BY DARREN JOHNSTONE – Capital City Press
Scotland have now failed to reach nine successive major tournaments after their push for a Euro 2016 place ended in bitter disappointment on Thursday night.
Since competing at the World Cup in France under Craig Brown in 1998, Scotland have missed out on five straight Euro Championship finals, and four World Cups.
It is a barren batch on the international stage that now stretches two decades, with the next chance to end that drought the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Euro 2000
Group 9: Finished second behind the Czech Republic, beaten 2-1 on aggregate by England in play-offs.
World Cup 2002
Group 6: Finished third behind Croatia and Belgium
Euro 2004
Group 5: Finished second behind Germany, beaten 6-1 on aggregate by Belgium in play-offs
World Cup 2006
Group 5: Finished third behind Italy and Norway
Euro 2008
Group B: Finished third behind Italy and France
World Cup 2010
Group 9: Finished third behind Netherlands and Norway
Euro 2012
Group I: Finished third behind Spain and Czech Republic
World Cup 2014
Group A: Finished fourth behind Belgium, Croatia and Serbia
Euro 2016
Group D: With one game to play, Scotland cannot finish higher than fourth.
World Cup 2018 qualifying
Group F: Scotland drawn alongside England, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania and Malta
