It was an obvious one, really. After celebrating Scotland making it to Euro 2024 by counting down the top 50 players to have played for the international side in the previous 50 years, how should The Scotsman mark their return to a World Cup after so long?
Well, goals win matches – and they certainly did on the night Scotland qualified against Denmark. Needing a win to ensure their automatic qualification, Scotland came up with three of the best goals they have ever scored in the 4-2 win.
At the time of writing, Scotland have scored 1443 goals in 848 games. The original plan was to come up with a top 25 – just under three per cent of the total scored. The crème de la crème. It was the best homework assignment ever.
To keep things slightly more modern and increase the chance of finding footage on YouTube, we set a slightly arbitrary time limit of 1973 - the year before Scotland returned to a World Cup for the first time since 1958.
It also happens to be this writer’s lifetime. This meant Joe Jordan’s glorious header v Czechoslovakia to seal qualification could be considered. Did it make it? Mibbes eyes, mibbes naw.
To aid credibility, former Scotland international Pat Nevin was recruited to sift through goal after goal. It also helps when discussing moments of genius such as Mo Johnston’s acrobatic overhead kick against Cyprus in 1989 if someone contributing to the conversation can say, ‘Oh yes, I crossed the ball in for that one’.
It’s also advantageous if this self-same expert is one of the candidates in the mix for scoring one of Scotland’s greatest goals.
Indeed, a couple of Pat’s five goals for Scotland made the long list, including the well-struck – he calls it a top-poke, yes another one of those – effort from the edge of the box into the top corner in a pre-Euro ’92 friendly against the USA. It was further distinguished by later featuring in the Mike Myers film So I Married An Axe Murderer.
Not even this was enough to ensure that it made the cut though I suspect it was self-deprecation on Pat’s part as much as anything that saw the goal discarded when it came to the final 25. And that’s what we are left with: a final 25 since 1973.
It isn’t the definitive list and it’s not even the list we might come up with today were we to sit down together again.
As per his musical tastes, Pat is apt to come up with left-field choices. Definitely one of them comes under that description. See if you can work it out. And even one of the top 5 is not necessarily what you would expect it to be. At least it’s not the one you would necessarily pick as being the goalscorer-in-question’s best.
But isn’t that all part of the fun.
5. No 21 - Paul McStay v Iceland 17/10/84
World Cup qualifier, which Scotland won 3-0 at Hampden. McStay scored twice. Slightly unusually for the mercurial midfielder, his first and indeed debut goal for Scotland was a header. His second and the one that propels him into this list was a trademark 25-yarder with barely any back-lift into the top corner from a Dalglish lay-off. | SNS Group 0141 221 3602
6. No 20 - Charlie Mulgrew v Nigeria 28/5/14
The opener in a 2-2 friendly draw at Craven Cottage. A shot that’s heading wide from James Morrison is turned into something beautiful by Mulgrew’s casual flick with his left foot – well, it had to be his left foot, didn’t it? And did he mean it? Who cares. | Getty Images
7. No 19 - Gordon Strachan v Romania 26/3/86
“One of the very best from Gordon Strachan” says commentator Jock Brown as the midfielder deftly dinks one over the ‘keeper from the edge of the box to further augment a game otherwise remembered for being Kenny Dalglish’s 100th cap. A friendly, yes, but quality is quality. | SNS Group 0141 221 3602
8. No 18 - Peter Lorimer v Zaire 14/6/74
Our first goal included here from an actual World Cup. Joe Jordan heads down a cross from Danny McGrain, Lorimer arranges his feet and …..wham! A stunning right-foot volley from just inside the box flew into the corner. It ought to have been worth three goals – which would have helped unbeaten Scotland’s cause as they exited the tournament on goal difference eight days later. | SNS Group 0141 221 3602