Scotland national football team results (1920–1939)

The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international association football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. It is the joint-oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, Scotland's opponents in what is now recognised as the world's first international football match, which took place at Hamilton Crescent in Glasgow in November 1872.^[1]

Scotland national football team results
1872–1914 (matches 1–113) 1920–39 (matches 114–188) 1940–59 (matches 189–274) 1960–79 (matches 275–432) 1980–99 (matches 433–611) 2000–19 (matches 612–783) 2020–present (matches 784–849) Unofficial matches

Scotland played their first match outside the British Isles on 26 May 1929, when they played Norway at the Brann Stadion (pictured) in Bergen.

Between the resumption of international football after the First World War in 1920 and the start of the Second World War in 1939, Scotland played 75 international matches, resulting in 46 victories, 12 draws and 17 defeats. Each year Scotland played in the British Home Championship, a round-robin tournament also involving England, Wales and Ireland.^[2] Of the 20 tournaments played during this period, Scotland won 7 outright and 4 jointly.^[2] One of Scotland's most famous victories came in 1928, when the Wembley Wizards defeated their rivals England 5–1. The team drew large crowds, with the home matches against England in 1931, 1933 and 1937 all setting world record attendances.^[3] The match in April 1937 recorded an official attendance of 149,415, which still stands as the record attendance for a European international match.^[3]

Scotland started to play matches against opposition from beyond the British Isles between the wars, playing ad-hoc friendly matches against Austria, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland. The first FIFA World Cup was played in 1930, but none of the Home Nations, including Scotland, participated in the tournament before the Second World War. This was because their associations had been excluded from FIFA due to a disagreement regarding the status of amateur players.^[4] The four associations, including Scotland, returned to the FIFA fold after the Second World War.^[4]

Key

Key to matches Att. = Match attendance (H) = Home ground (A) = Away ground

Key to record by opponent P = Games played W = Games won D = Games drawn L = Games lost GF = Goals for GA = Goals against

Results

Scotland's score is shown first in each case.

