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This Friday, one of Euro 2020’s biggest group-stage matches will take place when England face off with Scotland at the Wembley in London.
England and Scotland’s rivalry goes back over a century, with numerous memorable matches taking place between the two neighbouring countries over the years.
In recent years, though, England and Scotland have only played each other on a handful of occasions in competitive games. On that note, let's take a look at the five most recent competitive games between England and Scotland as we build up to their latest clash.
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#1 England 2-0 Scotland (UEFA Euro 1996)
The last time England and Scotland faced off at the Wembley in the group stage of a European Championship was back in 1996. The game produced arguably the most iconic moment in English football history outside of the Three Lions’ World Cup win in 1966, of course.
After both sides had drawn their opening group games, both England and Scotland were desperate for a win. So it came as no surprise that the first half of the match was largely cagey.
But England boss Terry Venables decided to change things up at half-time, replacing defender Stuart Pearce with midfielder Jamie Redknapp to take control in the centre of the pitch.
The move paid off, as England began to dominate and opened the scoring through an Alan Shearer header in the 53rd minute. However, with just over ten minutes remaining, Tony Adams’ reckless tackle on Gordon Durie resulted in Scotland being awarded a penalty.
It looked like England would have to settle for a draw, but keeper David Seaman pulled off a dramatic save to deny Gary McAllister from the spot.
Just moments later, the game was settled. Seaman’s goal kick sent the ball down the pitch, and a neat move between Redknapp and Darren Anderton saw Paul Gascoigne through on goal.
In one of the European Championship’s most memorable goals, ‘Gazza’ flicked the ball over defender Colin Hendry before volleying past Andy Goram and into the Scottish net.
England’s longest-serving rivals had been put to the sword, and Gascoigne’s famous ‘dentist’s chair’ celebration entered English football folklore, making ‘Gazza’ a lifelong cult hero with England fans.
#2 Scotland 0-2 England (UEFA Euro 2000 Qualifiers)
When England botched their qualifying campaign for Euro 2000 and ended up in the playoffs, it felt like destiny that they’d be drawn with Scotland.
But despite being in poor form under boss Kevin Keegan, the Three Lions were able to silence Hampden Park in the first leg of the tie, winning 0-2, thanks to a brace from Manchester United’s Paul Scholes.
Scholes opened the scoring after just 21 minutes, collecting a long pass from Sol Campbell on his chest and wrong-footing Colin Hendry before firing home. Twenty minutes later, he doubled England’s lead with a beautiful header from a David Beckham free-kick.
The game settled down in the second half, as England decided to protect their lead, which was uncharacteristic of Keegan’s management style. Despite finishing with more shots on goal, Scotland simply lacked the quality to break their rivals down.
Overall, their performance was quite unconvincing, but England had put one foot firmly at Euro 2000 with the win.
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#3 England 0-1 Scotland (UEFA Euro 2000 Qualifiers)
If England’s victory over Scotland in the first leg of their Euro 2000 qualifying playoff was unconvincing, their performance in the second leg was utterly spineless.
Scotland won 0-1 on the night. While the result didn’t send them to the Netherlands and Belgium for the tournament, it was definitely a moral victory and was a precursor for what would be a disastrous Euro 2000 campaign for England.
The game was won by a wonderful goal from Scotland midfielder Don Hutchison, who headed home following an excellent cross from Neil McCann. Despite having the entire second half to find an equaliser, England struggled massively and somehow ended the game without having a single shot on target.
England manager Kevin Keegan admitted that the display was poor, alluding to the 2-0 lead from the first leg being too much for his players to cope with psychologically.
Realistically, though, a side containing David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Michael Owen and Alan Shearer should’ve won this game comfortably. That was a bad omen for England to head into Euro 2000, and so it proved.
#4 England 3-0 Scotland (2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers)
While they faced each other in friendly games in the years that followed their 1999 meetings, it would be over a decade before England and Scotland would play in a competitive fixture.
That came in 2016, as the two old enemies were drawn in the same qualifying group for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. When their first meeting came around – at Wembley in November 2016 – both sides were on relatively low ebbs.
England were just beginning the start of a new chapter under interim boss Gareth Southgate after their disastrous Euro 2016 campaign. Meanwhile, Scotland were struggling under Gordon Strachan and had not qualified for a major tournament since 1998.
Thus it came as no surprise when the game turned out to be a whitewash in favour of England. Scotland were beaten by three headed goals – from Daniel Sturridge, Adam Lallana and Gary Cahill. While the visitors did create some chances, the game never seemed to be on the verge of leaving England’s grasp.
The win was one of the more comfortable ones for England during their qualifying campaign and went a long way towards Southgate’s appointment as their permanent manager.
It would also be remembered as Wayne Rooney’s final competitive appearance for England. The Three Lions’ record scorer was dropped by Southgate soon after and only returned for a friendly game two years later.
#5 Scotland 2-2 England (2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers)
The most recent meeting between England and Scotland featured a truly dramatic ending. The two old rivals drew 2-2 at Hampden Park in a qualifying match for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
England had swept Scotland aside 3-0 just seven months before this game but found things much more difficult on a hot afternoon in Glasgow.
With both sides struggling to score chances in the first half, it looked like game over when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored for England after 70 minutes. But with just three minutes of normal time remaining, Gary Cahill conceded a cheap free-kick. Celtic’s Leigh Griffiths stepped up to curl the dead-ball over the England wall and past Joe Hart to restore parity for Scotland.
Gareth Southgate’s side were stunned. But three minutes later, things got even worse when Griffiths scored from an almost identical free-kick, asking major questions of Hart, who didn’t come close to making a save.
Scotland boss Gordon Strachan looked on the verge of securing a historic victory for his side. But unbelievably, with three minutes of added time gone, a cross from Raheem Sterling found England captain Harry Kane unmarked, and the Spurs man fired in a dramatic equaliser.
The match wasn’t the best performance from England, it would’ve been disastrous had they lost. However, the late equaliser hinted at the kind of unexpected steel that would take them to the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup a year later.
Scotland were left to rue what could’ve been. But the real fall-guy was Hart, who was dropped soon after in favour of Jordan Pickford following his unconvincing display in this game.
