From their eight appearances at World Cup tournaments, Scotland have struggled to make a significant impact. Indeed, the Tartan Army have never advanced beyond the group stages.
Yet one of their former players - Archie Gemmill - holds the honour of scoring one of the competition's most memorable goals of all time - a feat that he achieved 36 years ago today against the Netherlands in Argentina.
Tied at the bottom with Iran heading into the final round of group fixtures, the Scots went into the encounter with their Dutch counterparts knowing that if they were to reach the knockout phase, they would need to overcome the men in orange by three clear goals.
An uphill task appeared to be made impossible when a penalty from Rob Rensenbrink put Holland in front in the 34th minute. However, Kenny Dalglish responded for Scotland before the break and then just 60 seconds after the restart, Gemmill struck from the spot to put them into the lead.
Ally MacLeod's men still needed two goals to get through at Holland's expense, one of which arrived in the 68th minute. It would be a goal that is still talked about to this very day and also provided an iconic scene in the 1996 British film Trainspotting.
Having inherited possession on the right flank, Nottingham Forest midfielder Gemmill danced his way beyond three sliding Dutch defenders. He then sprinted into the penalty area, which drew goalkeeper Jan Jongbloed from his line. Then, when a cool head was required, Gemmill duly obliged as he curled his shot into the far corner of the net.
It was a stunning goal that had Scotland fans dreaming of qualification, but those hopes were dashed just three minutes later when Johnny Rep reduced the deficit. The Scots held on for a 3-2 victory and despite it not being enough to keep them in the tournament, they returned home having scored one of the World Cup's best goals.
SCOTLAND: Rough; Donachie, Buchan, Kennedy, Forsyth; Rioch, Hartford, Gemmill, Souness; Dalglish, Jordan
HOLLAND Jongbloed; Poortvliet, Krol, Rijsbergen (Wildschut), Suurbier; Jansen, R Van de Kerkhof, W Van de Kerkhof, Neeskens (Boskamp); Rensenbrink, Rep
Liam Apicella
