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,
2002 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) achieved in 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification and UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying. France qualified automatically as title holders, and because Belgium and Netherlands, as hosts, had not had to qualify for UEFA Euro 2000, only their 1998 World Cup result was used. Andorra made their debut in World Cup qualifying. 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 (AFC-UEFA play-off included) are presented in "italic". Table - top row: group winners, second row: group runners-up, third row: others. The winner of each group qualified