June 10, 1998

Brazil 2 Scotland 1 (opening match, Group A)
Brazil, the holders and the braves of Scotland played to an entertaining feast unlike so many opening matches from previous tournaments. Not since 1962 have three goals been scored in the curtain raiser. Scotland was sunk by a cruel own goal from Tommy Boyd after John Collins equalised the Brazilian opener with a penalty kick in the 38th minute. Cesar Sampaio put Brazil ahead after four minutes with a deft header after some poor Scottish marking from the Brazilian corner. The hero turned villain when he upended Kevin Gallacher in the Brazilian box to concede the penalty. The second half was a level affair, with Scotland looking certain to hold on to a point, or even sneak a winner, when tragedy struck. Cafu touched on a cutting pass from Dunga, and Jim Leighton could only block the shot into the path of Boyd, who had no time to get out of the way. The result was hard on a determined Scotland, who continues its poor record against Brazil, but also showed up a number of frailties in a Brazilian side that was not as solid as expected.

June 16, 1998

Scotland 1 Norway 1 (Group A)
Scotland the Brave' rang the songs from the grandstands. After a battling display against Brazil in the opening match of the tournament, Scotland was determined not to crash out of the Cup at the first hurdle. To do so, it had to overcome a well-organised Norwegian team full of British-based players, almost an irony in the circumstances. Scotland upped its game, and came close to taking the lead on a number of occasions in the first half. Disaster struck soon after the interval when Havard Flo went unnoticed at the far post to head home the opening goal of the match. You could almost see Scotland heads drop in unison, but the brave came out fighting as coach Brown made tactical changes to the midfield. He brought on Weir for Calderwood and McNamara for Jackson, and minutes later, Weir booted a long ball into the Norwegian box for Craig Burley to loop over the keeper. Scotland pushed hard at the death, but Norway hung on to rescue the point

June 23, 1998
Scotland 0 Morocco 3 (Group A)
They had showed some promise in the narrow defeat by Brazil, and some class in the narrow draw with Norway, but the Scots were a shadow of their previous selves in the do-or-die clash with the unpredictable Moroccans. It was a case of 'oh no, not again' as Scotland preserved its unenviable record of never having qualified for the second round of the World Cup in eight attempts. It looked disjointed and overawed by the attacking Moroccan army, who had an answer to every Scottish question on the day. Scotland began confidently, but failed to convert its optimism into goals. On 22 minutes, Bassir made it pay for its indecision as he stole past Colin Hendy and squeezed a flashing shot past Leighton at the near post. Two minutes into the second half, the veteran Scottish keeper made sure his name made the headlines for a lame flap at Hadda's chip that only managed to land keeper and ball in the back of the net. It was good night Scotland, emphasised by Craig Burley's foolish jab at Bassir that earned him a red card in the 54th minute. The third Moroccan goal was inevitable, and it came courtesy of Bassir, with a deflected shot off Colin Hendry. But in football, glory can turn to misery in seconds. Morocco, who needed a win to edge past Norway in the group as long as the Norwegians drew or lost to Brazil, were celebrating a second round ticket when Norway began its remarkable recovery against the world champions. Coach Henri Michel was reduced to tears as he heard that his side's vigilant victory was worth nothing more than a consolation prize. Morocco fly home a broken team in victory, Scotland a broken team in defeat.