Scotland national football team records and statistics

This page details Scotland national football team records and statistics; the most capped players, the players with the most goals, and Scotland's match record by opponent and decade.

Player records

Most capped players

See also: Scotland national football team roll of honour

As of Scotland v Poland, 18 November 2024 ^[1]

Players in bold are still active with Scotland.

Rank	Name	Caps	Goals	Scotland career	Clubs [note 1]
1	Kenny Dalglish	102	30	1971–1986	Celtic, Liverpool
2	Jim Leighton	91	0	1982–1998	Aberdeen, Manchester United, Hibernian
3	Darren Fletcher	80	5	2003–2017	Manchester United, West Bromwich Albion, Stoke City
	Andrew Robertson	80	4	2014–present	Dundee United, Hull City, Liverpool
5	Craig Gordon	79	0	2004–present	Heart of Midlothian, Sunderland, Celtic
6	Alex McLeish	77	0	1980–1993	Aberdeen
7	Paul McStay	76	9	1983–1997	Celtic
8	John McGinn	73	20	2016–present	Hibernian, Aston Villa
9	Tom Boyd	72	1	1990–2001	Motherwell, Chelsea, Celtic
10	Kenny Miller	69	18	2001–2013	Rangers, Wolves, Celtic, Derby County, Bursaspor, Cardiff City, Vancouver Whitecaps
	David Weir		1	1997–2010	Heart of Midlothian, Everton, Rangers

Top goalscorers

See also: Progression of Scotland association football goalscoring record

As of Scotland v Poland, 18 November 2024 ^[1]

Players in bold are still active with Scotland.

Rank	Name	Goals	Caps	Average	Scotland career
1	Denis Law (list)	30	55	0.545	1958–1974
	Kenny Dalglish (list)	30	102	0.294	1971–1986
3	Hughie Gallacher [2]	24	20	1.2	1924–1935
4	Lawrie Reilly	22	38	0.579	1948–1957
5	John McGinn	20	73	0.274	2016–present
6	Ally McCoist	19	61	0.311	1986–1998
7	Kenny Miller	18	69	0.261	2001–2013
8	Robert Hamilton	15	11	1.364	1899–1911
	James McFadden		48	0.313	2002–2010
10	Mo Johnston	14	38	0.368	1984–1991

Hat-tricks

Main article: List of Scotland national football team hat-tricks

Table

Wartime internationals, not regarded as official matches, are not included in the list.

Date	Player	Opponent	Ref
2 March 1878	John McDougall	England	[3]
13 March 1880	George Ker	England	[3]
12 March 1881	John Smith	England	[4]
14 March 1885	Alex Higgins	Ireland	[4]
23 March 1885	Joseph Lindsay	Wales	[4]
20 March 1886	Charles Heggie	Ireland	[4]
24 March 1888	William Dickson	Ireland	[4]
9 March 1889	Willie Groves	Ireland	[4]
22 March 1890	William Paul	Wales	[4]
18 March 1893	John Barker	Wales	[5]
18 March 1893	Jake Madden	Wales	[5]
19 March 1898	James Gillespie	Wales	[5]
18 March 1899	Robert Smyth McColl	Wales	[5]
25 March 1899	Robert Smyth McColl	Ireland	[5]
7 April 1900	Robert Smyth McColl	England	[5]
23 February 1901	Sandy McMahon	Ireland	[6]
23 February 1901	RC Hamilton	Ireland	[6]
1 March 1902	RC Hamilton	Ireland	[6]
14 March 1908	Jimmy Quinn	Ireland	[6]
27 February 1926	Hughie Gallacher	Ireland	[7]
27 February 1928	Alex Jackson	England	[7]
27 October 1928	Hughie Gallacher	Wales	[7]
23 February 1929	Hughie Gallacher	Ireland	[7]
26 May 1929	Alec Cheyne	Norway	[7]
26 May 1932	Neil Dewar	France	[8]
1 October 1949	Henry Morris	Ireland	[9]
1 November 1950	Billy Steel	Northern Ireland	[9]
20 May 1951	George Hamilton	Belgium	[10]
30 April 1952	Lawrie Reilly	United States	[10]
8 May 1957	Jackie Mudie	Spain	[11]
7 October 1961	Alex Scott	Northern Ireland	[12]
7 November 1962	Denis Law	Northern Ireland	[12]
4 June 1963	Denis Law	Norway	[12]
7 November 1963	Denis Law	Norway	[12]
13 June 1967	Joe Harper	Canada Olympic Team	[13] [14]
17 May 1969	Colin Stein	Cyprus	[15]
29 March 2015	Steven Fletcher	Gibraltar	[16]
11 October 2015	Steven Fletcher	Gibraltar	[17]
4 September 2016	Robert Snodgrass	Malta	[18]
20 November 2018	James Forrest	Israel	[19]
12 October 2019	John McGinn	San Marino	[20]