Match number	Date	Venue	Opponent	Result	Competition	Scotland scorers	Att.	Ref.
114	26 February 1920	Ninian Park, Cardiff (A)	Wales	1–1	British Home Championship	Tommy Cairns	16,000	[5]
115	13 March 1920	Celtic Park, Glasgow (H)	Ireland	3–0	British Home Championship	Andrew Wilson, Alan Morton, Andy Cunningham	39,757	[5]
116	10 April 1920	Hillsborough Stadium, Sheffield (A)	England	4–5	British Home Championship	Tom Miller (2), Alex Donaldson, Andrew Wilson	35,000	[5]
117	12 February 1921	Pittodrie Park, Aberdeen (H)	Wales	2–1	British Home Championship	Andrew Wilson (2)	20,824	[6]
118	26 February 1921	Windsor Park, Belfast (A)	Ireland	2–0	British Home Championship	Andrew Wilson, Joe Cassidy	40,000	[6]
119	9 April 1921	Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)	England	3–0	British Home Championship	Andrew Wilson, Alan Morton, Andy Cunningham	100,000	[6]
120	4 February 1922	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham (A)	Wales	1–2	British Home Championship	Sandy Archibald	10,000	[6]
121	4 March 1922	Celtic Park, Glasgow (H)	Ireland	2–1	British Home Championship	Andrew Wilson (2)	40,000	[6]
122	8 April 1922	Villa Park, Birmingham (A)	England	1–0	British Home Championship	Andrew Wilson	33,646	[6]
123	3 March 1923	Windsor Park, Belfast (A)	Ireland	1–0	British Home Championship	Andrew Wilson	30,000	[6]
124	17 March 1923	Love Street, Paisley (H)	Wales	2–0	British Home Championship	Andrew Wilson (2)	25,000	[6]
125	14 April 1923	Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)	England	2–2	British Home Championship	Andy Cunningham, Andrew Wilson	71,000	[6]
126	16 February 1924	Ninian Park, Cardiff (A)	Wales	0–2	British Home Championship		26,000	[6]
127	1 March 1924	Windsor Park, Belfast (A)	Ireland	2–0	British Home Championship	Andy Cunningham, David Morris	30,000	[6]
128	12 April 1924	Wembley Stadium, London (A)	England	1–1	British Home Championship	Own goal	37,250	[6]
129	14 February 1925	Tynecastle Park, Edinburgh (H)	Wales	3–1	British Home Championship	David Meiklejohn, Hughie Gallacher (2)	25,000	[6]
130	28 February 1925	Windsor Park, Belfast (A)	Ireland	3–0	British Home Championship	David Meiklejohn, Hughie Gallacher, Jimmy Dunn	41,000	[6]
131	4 April 1925	Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)	England	2–0	British Home Championship	Hughie Gallacher (2)	92,000	[6]
132	31 October 1925	Ninian Park, Cardiff (A)	Wales	3–0	British Home Championship	Johnny Duncan, Adam McLean, William Clunas	25,000	[6]
133	27 February 1926	Ibrox Park, Glasgow (H)	Ireland	4–0	British Home Championship	Hughie Gallacher (3), Andy Cunningham	30,000	[6]
134	17 April 1926	Old Trafford, Manchester (A)	England	1–0	British Home Championship	Alex Jackson	49,000	[6]
135	30 October 1926	Ibrox Park, Glasgow (H)	Wales	3–0	British Home Championship	Hughie Gallacher, Alex Jackson (2)	40,500	[6]
136	26 February 1927	Windsor Park, Belfast (A)	Ireland	2–0	British Home Championship	Alan Morton (2)	40,000	[6]
137	2 April 1927	Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)	England	1–2	British Home Championship	Alan Morton	111,214	[6]
138	29 October 1927	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham (A)	Wales	2–2	British Home Championship	Hughie Gallacher, Jock Hutton	16,000	[6]
139	25 February 1928	Firhill Park, Glasgow (H)	Ireland	0–1	British Home Championship		55,000	[6]
140	31 March 1928	Wembley Stadium, London (A)	England	5–1	British Home Championship	Alex Jackson (2), Alex James (3)	80,868	[6]
141	27 October 1928	Ibrox Park, Glasgow (H)	Wales	4–2	British Home Championship	Hughie Gallacher (3), Jimmy Dunn	55,000	[6][7]
142	23 February 1929	Windsor Park, Belfast (A)	Ireland	7–3	British Home Championship	Hughie Gallacher (4), Alex Jackson (2), Alex James	35,000	[6]
143	13 April 1929	Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)	England	1–0	British Home Championship	Alec Cheyne	110,512	[6]
144	26 May 1929	Brann Stadion, Bergen (A)	Norway	7–3	Friendly	Bobby Rankin, Tully Craig, Alec Cheyne (3), Jimmy Nisbet (2)	4,000	[6]
145	1 June 1929	Grunewaldstadion, Berlin (A)	Germany	1–1	Friendly	Willie Imrie	40,000	[6]
146	4 June 1929	Olympisch Stadion, Amsterdam (A)	Netherlands	2–0	Friendly	Jimmy Fleming, Bobby Rankin	24,000	[6]
147	26 October 1929	Ninian Park, Cardiff (A)	Wales	4–2	British Home Championship	Hughie Gallacher (2), Alex James, Jimmy Gibson	25,000	[6]
148	22 February 1930	Celtic Park, Glasgow (H)	Ireland	3–1	British Home Championship	Hughie Gallacher (2), George Stevenson	30,000	[6]
149	5 April 1930	Wembley Stadium, London (A)	England	2–5	British Home Championship	Jimmy Fleming (2)	87,375	[6]
150	18 May 1930	Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes (A)	France	2–0	Friendly	Hughie Gallacher (2)	25,000	[6]
151	25 October 1930	Ibrox Park, Glasgow (H)	Wales	1–1	British Home Championship	Barney Battles, Jr.	15,000	[6]
152	21 February 1931	Windsor Park, Belfast (A)	Ireland	0–0	British Home Championship		27,000	[8]
153	28 March 1931	Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)	England	2–0	British Home Championship	George Stevenson, Jimmy McGrory	129,810	[8]
154	16 May 1931	Hohe Warte Stadium, Vienna (A)	Austria	0–5	Friendly		40,000	[8]
155	20 May 1931	Stadio Nazionale PNF, Rome (A)	Italy	0–3	Friendly		25,000	[8]
156	24 May 1931	Stade de Charmilles, Geneva (A)	Switzerland	3–2	Friendly	Jimmy Easson, Billy Boyd, Andy Love	20,000	[8]
157	19 September 1931	Ibrox Park, Glasgow (H)	Ireland	3–1	British Home Championship	George Stevenson, Jimmy McGrory, Bob McPhail	40,000	[8]
158	31 October 1931	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham (A)	Wales	3–2	British Home Championship	George Stevenson, Bertie Thomson, Jimmy McGrory	10,860	[8]
159	9 April 1932	Wembley Stadium, London (A)	England	0–3	British Home Championship		92,180	[8]
160	8 May 1932	Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes (A)	France	3–1	Friendly	Neil Dewar (3)	8,000	[8]
161	17 September 1932	Windsor Park, Belfast (A)	Ireland	4–0	British Home Championship	James King, Bob McPhail (2), Jimmy McGrory	40,000	[8]
162	26 October 1932	Tynecastle Park, Edinburgh (H)	Wales	2–5	British Home Championship	Neil Dewar, Dally Duncan	31,000	[8]
163	1 April 1933	Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)	England	2–1	British Home Championship	Jimmy McGrory (2)	134,170	[8]
164	16 September 1933	Celtic Park, Glasgow (H)	Ireland	1–2	British Home Championship	Bob McPhail	27,135	[8]
165	4 October 1933	Ninian Park, Cardiff (A)	Wales	2–3	British Home Championship	Willie MacFadyen, Dally Duncan	40,000	[8]
166	29 November 1933	Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)	Austria	2–2	Friendly	David Meiklejohn, Willie MacFadyen	62,000	[8]
167	14 April 1934	Wembley Stadium, London (A)	England	0–3	British Home Championship		92,363	[8]
168	20 October 1934	Windsor Park, Belfast (A)	Ireland	1–2	British Home Championship	Patrick Gallacher	39,752	[8]
169	21 November 1934	Pittodrie Park, Aberdeen (H)	Wales	3–2	British Home Championship	Dally Duncan, Charlie Napier (2)	26,334	[8]
170	6 April 1935	Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)	England	2–0	British Home Championship	Dally Duncan (2)	129,693	[8]
171	5 October 1935	Ninian Park, Cardiff (A)	Wales	1–1	British Home Championship	Dally Duncan	35,004	[8]
172	13 November 1935	Tynecastle Park, Edinburgh (H)	Ireland	2–1	British Home Championship	Tommy Walker, Dally Duncan	30,000	[8]
173	4 April 1936	Wembley Stadium, London (A)	England	1–1	British Home Championship	Tommy Walker	93,267	[8]
174	14 October 1936	Ibrox Park, Glasgow (H)	Germany	2–0	Friendly	Jimmy Delaney (2)	50,000	[8]
175	31 October 1936	Windsor Park, Belfast (A)	Ireland	3–1	British Home Championship	Charlie Napier, Alex Munro, David McCulloch	45,000	[8]
176	2 December 1936	Dens Park, Dundee (H)	Wales	1–2	British Home Championship	Tommy Walker	23,858	[8]
177	17 April 1937	Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)	England	3–1	British Home Championship	Frank O'Donnell, Bob McPhail (2)	149,415	[8]
178	9 May 1937	Praterstadion, Vienna (A)	Austria	1–1	Friendly	Frank O'Donnell	63,000	[8]
179	15 May 1937	Stadion Sparta-Letna, Prague (A)	Czechoslovakia	3–1	Friendly	Jimmy Simpson, Bob McPhail, Torrance Gillick	35,000	[8]
180	30 October 1937	Ninian Park, Cardiff (A)	Wales	1–2	British Home Championship	Alex Massie	41,800	[8]
181	10 November 1937	Pittodrie Park, Aberdeen (H)	Ireland	1–1	British Home Championship	Jimmy Smith	21,878	[8]
182	8 December 1937	Ibrox Park, Glasgow (H)	Czechoslovakia	5–0	Friendly	Andy Black, David McCulloch (2), Peter Buchanan, David Kinnear	41,000	[8]
183	9 April 1938	Wembley Stadium, London (A)	England	1–0	British Home Championship	Tommy Walker	93,267	[8]
184	21 May 1938	Olympisch Stadion, Amsterdam (A)	Netherlands	3–1	Friendly	Andy Black, Frank Murphy, Tommy Walker	50,000	[8]
185	8 October 1938	Windsor Park, Belfast (A)	Ireland	2–0	British Home Championship	Jimmy Delaney, Tommy Walker	40,000	[8]
186	9 November 1938	Tynecastle Park, Edinburgh (H)	Wales	3–2	British Home Championship	Torrance Gillick, Tommy Walker (2)	34,800	[8]
187	7 December 1938	Ibrox Park, Glasgow (H)	Hungary	3–1	Friendly	Tommy Walker, Andy Black, Torrance Gillick	23,000	[8]
188	15 April 1939	Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)	England	1–2	British Home Championship	Jimmy Dougal	149,269	[8]

