Scotland in 1974: Undefeated, proud, hame

1974.

The year we came so close.

But for a bounce here, a bounce there.

West Germany 1974. Scotland are undefeated but eliminated. Goal difference enough to send us home.

An agonising story for sure. But one that now seems to have provided the framework for how we view the national side. Luckless but plucky. Failing but fighting the good fight in the process.

The side Willie Ormond took to Germany was stuffed full of legendary names. Bremner, Jonstone and Law. Dalglish, Jardine, Jordan. Carslberg don't make Scottish international squads, but if they did...

Yet it still wasn't enough.

Zaire, Yugoslavia and Brazil stood in our way. Zaire were hopeless, Yugoslavia decent and Brazil, although not of 1970 vintage, remained Brazil.

A tough group but not one to overly concern such a talented Scotland side.

A 2-0 win against Zaire was a solid enough start but masked a poor performance. The group looked like being a three way fight. Given the chance to burst out of the starting blocks Scotland responded with a performance that was, at best, tepid. It was a start they would later regret.

Then came Brazil. And a performance that has come to define this Scotland side's greatness. Matching the South American's across the pitch Scotland held out at the back and were creative further forward.

Billy Bremner came within inches of breaking the deadlock but the game ended goalless.

A draw against the defending champions. A fine result, a fine performance.

But not enough. A result to echo down the ages. But within the context of the group we had come up short. Yugoslavia also managed a scoreless draw with Brazil. Crucially they'd also pumped nine past Zaire.

It came down to the Yugoslavia game. We needed a win or, at the least, we needed Zaire to pull of some miracle against Brazil.

Predictably neither happened.

Joe Jordan's 88th minute equaliser gave some hope but Brazil's 3-0 win did for us on goal difference.

Yugoslavia, Brazil and Scotland were equal on four points but our lack of goals against Zaire killed us.

Heartbreaking.

But were we the architects of our downfall? We'd taken a team full of world class players to our first finals in 16 years. But, again, we failed on the big stage. Yes, Brazil and Yugoslavia were good sides but the cold facts remained the same. In three World Cups we had only managed one win, against Zaire.

It was a shambolic record that was to an extent masked by the knowledge that this was a good side who went agonisingly close to progressing. The template for the glorious failure was laid down as the nation sought comfort in a hard luck tale.

But 1974 was, and remains, another failure. As footballing pinnacles go I'd rather be sustained by memories of a dodgy Russian linesman than of being the first team to be eliminated undefeated from a World Cup.

Where could Scotland go from here? Many were convinced that only bad luck had hampered us. We still had the players to compete. What we needed now was a manager who could convince those players that they could take on the world and win.

We were about to go on a march...

Stories remain that the playing field was not, perhaps, level. The suggestion is that Zaire were nobbled, that they allowed Brazil to score the crucial final goal. Distasteful, outrageous. But not excuse enough. We should have scored more against Zaire. And we only won one game. It was in our hands. We dropped the ball.

Scotland squad at the 1974 Word Cup

If you come up short with this squad then you're never going to amount to very much.

David Harvey (Leeds United)
Sandy Jardine (Rangers)
Danny McGrain (Celtic)
Billy Bremner (Leeds United)
James Holton (Manchester United)
John Blackley (Hibernian)
Jimmy Johnstone (Celtic)
Kenny Dalglish (Celtic)
Joe Jordan (Leeds United)
David Hay (Celtic)
Peter Lorimer (Leeds United)
Thompson Allan (Dundee)
Jim Stewart (Kilmarnock)
Martin Buchan (Manchester United)
Peter Cormack (Liverpool)
William Donachie (Manchester City)
Don Fort (Heart of Midlothian)
Thomas Hutchinson (Coventry City)
Denis Law (Manchester City)
William Morgan (Manchester United)
Gordon McQueen (Leeds United)
Eric Schaedler (Hibernian)

Scotland in 1958: Familiar feelings, familiar failings

By the time qualifying came around for the 1958 World Cup, FIFA had decided that they could no longer justify offering two places to the Home Nations Championship.

