Malky Mackay reckons Scotland ’s win over Spain was the “result of the decade.”
Time will tell, and qualifying automatically for Euro 2024 in Germany may well confirm it as top of the pile. But in the context of the last ten years, only one comes close in terms of competition. However, as a result, Steve Clarke’s men are top of the group, three points clear of Spain after Tuesday night and perhaps more crucially, five ahead of Norway, who were seen as our major rivals for second place behind the Spanish.
However, if the Scots keep winning, then it could be others fighting it out for that second qualification spot. There’s a long way to go though, but beating Luis De la Fuente’s team has blown the race for top spot wide open. Mackay, former performance director of the Scottish FA, hailed it as the best in the last ten years. On the night that Callum McGregor was presented with his 50th cap medal, six years after Mackay gave him his international debut as interim manager, the Ross County boss was full of praise.
“I was delighted,” he told Sky Sports. “The atmosphere looked unbelievable and it’s probably the result of the decade. It was fantastic for Stevie and the players. It’s great to see that group coming through because they were a talented group and a lot of them have really flourished. A lot of them are up to 30, 40 and Callum’s on to 50 caps.“
It’s the headline result given Spain’s status over the last few years, but what other ones come close from a Scotland perspective? Record Sport takes a look back at some of our most memorable wins.
Scotland 3-2 Netherlands, 14 June 1978
Remember playing at World Cups? It's been far too long, but we used to always be there. Ally MacLeod had us winning the whole thing ahead of Argentina 1978. The more realistic were just enjoying the fact that "Ally's aArmy" were going to South America while England "didnae qualify", as the song goes.
Any notions of glory were quickly dispelled after a disastrous opening 3-1 defeat to Peru, which was followed up with a 1-1 draw against Iran. Remarkably, we could still qualify, but the task of beating the Dutch by three clear goals to make it happen was pie in the sky stuff.
We gave it a right good go though. Kenny Dalglish cancelled out Rob Rensenbrink's penalty on the strike of half-time before Archie Gemmill turned things around two minutes after the interval from the penalty spot. He then scored arguably the greatest goal in Scottish football history and the impossible seemed on, only for that hope to be snatched away when Johnny Rep pulled one back.
England 0-1 Scotland, 17 November 1999
After a 2-0 defeat in the first leg at Hampden thanks to a Paul Scholes double, things were looking bleak against the Auld Enemy in terms of making it to Euro 2000. But Craig Brown's boys almost pulled it off in what was the last meeting between Scotland and England at the old Wembley.
Scotland had to go for it, and they did. Neil McCann stood up a cross to the back post and Don Hutchison arrived to head past david Seaman, giving renewed hope of a comeback. It should have been 2-2 in the second when Christian Dailly dived to head powerfully towards goal, but it was straight at the Arsenal keeper and Eng;and held on.
Scotland 1-0 Netherlands, 15 November 2003
Say what you will about Berti Vogts, but he got us closer to qualifying for a tournament than many have since, bagging playoff spot for Euro 2004. The rehearsal draw paired us with Latvia, so of course it was then the Netherlands when the balls were drawn for real.
Vogts' young side showed what they could do in the first leg however, Darren Fletcher and McFadden combining brilliantly for the latter to curl in the only goal of the game and send the tartan Army home thinking that our absence from the tournament top table was only going to see us miss a couple of finals.
Wrong. All we really did was make the Dutch angry. And they battered us 6-0 in the return leg in Amsterdam, which is best left in the past.
Scotland 1-0 France, 7 October 2006
Not long after being on the end of a 5-0 friendly drubbing in Paris during which Gary Caldwell was reminded of the score by David Trezeguet sticking his fingers into his face, the defender got his revenge and then some when it really mattered. The former European and World Champions, who had reached the final of the World Cup in germany that summer, were shocked in Glasgow.
Caldwell slid home a corner to send Hampden mad during the second half. It was backs to the wall stuff from then on, but Scotland held out to record a famous win and boos our Euro 2008 chances in what was a hell of a group that also contained actual world champions Italy, and Ukraine.
France 0-1 Scotland, 12 September 2007
We couldn't do it again could we? Just over a year later, we did!
Under Alex McLeish rather than Walter Smith, beating the French on their own turf was a different proposition entirely. That didn't make it impossible though and James Mcfadden wrote his name into the history books with an outrageous strike that left Mickael Landreau beaten all ends up.
Everyone remembers where they were when they saw it and it's up there with Gemmill's as the best goal the nation has witnessed. Sadly, we let ourselves down against Georgia, which meant a win over Italy was needed to make the playoffs. Despite another big display, a controversial late winner from Christian Panucci after Barry ferguson had given cause to dream meant we missed out again.
Scotland 0-0 Israel, (5-3 on penalties), 8 October 2020
Without this, that wait to reach a major tournament again wouldn't have ended when it did. Familiarity with Israel was starting to breed a touch of contempt by the time we drew them in the Euro 2020 playoff semi-finals after being in the same Nations League group. The good news was that it was at Hampden, where we tend to fare better against them.
A nerve shredder went all the way to penalties after a few scares, Scotland were flawless from the spot. Everyone converted to set up a final showdown against Serbia. Everyone had been expecting Erling Haaland’s Norway, but Belgrade it was in a bid to reach a first major tournament finals since 1998.
Serbia 1-1 Scotland (5-4 on penalties), 12 November 2020
The only really serious contender to top this week’s triumph. Away from home, albeit in an empty stadium due to Covid, Ryan Christie struck seven minutes after half-time and looked like it was going to be enough to end 22 years of missing out.
In typical Scotland fashion however, Luka Jovic headed in from a corner as the game ticked into stoppage time and another glorious failure was on the cards. Until David Marshall intervened.
Yet again, Scotland’s outfield players were perfect from 12 yards, and it was down Alexandr Mitrovic to keep Serbia’s hopes alive. Marshall saved his spot kick and awaited clearance from the ref before losing his mind. The celebrations will live long in memory, especially as they gave birth to a new Tartan Army anthem.
Scotland 2-0 Denmark, 15 November 2021
After clawing our way back into contention following a night in Copenhagen that had threatened to get very ugly, Scotland knew a win at home against the Danes would secure second spot and a play-off place. They produced what was, until this week, arguably their finest display of Clarke’s reign against a side that had gone all the way to the semi-finals of the Euros and was the first top nation scalp under the boss.
John Souttar capped an emotional road to his international return by heading home the first on 35 minutes. Scotland kept themselves on top, and it was thoroughly deserved when Che Adams made sure with four minutes left.
The playoff showdown against Ukraine was delayed due to the situation there, and by the time they came to Hampden at the end of a long season, it proved a game too far for Scotland, who were poor in a 3-1 defeat, and had to watch as Wales got the job done in Cardiff thanks to Gareth Bale.
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