Scotland national under-21 football team

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==

, head coach of the team from 2008 to 2014. 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 Leading goalscorers 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 Czech Republic and Portugal in March 2026. Caps and goals updated as of 31 March 2026, after the match against Portugal. 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==