The Scotland players (in blue) come onto the pitch for afriendly againstBrazil in 2011
TheScotland national football team is the joint-oldest internationalfootball team, having played in the first official international match, a goalless draw on 30 November 1872 againstEngland.[1] Since then, the team has established a long-standingrivalry with England, particularly in the annualBritish Home Championship, which Scotland won 24 times outright and shared a further 17 times.[2] The team has enjoyed less success in continental and global competition. Although Scotland has participated in eightFIFA World Cup and threeUEFA European Championship final tournaments,[3] the team has never progressed beyond the first round of any major tournament.[3][4]
^The Scottish FA website merges the statistics ofJames Connor (active in the 1880s) and Jimmy Connor (active in the 1930s) into a single profile.
^The Scottish FA website merges the statistics ofJohn Hunter (born 1878) and John Hunter (active in the 1870s) into a single profile.
^There is some uncertainty over the sixth Scotland goal in a 7–3 win over Ireland in 1929: bothHughie Gallacher, who had already scored four times, and Alex James went for the ball at the same point. Correspondence between Queen of the South FC and theScottish Football Museum in 2016 favoured Gallacher, stating "Hughie himself was insistent that the goal was his, claiming that as he and Alex James (who was a good friend of his) were of a similar build (and of course in 1929 there were no numbers on the jerseys), it was easy for pressmen to make a mistake". James remains credited with the goal in some sources, including theScottish Football Association website profiles, while theScottish Football Hall of Fame include the contradictory statement that Gallacher's total was 23 goals but that he scored a record five in a match against Ireland.
^Some sources attribute Kelly's first cap and goal in 1886 toJohn Lambie who had to withdraw from the team at short notice but was still included in match reports.
^The Scottish FA website attributes 1890 and 1891 appearances byJohn McPherson (born 1863) to John McPherson (born 1868). Although most sources do attribute six goals, many include a goal against Ireland in 1890, though contemporary reports awarded it toGilbert Rankin; this is balanced by a goal scored by McPherson against England in 1894, attributed toSandy McMahon in some sources.
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