England vs Scotland is the oldest international match in football, so it is unlikely that you will be tied off your feet when we tell you that the two teams have met quite a few times before.
The old rivals are going through their heads at Euro 2020, and it will surely be as tough a meeting as the 115 that have gone before it.
One would be forgiven for thinking that England would be far ahead when looking at the winners from their previous meetings, but it is actually much closer than one would expect, with the Three Lions winning 48 against Scotland’s 41, while there have been 24 draws .
Right now, now that the boring admin part is out of the way, let’s get excited about the game by taking a look at the last ten clashes between the two teams.
On this day in 1987, England drew 0-0 away to Scotland in the Rous Cup. #SCO # ENG #OTD #RousCup pic.twitter.com/f7ZZzA0gdN
– England Memories (@EnglandMemories) 23 May 2016
England and Scotland used to take part in a competition called the Rous Cup and in 1987 they decided to spice things up a bit by introducing a third side – any team called Brazil?
Anyway, the three sides took part in a robin-robin tournament and the England meeting with Scotland at Hampden Park resulted in a 0-0 draw.
Bryan Robson and Peter Beardsley were both close to breaking the deadlock, but it was not as Andy Roxburgh’s side held in a credible deadlock.
The two sides collide on Wembley / Simon Bruty / Getty Images
Rous Cup again now and the following year Colombia was the third team to be added to the competition – not really Brazil but who cares, that meant England won it.
Scotland traveled to Wembley Stadium to face the Three Lions on their second outing, and a highly controversial deal was resolved by Beardsley’s early strike as he weaved his way through the back line before striking home.
On this day. May 27, 1989. Scotland 0-2 England. After scoring 102 goals in two seasons for Wolves, Steve Bull made his England debut as a replacement for John Fashanu. In the 82nd minute Bull scored the second goal. #England #RousCup pic.twitter.com/NkxA2ToJUT
– Kevin Astley (@ kevtheman10) May 27, 2019
The fifth and final staging of the Rous Cup took place in 1989 and this time it was Chile who randomly joined England and Scotland in the competition – again, not really Brazil, but again who cares because England won.
The three lions’ trip to Hampden Park never looked like it resulted in anything other than an England victory after Chris Waddle fired his side forward early with a bullet head.
The visitors dominated the game and with eight minutes to play, they put the result without a doubt as debutant Steve Bull did brilliantly to win an air battle before hitting the ball past Jim Leighton.
After playing each other at least once a year since 1947, England and Scotland would have to wait over seven years before their paths crossed again but it was really worth the wait.
The pair were drawn side by side in Group A to Euro 96 and after both took a point from their first outing, they met at Wembley on 15 June 1996.
That date will be etched in the memory of England fans forever as Paul Gascoigne produced one of the best goals ever seen at the European Championships, hitting the ball over Colin Hendry’s head before he volleyed home.
Contrary to many people’s beliefs, it was actually another goal in the game when Alan Shearer put England ahead of Gazza’s magical moment, but the match will always be remembered for his wonderful goal.
November 13, 1999: It ended Scotland 0-2 England in the first leg of their # Euro2000 Play Off match, Paul Scholes scoring both goals for #ThreeLions, this day 21 years ago. # ENGIRE #BELENG pic.twitter.com/ vHjQOt2kBa
– Historical Gifts (@CoinGifts) November 13, 2020
Neither side automatically qualified for Euro 2000 and they were then drawn against each other in the play-offs.
The tie would be a two-legged deal and England went to Hampden Park for the first stage. Paul Scholes was the man of the hour when he opened the scoring with a beautiful piece of chest control before sliding the ball home and on the half-time stroke he doubled his and England’s speech with a powerful nod from David Beckham’s cross.
England looked the rest of the competition, which means they would take a two-goal lead in the second stage at Wembley.
Talks about which.
Scholes’ stay in Scotland four days earlier meant England were big favorites to qualify from the tie, although Don Hutchison’s goal just before the interval really put the cat among the pigeons as he climbed above Tony Adams to drive his head home.
The Three Lions would hang on to a 2-1 victory, although the result represented Scotland’s first victory over the tough rivals since 1985.
As if it was not bad enough to have to wait seven years to play each other again, England and Scotland went almost 14 years without meeting each other after their 1999 Wembley outing.
The pair finally met again at Wembley in a friendly – yes, as “friendly” as these games can be – where James Morrison put the visitors ahead before Theo Walcott restored parity for England.
The Scots regained the lead in the second half thanks to Kenny Miller’s brilliant long-distance strike, but again England struck back through Danny Welbeck before Rickie Lambert covered a dream international debut by going home the winner.
Another friendly but this time they met at Celtic Park.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain haunted into the box to nod England forward before Wayne Rooney doubled Roy Hodgson’s sideways with another fine header.
Scotland managed to step back into the competition thanks to an almost post-strike from Andy Robertson, although the visitors could not be denied and Rooney beat his second night to put the result without a doubt.
After years of avoiding each other in various qualifying campaigns, the 2018 World Cup finally saw the pair pulled together in a qualifying group again.
Their first match saw England host the Scots and the home team competed in the lead thanks to Daniel Sturridge’s instinctive main game.
Scotland offered some resistance but it was only a matter of time before the Three Lions doubled their lead through Adam Lallana, and Gary Cahill’s goal shortly after the hour mark made it a hat-trick for England as they cruised to a 3-0 win.
The reverse fixture was much more competitive as Hampden Park hosted a real child storm.
Oxlade-Chamberlain’s fast feet and sharp finish seemed to have been enough to secure England’s victory with the game on its way into the dying embers, but from nowhere Leigh Griffiths produced two sublime free kicks in the 87th and 90th minutes to the edge. of Scotland a head.
The home team seemed to have done enough to hold on but that man Harry Kane appeared with just a few seconds to play to ruin the party when he knocked home Raheem Sterling’s diagonal ball to earn England a point.
