 1979; We lost to Poland in 1980; we lost to Hungary in 1980; we lost to Sweden in 1980,but beat them in 1981; we lost to Spain in 1982; we beat the Netherlands in 1982.
Results against the “top” European nations
p. 8 – w. 3 – d. 1 – l. 4
1982 World Cup
Italy – West Germany – Poland – France – USSR – England – Austria – Spain – Northern Ireland – Belgium – Hungary – Scotland – Yugoslavia – Czechoslovakia.
We lost to England in 1983, we drew with them in 1984, beat them in 1985 and lost to them in 1986; we drew with, then lost to Northern Ireland in 1983; we lost to, then drew with Belgium in 1983; we beat Spain in 1984, but lost to them in 1985; we beat Yugoslavia in 1984; we lost to France in 1984 and we lost to West Germany in the 1986 World Cup finals.
Results against the “top” European nations
p. 13 – w. 3 – d. 3 – l. 7
1986 World Cup
West Germany – France – Belgium – Spain – England – USSR – Bulgaria – Italy – Denmark – Poland – Portugal – Hungary – Scotland – Northern Ireland.
We drew with Bulgaria in 1986, but beat them in 1987; we lost to Belgium in 1987, but beat them later that year; we drew with England in 1987, but lost to them in 1988 and 1989; we beat Hungary in 1988; we drew with Spain in 1988; we lost to Italy in 1988; we beat France in 1989, but lost to them later that year; we drew with Poland in 1990.
Results against the “top” European nations
p. 13 – w. 4 – d. 4 – l. 5
1990 World Cup
West Germany – Italy – England – Yugoslavia – Czechoslovakia – Republic of Ireland – Spain – Belgium – Netherlands – Austria – Scotland – USSR – Sweden
We lost to the USSR in 1991, but beat them in 1992; we lost to Germany in 1992 and again in 1993; we lost to Italy in 1992 and again in 1993; we lost to the Netherlands in 1992, and twice in 1994; we beat Austria in 1994.
Results against the “top” European nations
p. 10 – w. 2 – d. 1 – l. 7
1994 World Cup
Italy – Sweden – Bulgaria – Romania – Netherlands – Germany – Spain – Belgium – Republic of Ireland – Switzerland – Norway – Russia – Greece
We lost to Greece in 1994, but beat them in 1995; we drew with Russia in 1994, and again in 1995; we lost to Sweden in 1995, beat them in 1996, bu8t lost again to them in 1997; we drew with the Netherlands at Euro'96; we beat Switzerland at Euro '96; we drew with Norway at World Cup 1998.
Results against the “top” European nations
p. 10 – w. 3 – d. 4 – l. 3
1998 World Cup
France – Croatia – Netherlands – Italy – Denmark – Germany – England – Norway – Romania – Yugoslavia – Denmark – Spain – Belgium – Austria – Scotland.
We beat Germany in 1999; we lost to, then beat England in 1999; we lost to France in 2000 and again in 2001; we drew with Croatia in 2000; we drew with the Netherlands in 2000; we drew with Belgium in 2000 and lost to them in 2001.
Results against the “top” European nations
p. 10 – w. 2 – d. 3 – l. 5
2002 World Cup
Germany – Turkey – Spain – England – Republic of Ireland – Italy – Sweden – Belgium – Portugal – Russia – Croatia – Poland – France – Slovenia.
We lost to Portugal in 2002; we drew with, then lost to Germany in 2003; we drew with Spain in 2004; we lost to Sweden in 2004; we drew with Slovenia in 2004, then beat them in 2005; we lost to, then drew with Italy in 2005.
Results against the “top” European nations
p. 9 – w. 1 – d. 4 – l. 4
2006 World Cup
Italy – France – Germany – Portugal – England – Ukraine – Switzerland – Netherlands – Spain – Sweden – Czech Republic – Croatia – Poland.
We lost to Ukraine in 2006, but beat them in 2007; we beat France in 2006 and again in 2007; we lost twice to Italy in 2007; we drew with Croatia in 2008; we lost twice to the Netherlands in 2009; we beat the Czech Republic in 2010.
Results against the “top” European nations
p. 10 – w. 4 – d. 1 – l. 5
2010 World Cup
Spain – Netherlands – Germany – Slovakia – Portugal – England – Slovenia – Switzerland – Serbia – Greece – Denmark – Italy – France.
We lost to Spain in 2010 and again in 2011; we beat Denmark in 2011; we drew with Slovenia in 2012; we drew with Serbia in 2012 then lost to them in 2013; we lost to England in 2013 and again in 2014.
Results against the “top” European nations
p. 8 – w. 1 – d. 2 – l. 5
2014 World Cup
Germany – Netherlands – Belgium – France – Greece – Switzerland – Portugal – Croatia – Bosnia-Herzegovina – Italy – Spain – Russia – England.
We lost to Germany in 2014 and again in 2015; we lost to England in 2014, again in 2016, but drew with them in 2017; we lost to France and Italy in 2016; we lost to Netherlands in 2017.
Results against the “top” European nations
p. 8 – w. 0 – d. 1 – l. 7
2018 World Cup
France – Croatia – Belgium – England – Russia – Sweden – Spain – Croatia – Portugal – Switzerland – Germany – Serbia – Poland – Iceland.
In the current World Cup round, we have lost to Belgium in 2018, and twice in 2019; we lost to Portugal in 2018; we lost to Russia in 2019.
Results against the “top” European nations
p. 5 – w. 0 – d. 0 – l. 5
Scotland was not a member of FIFA before the 1950 World Cup, but, we can safely assume that up until that date, they were in reality one of the top nations in Europe. Between 1930 and 1950, we faced some of the top countries in Europe in 15 games, winning 11, drawing one and only losing three.
Given we were offered a “wild card” entry to the 1950 World Cup, after refusing the place we had won by right, we were still probably ranked seventh in Europe at that time.
We have only equalled that World Cup ranking twice since, in 1974, when we famously went through the tournament unbeaten, but failed to qualify for the knock-out stages and in the “disastrous” campaign of 1978. Our best ranking since then has been 12th.
In all, we have faced European nations which had qualified for the last World Cup finals, in 195 games, where our record is:
p. 195 – w. 60 – d. 43 – l. 92 – wins % - 30.8%
We are currently in the 21st four-year World Cup cycle. In only eight of the previous 20 have we played against at least half of the top European nations – nobody can force opponents to play them, unless the sides are drawn together in a competition. Agreeing friendlies or challenge games is never easy, but, I sort of get the feeling, certainly in years past, the SFA has been rather good at arranging friendlies which seemed winnable.
This has not been so possible since competitive internationals became the norm, it has to be said.
In doing this wee exercise, I deliberately ignored matches against non-European nations, mainly because, when it comes to World Cups, the only genuine challenge to the European nations tends to come from Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, against whom our record reads:
against Brazil: p.10 – w. 0 – d. 2 – l. 8
against Argentine: p. 4 – w. 1 – d. 1 – l. 2
against Uruguay: p. 4 – w. 1 – d. 1 – l. 1
Our standing in Europe is what matters. The better we are against other European nations, the higher the “pot” we go into for World Cup and European Championship draws. Getting back among the front-line European nations should be our main aim, beating non-European sides would then be a bonus.
The sad reality is, we are not and have seldom been as good as we like to think we are. We are a middle-ranking football nation, liable to spring the odd surprise victory, but, seldom capable of beating the genuinely good countries.
The
even-sadder fact is, we have not beaten a Top Ten-ranked European
nation since we beat Ukraine, at Hampden, in October, 2007. So, maybe we should not turn up our noses at away wins against opponents' "third XI."
