England v Scotland: Five classic contests from the world’s oldest rivalry
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England v Scotland meetings: Five of the best
England and Scotland will meet for the 116th time in Tuesday’s friendly.
The Three Lions lead the way on 48 wins and are 8/11 favourites for the game at Hampden Park, but the Tartan Army can look back on a decent figure of 41 victories down the years, with 26 draws including the last meeting at Wembley two years ago.
Ahead of the latest instalment in the rivalry, we look back at five notable England v Scotland meetings down the years.
England 9 Scotland 3, Wembley, April 15, 1961
A Jimmy Greaves hat-trick condemned Scotland to their heaviest defeat in the fixture at the hands of a rampant England side. Johnny Haynes and Bobby Smith both scored twice, with Bobby Robson and Bryan Douglas also helping themselves to a goal apiece.
Dave Mackay, Davie Wilson and Pat Quinn were on target for the visitors but could not prevent the humiliating defeat. Scotland goalkeeper Frank Haffey later emigrated to Australia.
England 2 Scotland 3, Wembley, April 15, 1967
Nearly 100,000 fans packed out Wembley Stadium for the most famous of all England v Scotland meetings for those north of the border.
England had won the World Cup less than 12 months prior and were undefeated in 19 matches but Denis Law broke the deadlock when he bundled home. Bobby Lennox doubled the lead, Jack Charlton – moved to an unfamiliar centre-forward role after picking up an injury – hauled the hosts
back into the game with five minutes to go but Jim McCalliog restored Scotland’s two-goal advantage.
Geoff Hurst threatened a late comeback but Jim Baxter played ‘keepy uppy’ late on to waste time as Scotland fans crowned themselves ‘the unofficial world champions’.
England 1 Scotland 2, Wembley, June 4, 1977
A match more memorable for what happened after the final whistle, when Scotland fans invaded the pitch, ripped up sections of the turf and tore down the goalposts.
Gordon McQueen powered a header past Ray Clemence and Kenny Dalglish scrambled the ball over the line to double the lead before Mick Channon scored a late penalty.
England 2 Scotland 0, Wembley, June 15, 1996
This hotly-anticipated clash, the first meeting between the sides for seven years. was given an even extra edge as a win was necessary to progress to the Euro 96 knockout stages.
Alan Shearer headed England ahead shortly after the break before Gary McAllister had his penalty spectacularly saved by David Seaman 14 minutes from time – TV psychic Uri Geller later claimed he had moved the ball on the spot.
Paul Gascoigne – at the time a Rangers player – flicked the ball over Colin Hendry before smashing home a volley to give England victory before unveiling a ‘dentist chair’ celebration – a reference to tabloid headlines ahead of the tournament.
Scotland 2 England 2, Hampden Park, June 10, 2017
For three magical minutes, the Scots believed they were on the verge of victory in Glasgow.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had fired Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions’ line-up ahead midway through the second half only for Leigh Griffiths to conjure two moments of sensational quality to put them ahead. He scored his first goal for his country on 87 minutes, whipping a stunning free-kick into Joe Hart’s left-hand post before repeating the trick at the opposite side of the goal three minutes later.
But the scenes of wild jubilation among the Tartan Army were quickly hushed as Harry Kane’s stoppage-time equaliser saw England snatch away a point from this World Cup qualifier.