Team records

Head to head records

As of Poland v Scotland, 18 November 2024

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	WPCT
Albania	2	2	0	0	6	0	+6	100.00
Argentina	4	1	1	2	3	5	−2	25.00
Armenia	2	2	0	0	6	1	+5	100.00
Australia	8	6	1	1	11	4	+7	75.00
Austria	23	7	8	8	30	37	−7	30.43
Belarus	4	2	1	1	5	2	+3	50.00
Belgium	20	4	3	13	21	41	−20	20.00
Bosnia and Herzegovina	2	2	0	0	3	1	+2	100.00
Brazil	10	0	2	8	3	16	−13	0.00
Bulgaria	6	3	3	0	10	4	+6	50.00
Canada	6	5	1	0	14	3	+11	83.33
Canada Olympic Team	1	1	0	0	7	2	+5	100.00
Chile	2	2	0	0	6	2	+4	100.00
Colombia	3	0	2	1	2	3	−1	0.00
CIS	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3	100.00
Costa Rica	2	0	0	2	0	2	−2	0.00
Croatia	8	3	3	2	8	7	+1	37.50
Cyprus	9	9	0	0	30	6	+24	100.00
Czech Republic	10	4	1	5	11	14	−3	40.00
Czechoslovakia	10	5	1	4	18	16	+2	50.00
Denmark	18	11	0	7	22	14	+8	61.11
East Germany	6	2	1	3	6	4	+2	33.33
Ecuador	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	100.00
Egypt	1	0	0	1	1	3	−2	0.00
England	116	41	26	49	175	206	−31	35.34
Estonia	8	6	2	0	13	3	+10	75.00
Faroe Islands	11	9	2	0	31	6	+25	81.82
Finland	9	6	3	0	20	7	+13	66.67
France	17	8	0	9	16	27	−11	47.06
Georgia	6	3	1	2	7	6	+1	50.00
Germany	10	2	2	6	10	17	−7	20.00
Gibraltar	3	3	0	0	14	1	+13	100.00
Greece	2	1	0	1	1	1	0	50.00
Hong Kong League XI	1	1	0	0	4	0	+4	100.00
Hungary	10	3	2	5	14	19	−5	30.00
Iceland	6	6	0	0	12	3	+9	100.00
Iran	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	0.00
Ireland	55	43	6	6	185	47	+138	78.18
Israel	11	6	3	2	16	11	+5	54.55
Italy	11	1	2	8	4	19	−15	9.09
Japan	3	0	2	1	0	2	−2	0.00
Kazakhstan	2	1	0	1	3	4	−1	50.00
Latvia	4	4	0	0	7	1	+6	100.00
Liechtenstein	2	2	0	0	3	1	+2	100.00
Lithuania	10	6	3	1	14	4	+10	60.00
Luxembourg	5	4	1	0	12	1	+11	80.00
Malta	7	6	1	0	18	5	+13	85.71
Mexico	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	0.00
Moldova	4	3	1	0	6	1	+5	75.00
Morocco	1	0	0	1	0	3	−3	0.00
Netherlands	21	6	5	10	17	32	−15	28.57
New Zealand	2	1	1	0	6	3	+3	50.00
Nigeria	2	0	1	1	3	4	−1	0.00
North Macedonia	4	2	1	1	5	3	+2	50.00
Northern Ireland	41	20	11	10	73	35	+38	48.78
Norway	20	10	7	3	39	25	+14	50.00
Paraguay	1	0	0	1	2	3	−1	0.00
Peru	4	1	1	2	4	6	−2	25.00
Poland	13	3	6	4	18	19	−1	23.08
Portugal	17	4	4	9	15	23	−8	23.53
Qatar	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	100.00
Republic of Ireland	13	5	3	5	14	13	+1	38.46
Romania	6	2	2	2	8	6	+2	33.33
Russia	4	0	2	2	2	7	−5	0.00
San Marino	8	8	0	0	27	0	+27	100.00
Saudi Arabia	1	0	1	0	2	2	0	0.00
Serbia	3	0	2	1	1	3	−2	0.00
Slovakia	4	2	0	2	2	4	−2	50.00
Slovenia	5	2	3	0	7	3	+4	40.00
South Africa	2	1	0	1	1	2	−1	50.00
South Korea	1	0	0	1	1	4	−3	0.00
Soviet Union	4	0	1	3	2	6	−4	0.00
Spain	15	4	4	7	22	25	−3	26.67
Sweden	12	5	1	6	14	19	−5	41.67
Switzerland	17	8	4	5	27	25	+2	47.06
Trinidad and Tobago	1	1	0	0	4	1	+3	100.00
Turkey	2	0	0	2	3	6	−3	0.00
Ukraine	5	2	1	2	7	6	+1	40.00
United States	7	2	3	2	10	8	+2	28.57
Uruguay	4	1	1	2	4	10	−6	25.00
Wales	107	61	23	23	243	124	+119	57.01
West Germany	8	2	3	3	14	14	0	25.00
Yugoslavia	8	2	5	1	16	11	+5	25.00
Zaire	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	100.00
Total	839	395	182	262	1430	1037	+393	47.08