Record by opponent

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	WPCT
Austria	3	0	2	1	3	8	−5	0.00
Czechoslovakia	2	2	0	0	8	1	+7	100.00
England	20	11	3	6	35	27	+8	55.00
France	2	2	0	0	5	1	+4	100.00
Germany	2	1	1	0	3	1	+2	50.00
Hungary	1	1	0	0	3	1	+2	100.00
Ireland	20	15	2	3	46	14	+32	75.00
Italy	1	0	0	1	0	3	−3	0.00
Netherlands	2	2	0	0	5	1	+4	100.00
Norway	1	1	0	0	7	3	+4	100.00
Switzerland	1	1	0	0	3	2	+1	100.00
Wales	20	10	4	6	42	33	+9	50.00
Total	75	46	12	17	160	95	+65	61.33

Source: Results

British Home Championship record

Record by season[9] Year Placing 1919–20 2nd (joint) 1920–21 1st 1921–22 1st 1922–23 1st 1923–24 2nd 1924–25 1st 1925–26 1st 1926–27 1st (joint) 1927–28 3rd 1928–29 1st 1929–30 2nd 1930–31 1st (joint) 1931–32 2nd 1932–33 2nd 1933–34 4th 1934–35 1st (joint) 1935–36 1st 1936–37 2nd 1937–38 2nd (joint) 1938–39 1st (joint)

Overall record Place Times Times joint 1st 7 4 2nd 5 2 3rd 1 0 4th 1 —