The Scottish Amateur Football Association (SAFA) is the organising body for amateur football across Scotland. An affiliate of the Scottish Football Association, the SAFA has in turn 50 regional associations affiliated to it and some 67 different league competitions organised by these associations. There is estimated to be over 35,000 amateur footballers in Scotland, and all of their competitions are co-ordinated at some level by the Scottish Amateur Football Association. The SAFA was formed in 1909 with the purpose of legislating for and fostering the amateur level of football in Scotland.
Hampden Park is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football team, as well as Queen’s Park FC, the original owners. Hampden Park is owned by the Scottish Football Association (SFA), and regularly hosts the latter stages of the Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup. The largest stadium by capacity when opened in 1903, an accolade the stadium held until 1950, Hampden Park is the 50th largest football stadium in Europe, the 11th largest in the United Kingdom, and the second largest football stadium in Scotland. The stadium retains all attendance records recorded in European football.
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in men's international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. They compete in three major professional tournaments: the FIFA World Cup, UEFA Nations League, and the UEFA European Championship. Scotland, as a country of the United Kingdom, are not a member of the International Olympic Committee, and therefore the national team does not compete in the Olympic Games. The majority of Scotland's home matches are played at the national stadium, Hampden Park.
The Wales national men’s football team represents Wales in men's international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales (FAW), the governing body for football in Wales. They have been a member of FIFA since 1946 and a member of UEFA since 1954.
The Tartan Army are fans of the Scotland national football team. They have won awards from several organisations for their friendly behaviour and charitable work. They have also been criticised at times for aspects of their behaviour, however, such as indecent exhibitionism and jeering at "God Save the Queen".
Football is the most popular sport in the United Kingdom. Football is organised on a separate basis in each of the four constituent countries, England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that make up the United Kingdom (UK), with each having a national football association responsible for the overall management of football within their respective country. There is no United Kingdom national football team. Football has been the most popular sport in the UK since the 1860s. Rugby union, rugby league and cricket are other popular sports.
The United Kingdom national football team are a football team that represents the United Kingdom. Despite football being the most popular sport in the country, the team has not played since 1965, as separate teams represent each home nation in all major international football tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship, as well as various friendlies. It is the home nations which are FIFA affiliated and not the United Kingdom as a whole.
The Republic of Ireland women's national football team represents the Republic of Ireland in competitions such as the FIFA Women's World Cup and the UEFA Women's Championship. The team played in their first World Cup at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. It has taken part in invitational tournaments such as the Algarve Cup, the Istria Cup, the Cyprus Cup and Pinatar Cup. It is organised by the Women's Football Association of Ireland.
The Wales national women's football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales (FAW), the governing body for football in Wales and the third-oldest national football association in the world, founded in 1876.
Hampden Park in Glasgow is the primary home stadium for the Scotland national football team. This has been the case since 1906, soon after it opened. The present site of Hampden Park is the third location to bear that name and both the previous locations also hosted Scotland games. Scotland have also played many of their home games in other stadiums throughout their history, both in friendly matches and for competitive tournaments.
The history of the Scotland national football team dates back to the first ever international football match in 1872. Until the Second World War, Scotland mainly competed against the other Home Nations in the British Home Championship, with the most keenly contested fixture being the match with England. The Scottish Football Association, which governs the team, joined the international governing body FIFA in 1910, but along with the other Home Nations withdrew from FIFA in 1928. This meant that Scotland did not participate in the World Cups of 1930, 1934 or 1938. The Home Nations rejoined FIFA after the Second World War and Scotland then started to participate in international competitions. Scotland have since participated in eight World Cups and three European Championship tournaments, but have never progressed beyond the first stage.
The Great Britain Olympic football team is the men's football team that represents the United Kingdom at the Summer Olympic Games. The team is organised by the Football Association as the men's footballing representative of the British Olympic Association. The team only competes in the Olympic Games. In other international football tournaments, the Home Nations of the United Kingdom are represented by their own national teams, a situation which pre-dated the establishment of a GB team.
The Scotland national football team has appeared eight times at the FIFA World Cup, including five consecutive tournaments from 1974 to 1990. The team has never advanced beyond the first round of the finals competition. They have missed out on progressing to the second round three times on goal difference: in 1974, when Brazil edged them out; in 1978, when the Netherlands progressed; and in 1982, when the Soviets qualified. Although never qualifying for the next round, they have still caused some big upsets, for example their 3-2 win over the Netherlands in 1978.
The Great Britain women's Olympic football team represent the United Kingdom in the women's football tournament at the Olympic Games. Normally, no team represents the whole of the United Kingdom in women's football, as separate teams represent England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Scotland national under-16 football team represents Scotland in international football at the under-16 age level. It is controlled by the Scottish Football Association, the governing body for football in Scotland.
Women's association football in Scotland has an organised history including the first international women's match in 1881, the president of the British Ladies' Football Club in 1895, Lady Florence Dixie, the Edinburgh–Preston "World Championship" in 1937 and 1939, and the Scottish Women's Cup founded in 1970. The sport is jointly overseen by Scottish Women's Football, the Scottish Football Association, and Scottish Professional Football League.
Michelle Kerr is a Scottish football manager and former player who is currently the English Football Association's technical lead for women's national teams. As a player Kerr was a powerful centre back, who captained and managed Scotland as well as clubs including Kilmarnock and Hibernian. During her playing career, Kerr won every domestic honour in Scotland and played in the UEFA Women's Cup. She won 59 caps for Scotland between 1989 and 2008, scoring three goals.
The role of a Scotland national football team manager was first established in May 1954, when Andy Beattie was appointed. Beattie took charge of six matches before and during the 1954 FIFA World Cup, when Scotland competed at their first major tournament. Twenty-four men have occupied the post since its inception, with Beattie, Jock Stein and Alex McLeish occupying it in two spells. Six of those managers were in caretaker or interim roles. Craig Brown held the position for the longest to date; a tenure of 9 years, comprising two major tournaments and a total of 71 matches.
The UEFA European Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by UEFA. Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations' Cup, changing to the current name in 1968. Starting with the 1996 tournament, specific championships are often referred to in the form “Euro XXXX”. Prior to entering the tournament all teams other than the host nations compete in a qualifying process.
The Scotland women's under-23 national football team, controlled by the Scottish Football Association, is considered to be a feeder team for the Scotland women's national football team. As there is no competition organized by FIFA or UEFA for women at under-23 level, the team represents the country usually either in friendlies or invitational tournaments. Scotland fielded an under-23 team at the 2008 Nordic Cup, and has since played friendlies against Panama in 2022, and against Australia and the Netherlands in 2023. They are due to play two friendlies against Denmark in 2024.
1 (13 December 2024) [4] 
Scotland 2–3 England 
Spain 8–0 Scotland 
