Scotland at the FIFA World Cup Costa Rica, Sweden, and Brazil, but the Scots lost 1–0 to Costa Rica. While they recovered to beat Sweden 2–1 in their second game, they lost to Brazil in their third match 1–0 and were once again eliminated after the first round. Goalkeeper Jim Leighton fumbled a shot that allowed Brazil to score the only goal. Craig Brown guided Scotland to qualification for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, finishing as the best runners-up. Scotland were drawn against holders Brazil in the opening game of the World Cup. John Collins scored from the penalty spot to level the score at 1–1,
1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) divided into six pools as shown in table below (November 1995 rankings shown in brackets). The national teams which eventually qualified for the final tournament are presented in bold and the national teams who took part in the play-offs are presented in "italic". Record against the 1st, 3rd and 4th-placed team in their groups. The following 15 teams from UEFA qualified for the final tournament. 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) Listed below are the dates and results for the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the European zone (UEFA). A total of 50 UEFA teams entered the competition;