England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales would now need to get through normal qualifying groups to takes their place in Sweden. Which all four of them promptly did: an historical curiosity that will surely never be repeated.

Scotland, hinting at the nailbiting qualifiers that would follow in the decades ahead, sneaked through with a 3-2 win against Switzerland. Unlucky Scots? Perhaps, but many who saw it would still argue that Alex Scott's winning goal was offside. No matter - we were on our way.

After the 1954 debacle and Andy Beattie's resignation during the tournament, the SFA had turned to Matt Busby to lead the squad in 1958. With the Munich Air Disaster leaving Busby seriously injured, trainer Dawson Walker took on the manager's job.

France, Yugoslavia and Paraguay lay in wait for a Scottish team who had yet to record a victory in the World Cup.

Tommy Docherty, the presumptive captain, found himself dropped for the first game with Hibs' veteran Eddie Turnbull taking the armband.

The Doc was no stranger to run in with authority and his deselection seems to have stemmed from a disagreement with our old SFA chum George Graham after he pulled out of an international game. It also points to the inconsistency in selection that many players of the time continue to argue seriously hampered their progress.

That aside Scotland took their first World Cup point, Hearts' Jimmy Murray netting the equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Yugoslavia.

France had beaten Paraguay 7-3 in the groups other game meaning Scotland's point, while not the perfect start, was a source of some optimism going into the second match against Paraguay.

Optimism that would, somewhat typically, prove unfounded. Jackie Mudie and Bobby Collins both scored for Scotland but Paraguay held on for a 3-2 win.

The chance of a quarter final place looked all but gone and a 2-1 defeat to France in the final condemned us to bottom of the group.

Raymond Kopa and Just Fontaine - on his way to 13 tournament goals - had France two up by half time before Sammy Baird pulled one back in the second half.

After two tournaments our record stood at five games played, four lost, one drawn and none won.

We were starting slowly on the world stage, a theme that continued into the games, with both Yugoslavia and Paraguay going ahead inside the first ten minutes. To do that once is careless, twice is just bloody stupid.

For all that we can - and I frequently do - complain about the lack of professionalism at the SFA, we must also look to the players. Drawn from strong teams in Scotland and England the players in 1954 and 1958 should have done better.

Don't believe me? Northern Ireland got through their group before losing to France and Wales missed narrowly missed a semi final spot after a 1-0 defeat to Brazil.

Good news for the Anyone But England campaign though - three draws meant they also fell at the first hurdle. So that's alright then.

And how depressed could Scotland get? We were getting used to this World Cup malarkey now. And there would be another one round in four years for us to look forward to. Or so they might have thought...

Despite captaining the side Eddie Turnbull was one of the unlucky Scotland players not to receive a cap for playing for his country. Only Home Internationals matched were marked with the presentation of cap, a situation that was finally remedied some 50 years later when the SFA awarded caps to Eddie and other players thank to a campaign launched on the back of Gary Imlach's excellent book My Father and Other Working Class Football Heroesabout his father Stewart.

Scotland 1958 World Cup squad

Another inexperienced squad with 12 of the 22 having 10 caps or less. The second most capped, Tommy Docherty, didn't play a game.

Note this was a tournament in which we named a Haddock. Now we just try and qualify with huddies.

Tommy Younger - Liverpool
Bill Brown - Dundee
Alex Parker - Everton
Eric Caldow - Rangers
John Hewie - Charlton Athletic
Harry Haddock - Clyde
Ian McColl - Rangers
Eddie Turnbull - Hibernian
Bobby Evans - Celtic
Tommy Docherty - Preston North End
Dave Mackay - Heart of Midlothian
Doug Cowie - Dundee
Sammy Baird - Rangers
Graham Leggat - Aberdeen
Alex Scott - Rangers
Jimmy Murray - Heart of Midlothian
Jackie Mudie - Blackpool
John Coyle - Clyde
Bobby Collins - Celtic
Archie Robertson - Clyde
Stewart Imlach - Nottingham Forest
Willie Fernie - Celtic