Source: Results

Statistics include official FIFA recognised matches, five matches from a 1967 overseas tour that were reclassified as full internationals in 2021, ^[13] and a match against a Hong Kong League XI played on 23 May 2002 that the Scottish Football Association includes in its statistical totals. ^{[21] [22]}

By period

As of Poland v Scotland, 18 November 2024

Period	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W%
1872–1914	113	71	23	19	341	137	+204	062.83
1920–1939	75	46	12	17	160	95	+65	061.33
1940–1959	86	39	19	28	162	130	+32	045.35
1960–1979	158	70	33	55	266	217	+49	044.30
1980–1999	179	76	46	57	213	167	+46	042.46
2000–2019	172	70	34	68	213	222	−9	040.70
2020–present	56	23	15	18	75	69	+6	041.07
Totals	839	395	182	262	1,430	1,037	+393	047.08

Statistics include official FIFA recognised matches, five matches from a 1967 overseas tour that were reclassified as full internationals in 2021, ^[13] and a match against a Hong Kong League XI played on 23 May 2002 that the Scottish Football Association includes in its statistical totals. ^{[21] [22]}

Notes

1. Only clubs played for while receiving caps are listed.

References

1. Mamrud, Roberto. "Scotland - Record International Players". RSSSF.
2. Hughie Gallacher Goals For Scotland
3. "Scotland – International Matches 1872–1880 – Details". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation . Retrieved 9 April 2011.
4. "Scotland – International Matches 1881–1890 – Details". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation . Retrieved 9 April 2011.
5. "Scotland – International Matches 1891–1900 – Details". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation . Retrieved 9 April 2011.
6. "Scotland – International Matches 1901–1910 – Details". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation . Retrieved 10 April 2011.
7. "Scotland – International Matches 1921–1930 – Details". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation . Retrieved 10 April 2011.
8. "Scotland – International Matches 1931–1939 – Details". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation . Retrieved 10 April 2011.
9. "Scotland – International Matches 1946–1950 – Details". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation . Retrieved 10 April 2011.
10. "Scotland – International Matches 1951–1955 – Details". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation . Retrieved 10 April 2011.
11. "Scotland – International Matches 1956–1960 – Details". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation . Retrieved 10 April 2011.
12. "Scotland – International Matches 1961–1965 – Details". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation . Retrieved 10 April 2011.
13. "Former Scotland players to be recognised with international caps including Sir Alex Ferguson". www.scottishfa.co.uk. Scottish Football Association. 9 October 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
14. "Scotland Unofficial Matches 1964-1967". RSSSF . 23 July 2020.
15. "Scotland – International Matches 1966–1970 – Details". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation . Retrieved 10 April 2011.
16. "Scotland 6–1 Gibraltar". BBC Sport. 29 March 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
17. "Gibraltar 0–6 Scotland". BBC Sport. 11 October 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
18. "Malta 1–5 Scotland". BBC Sport. 4 September 2016. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
19. Lamont, Alasdair (20 November 2018). "Scotland 3–2 Israel". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
20. Lamont, Alasdair (13 October 2019). "Scotland 6–0 San Marino". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
21. "HONG KONG v SCOTLAND". www.scottishfa.co.uk. Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
22. "Gordon Strachan". www.scottishfa.co.uk. Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 19 September 2013.