Scotland travel to Copenhagen to take on Denmark in their opening 2026 World Cup qualifier on Friday night.

The Scots have not qualified for the finals of the competition since 1998.

Here, we take a look at the opening matches in every World Cup qualifying campaign since then.

2002

SNS Group

Scotland began their 2002 World Cup qualifying campaign on September 2, 2000, winning 1-0 in Latvia with Neil McCann scoring an 89th-minute winner for Craig Brown’s side. Belgium, Croatia, Latvia and San Marino were also in the smaller five-team group, which turned into a three-way battle between Croatia, Scotland and Belgium.

Scotland finished third, two points behind Belgium and three behind Croatia. Brown stepped down in October 2001 after an inconsequential 2-1 win over Latvia at Hampden Pa

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