The Scotland national under-19 football team is the national football team representing Scotland for players of 19 years of age or under at the start of a European Under-19 Football Championship campaign. The team, which is controlled by the Scottish Football Association, acts as a feeder team to the Scotland national football team.
History Until 2001, the European youth championship was competed for by under-18 teams. The best performance by a Scotland under-18 team was in 1982, when they won the tournament. Beating Czechoslovakia 3–1 in the final, the team was then managed by Andy Roxburgh and Walter Smith, who would both go on to manage the senior side. Scotland defeated rivals England in the qualifying round and finished top of Group 4, which also included the Netherlands. In the semi-finals, Scotland beat Poland 2–0. Scotland also reached the semi-finals of the 1978 tournament, where they lost on penalties to Yugoslavia. Scotland topped Group two – which included Germany and Italy – to qualify for the semi-final, having beaten Denmark in the qualifying round.
During the period of the under-19 format, Scotland qualified for the finals tournament in 2006 when, under the guidance of manager Archie Gemmill and coach Tommy Wilson, they lost 2–1 to Spain in the final. This performance guaranteed Scotland's participation at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup (formerly the World Youth Championships), representing their first appearance for 20 years.
Since 2006, Scotland have not progressed past the elite qualification round of the European under-19 tournaments.
Head coaches Archie Gemmill (2005–2009) Billy Stark (2009–2012) Ricky Sbragia (2012–2015) Scot Gemmill (2015–2016) Ricky Sbragia (2016–2017) Donald Park (2017–2018) Billy Stark (2018–2024) Neil MacFarlane (2024–present)
Competitive record UEFA European U-19 Championship Record Champions Runners-up Third place / semi finals Fourth place Tournament held on home soil
YearRoundGPWDLGSGA Before 2002 See Scotland national under-18 football team 2002Preliminary round did not qualify 2003First qualifying round 2004Second qualifying round 2005Elite round 2006Runners-up5212710 2007Elite rounddid not qualify 2008First qualifying round 2009Elite round 2010Elite round 2011First qualifying round 2012First qualifying round 2013Elite round 2014First qualifying round 2015Elite round 2016Elite round 2017Elite round 2018Elite round 2019Elite round 2020Tournament cancelled due to COVID-19 2021 2022Elite rounddid not qualify 2023Qualifying round 2024Elite round 2025Qualifying round 2026Qualifying round 2027TBDTotal1/205212710
Notes First qualifying round and Preliminary round are the same stage Elite round, Intermediary round and Second qualifying round are the same stage Draws also include penalty shootouts, regardless of the outcome.
Other tournaments
Year Competition Result GP W D* L GS GA Ref 2001 Belfast Tournament 1st 2 2 0 0 5 2 2005 Northern Irish Tournament 2nd 3 1 2 0 2 1 2006 La Manga Tournament 2nd 3 1 2 0 3 2 2007 La Manga Tournament 1st 3 2 1 0 5 2 2015 Mercedes-Benz Cup 2nd 3 1 2 0 5 3 2022 Slovenia Nations Cup
Players Current squad The following players were selected for the 2027 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification matches against Italy, Ireland and Poland on 25, 28 and 31 March 2026; respectively.
Clubs correct as of 18 July 2026.
Recent call-ups The following players had also been called up within the last twelve months, and remain eligible for selection.
Notes
References
External links Uefa Under-19 website Contains full results archive