Steve Clarke’s reign as Scotland boss is over.
After seven years in the post and qualification for three major tournaments, Clarke has tendered his resignation with immediate effect – despite having signed a new long-term contract just weeks before the World Cup began.
High: Serbia shootout secures Euro 2020 qualification
Scotland had not been at a major tournament since the 1998 World Cup when Clarke took over, and hadn’t been at a Euros since 1996. But that all change just 18 months into his reign as national team boss.
Scotland had started their qualifying campaign for Euro 2020 with a 3-0 defeat to Kazakhstan that cost Alex McLeish his job and led to Clarke’s arrival.A run of four straight defeats under Clarke meant Scotland had no chance of making it to Euro 2020 as one of the two best sides in qualifying – but finishing third was enough to secure them a play-off place.
Both their semi-final against Israel and their final against Serbia went to penalties – heartbreakingly, at the time, in the latter case, with Serbia scoring a 90th-minute equaliser to force the game to extra time.
But Scotland were absolutely flawless in both shootouts, scoring all ten of their spot kicks to ensure David Marshall only had to save one penalty in each shootout to fire them to the delayed pan-continental competition.
High: Resilience and grit at Wembley
Scotland finished bottom of their group at the Euros after being handed a tough assignment in Group D alongside Croatia, the Czech Republic…and England.
But Scotland did themselves no disservice whatsoever at Wembley, putting in a gutsy performance to claim a goalless draw that was widely hailed described as a moral victory for the Scots.
You only needed to hear both sets of fans on the final whistle to understand what that meant: while Gareth Southgate’s side were booed off by their own fans in a limited-capacity game, Scotland were loudly embraced by their fans in attendance.
True love 🏴 pic.twitter.com/tMtw7k5hGOJune 18, 2021
Low: Ukraine break Scottish hearts
Having broken their men’s tournament drought, Scotland turned their attention to trying to make it to their first World Cup in 24 years.
Scotland lost just one of their games in their qualifying group, to Denmark, before returning the favour at Hampden in the final games – but by then the Danes had already recorded an otherwise 100% record to make it through as group winners.
Into the play-offs again, then, and this time there was to be no heroic night in Glasgow.
Callum McGregor’s goal to bring it back to 2-1 against Ukraine in a play-off semi-final gave them hope, but the visitors made sure of the result in the 95th minute to restore their 3-1 cushion and extend Scotland’s wait to make it to a World Cup
High: Victory over Spain en route to Euro 2024
Facing Spain in their qualifying group for Euro 2024 was, honestly, a losable game for Scotland: finishing second would be enough to get them to the tournament.
Sod that. Scotland sent Hampden into raptures by claiming a shock 2-0 victory over a star-studded Spain side in the second game of their qualifying campaign, thanks to Scott McTominay’s brace.
Clarke hailed that game as the ‘blueprint’ for Scotland, who went on to add Norway, Georgia, and Cyprus (for the second time) to their list of scalps and ease to second in the group.
A second straight Euros appearance was in the bag, and solid performances in qualifying were now starting to feel very routine for Scotland.
Low: Misery at Euro 2024
Euro 2020 was one thing. Scotland were, to some extent, just elated to be there, and that draw at Wembley took the sting off their defeats to the Czech Republic and Croatia sending them home at the first hurdle.
But a much kinder draw at Euro 2024 meant the expectation was on. Scotland surely had a real chance of making it out of the group stage of a major tournament for the first time in their history.
The scale of their task crashed home in the opening game of the entire tournament as hosts Germany romped to a 5-1 victory. But hey: Scotland and Switzerland were up next. It’s still doable, surely.
A 1-1 draw against the Swiss was not ideal, but still left Scotland in the running. All they needed to do was beat Hungary in the final game and they’d be through as one of the best third-placed teams. They duly lost 1-0 to a 100th-minute goal to finsh bottom of the group again.
High: THAT night against Denmark
There are occasions when you know you are seeing a mythic game for the ages unfolding in front of your very eyes. This was one of them.
Scotland needed to beat Denmark at Hampden in their final group game to avoid another play-off lottery. Anything else would put the Danes through instead.
Kieran Tierney’s 93rd minute strike looked to have won the game for Scotland, and forced Denmark to go on the hunt for a third equaliser. Instead, Kenny McLean spotted Kasper Schmeichel off his line from halfway and successfully lobbed the keeper to put the result beyond doubt.
An incredible, incredible game – and more importantly, the end of Scotland’s 28-year wait to make it to a World Cup again.
High: Victory at last on the biggest stage
With that landmark tick off, Scotland had another to achieve: earning their first victory at a World Cup since beating Sweden at Italia 90.
It wasn’t pretty, but Scotland got that done in their very first game of the 2026 World Cup, with John McGinn’s first-half goal enough to see off Haiti in Boston.
There were members of the Tartan Army who had never seen Scotland at a World Cup before, and even more who couldn’t remember that last win.
Bigger challenges laid ahead, but Scotland had given themselves a chance…right?
Low: Error-ridden showing against Brazil proves costly
Those dreams soon turned into a bit of an anxiety dream against Morocco, with a second-minute goal enough for Scotland to slip to a 1-0 defeat.
That left them looking for a point against Brazil to all-but secure their status as one of the eight best third-placed sides – and even a narrow victory could end up being enough to achieve that goal with just three points, or at least so it seemed at the time.
But a calamitous display saw Scotland give up goals all too cheaply, with Brazil all too happy to capitalise as they romped to a 3-0 win.
That left Scotland’s chances hanging by the slenderest of threads, and practically everything went against them in the coming days to ensure they would be going home. Within an hour of Scotland’s elimination being confirmed, Clarke had resigned.
