Scotland national under-21 football team

History

Scotland played under-23 international matches, mainly friendlies against England and Wales, from 1955 until 1975. Scotland first entered the UEFA competition for under-23 national teams in 1975–76. Scotland reached the quarter-finals, but were eliminated on a penalty shootout by the Netherlands. An under-21 team then came into existence, replacing the under-23 team, when UEFA reduced the age limit.

Scotland under-21s have reached the last four of the European tournament three times (1982, 1992 and 1996), while appearing in the quarter-finals on three other occasions (1980, 1984 and 1988). The team qualified for the 1992 Summer Olympics and 1996 Summer Olympics, but were unable to compete due to Scotland not being independently represented in the International Olympic Committee. The under-21 team has not qualified for a finals tournament since the late 1990s. They reached the playoff round for the 2004 and 2011 tournaments, but lost to Croatia and Iceland respectively.

In 2018, an under-21 squad returned to the Toulon Tournament. Despite the loss to Turkey in a penalty-out for third-place. Scotland did receive the tournament Fair Play Award.

Competitive record

Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place Tournament held on home soil

UEFA European U-21 Championship Record

*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided by a penalty shootout.

Other tournaments

*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided by a penalty shootout.

Head coaches

Archie Knox left his post as Scotland's National Youth Teams Coach on 30 August 2007 to take up a full-time with Bolton Wanderers as coaching co-ordinator, Maurice Malpas took temporary charge. In January 2008 the SFA appointed a new full-time coach in Billy Stark, who left his job as manager of Second Division side Queen's Park to take the position. Stark resigned from the position in November 2014.

Players

Leading appearances

|- |2 ||align="left"|Steven Pressley||1993–1996||Rangers, Coventry City, Dundee United|||||| |- |3 ||align="left"|Allan Campbell||2017–2020||Motherwell|||||| |- |4 ||align="left"|Paul Hanlon||2009–2012||Hibernian|||||| |- |5 ||align="left"|Craig Easton||1997–2001||Dundee United|||||| |- |5 ||align="left"|Gary Naysmith||1996–1999||Heart of Midlothian|||||| |- |5 ||align="left"|Glenn Middleton||2018–2022||Rangers|||||| |- |8 ||align="left"|Shaun Maloney||2001–2005||Celtic|||||| |- |9 ||align="left"|Stuart Armstrong||2010–2014||Dundee United|||||| |- |9 ||align="left"|Jamie McCunnie||2001–2005||Dundee United, Ross County, Dunfermline Athletic|||||| |- |9 ||align="left"|Jordan McGhee||2013–2017||Heart of Midlothian|||||| |- |9 ||align="left"|Ross McCrorie||2016–2020||Rangers, Portsmouth, Aberdeen|||||| |- |9 ||align="left"|Jeremiah Chilokoa-Mullen||2023–Present||Leeds United, Inverness CT, Dunfermline Athletic|||||| |} Note: Club(s) represents the clubs the player was with while he played for the Scotland under-21 team. Those players in bold are eligible to play for the team now.

Leading goalscorers

|- |2 ||align="left"|Jordan Rhodes||2011–2012||Huddersfield Town|||||| |- |2 ||align="left"|Scott Booth||1990–1993||Aberdeen|||||| |- |4 ||align="left"|Chris Maguire||2008–2010||Aberdeen|||||| |- |4 ||align="left"|Jamie Murphy||2008–2010||Motherwell|||||| |- |4 ||align="left"|Jim Hamilton||1995–1997||Dundee, Heart of Midlothian|||||| |- |4 ||align="left"|Mark Burchill||1998–2001||Celtic|||||| |- |8 ||align="left"|Steven Fletcher||2006–2008||Hibernian|||||| |- |8 ||align="left"|Tony Watt||2012–2013||Celtic|||||| |- |8 ||align="left"|Gerry Creaney||1990–1992||Celtic|||||| |- |8 ||align="left"|Steven Thompson||1997–1999||Dundee United|||||| |- |8 ||align="left"|Simon Lynch||2002–2003||Celtic|||||| |- |8 ||align="left"|Steven Naismith||2005–2008||Kilmarnock, Rangers|||||| |- |8 ||align="left"|Shaun Maloney||2001–2005||Celtic|||||| |- |8 ||align="left"|Christian Dailly||1990–1996||Dundee United|||||| |- |8 ||align="left"|Glenn Middleton||2018–2022||Rangers|||||| |} Note: Club(s) represents the clubs the player was with while he played for the Scotland under-21 team. Those players in bold are eligible to play for the team now.

Eligibility

The team is for players born in the year 21 years before the starting year of each tournament. As each tournament normally takes two years to complete, players can continue to play for the under-21 team after their 22nd birthday. As long as they are eligible, players can play at any level, making it possible to play for the under-21s, senior side and then return to the under-21 side. It is now also possible to play for one country at youth level and another country at senior level (providing the player is eligible). For instance, Nigel Quashie played for England under-21s and Scotland. Until the late 1980s, teams were allowed to select some over-age players in the under-21 team, similar to the present arrangement in football at the Summer Olympics.

Current squad

The following players were selected for the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification matches against Gibraltar and Bulgaria on 15 and 18 November 2025; respectively.

Caps and goals updated as of 18 November 2025, after the match against Bulgaria.

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the Scotland under-21 squad within the last twelve months and remain eligible (current clubs shown).

• INJ Player withdrew from the squad for that game due to injury
• SNR Player withdrew from the squad for that game after being promoted to the senior squad
• WTH Player withdrew from the squad for that game for an unspecified reason
• PRE Player was named in a preliminary squad / standby
• RET Player has retired from the national team / playing football
• SUS Player is serving a suspension --

Past squads

• 1996 European Championship squad

Notes

References

References

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39. (4 November 2025). "Scotland Men's Under-21 squad named for Gibraltar and Bulgaria". Scottish FA.