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Scotland at UEFA Women's Euro 2017

 

The 2017 UEFA Women's Championship in the Netherlands saw the tournament expanded from 12 to 16 teams with the Scotland women’s national team reaching the finals for the first. Head Coach Anna Signeul had led the team to second place in qualifying, finishing just behind Iceland on goal difference.

Scotland were drawn in Group D alongside England, Portugal and Spain with the first match taking place against England on 19 July 2017 at the Stadion Galgenwaard, Utrecht. After a bright start, Scotland were limited to few opportunities and were outplayed by one of the favourites for the tournament. England won the match 6-0 with striker Jodie Taylor scoring a hat-trick and England’s biggest ever finals win.

The next match against Portugal took place in Rotterdam just a few days later and was a far more promising performance. Portugal led through Carolina Mendes’ first half goal but an excellent strike from Erin Cuthbert put Scotland right back in it. Portugal were quick to respond and Scotland lost the match by a single goal. As England had beaten Spain, Scotland still had the chance to reach the knockout stages if they could win their final match by two clear goals.

Scotland put in their strongest performance of the tournament with veteran goalkeeper Gemma Fay making a series of strong saves while Caroline Weir put Scotland ahead after 42 minutes. Despite late pressure, Scotland couldn’t find another goal meaning they went out on goal different. But the team enjoyed a steep learning curve and showed they could mix with the biggest teams in international football. Now they’ve enjoyed a taste for major finals, the best is yet to come.

Scotland at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup

Qualification for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was secured in with a 2-1 win over Albania, as Shelley Kerr's Scotland side finished top of qualifying Group B.

Warming up for the tournament, Scotland defeated Brazil 1-0 in a friendly in Spain, and set a record attendance for a Women's match in Scotland as 17,555 people watched a 3-2 victory over Jamaica at Hampden Park.

Drawn in a group with England, Japan and Argentina – we flew to Nice for our first game of Group D.

A valiant Scotland came up just short in our first-ever match at a FIFA Women’s World Cup, as Shelley Kerr’s team was edged out 2-1 by England at the Stade de Nice. Claire Emslie’s goal with 11 minutes remaining had given Scotland supporters hope of at least a draw after the concession of two first-half goals, with Lee Alexander keeping Scotland in the match with a string of high-calibre saves.

A late Scotland rally in our second game was not enough to claim a first FIFA Women’s World Cup point against Japan, as the 2011 world champions claimed a 2-1 victory in Rennes. Lana Clelland's strike in this match was nominated as one of the Goals of the Tournament.

Our first ever FIFA Women’s World Cup ended in heart-breaking and controversial fashion as Argentina fought back from a three-goal deficit to deny us the three points they needed to earn third place in the group. Seemingly cruising at 3-0 up we conceded two goals in the final 15 minutes before VAR intervened to award a penalty

Lee Alexander, who had made a pivotal penalty save in the qualification campaign, seemed to have won the match for Scotland in dramatic fashion when she saved the resulting spot kick, only for VAR to again intervene and award a retake for the Scotland keeper’s feet being off the line​.