The

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

– OFC qualification play-off was a two-legged home-and-away tie between the winners of the Oceania qualifying tournament,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, and the second-placed team from the UEFA Group 7,

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. The games were played on 20 November and 4 December 1985 in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

and

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

respectively. Australia were hoping to play in the FIFA World Cup for the first time since

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

and Scotland were hoping for a fourth successive FIFA World Cup.

Background

Scotland had qualified for the play-off by finishing second in their UEFA group, behind

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. Scotland secured second place in dramatic circumstances with a 1–1 draw against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Ninian Park Ninian Park was a association football, football stadium in the Leckwith, Cardiff, Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales, that was the home of Cardiff City F.C. for 99 years. Opened in 1910 with a single wooden stand, it underwent numerous renovatio ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

Davie Cooper David Cooper (25 February 1956 – 23 March 1995) was a Scottish professional association football, footballer who played as a winger (association football), winger. Born in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton, Cooper played as a youth for l ...

scored a late equalising goal with a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

to give Scotland the point they needed, but manager

Jock Stein John Stein (5 October 1922 – 10 September 1985) was a Scottish association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He was the first manager of a club from a Northern European country to win the European Champio ...

collapsed and died of a heart attack. This meant that assistant manager

Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former professional football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as the greatest manager of all time and ...

took charge of the team for the play-off. Australia finished top of a single four-team group that comprised

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, as well as

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One China principle stipulated by the ...

, both of whom were at the time members of FIFA but were outside their own regional confederations.

Play-off match

In the first leg of the play-off in Hampden Park on 20 November 1985, Scotland took the lead in the 53rd minute from a twenty-yard free kick scored by

, hitting the ball around the wall and into the bottom right hand corner of the net. The second goal arrived in the 59th minute from

Frank McAvennie Francis McAvennie (born 22 November 1959) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a striker. He spent two spells playing for each of St Mirren, West Ham United and Celtic. With Celtic, he won the Scottish Premier Division in ...

who was making his senior debut for Scotland. He lobbed the ball over the goalkeeper after being set up by a header from

Kenny Dalglish Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish (born 4 March 1951) is a Scottish former association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time as well as one of Celtic's, Liv ...

. The second leg on 4 December finished goalless which was enough for Scotland to advance to the

finals in Mexico.

First leg

----

Second leg

Aftermath

Scotland qualified for the 1986 FIFA World Cup Finals in Mexico and were drawn into Group E with

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

and debutants

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. Scotland lost 1–0 to Denmark and 2–1 to West Germany. Scotland had to beat Uruguay and Uruguay played with ten men and drew 0–0. Scotland finished bottom in the group on one point.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA-OFC play-off) FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA-OFC play-off) Play-off UEFA-OFC

Play-off The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eith ...

World Cup 1986 The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA-OFC play-off) FIFA World Cup qualification inter-confederation play-offs FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA-OFC play-off) FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA-OFC play-off) FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA-OFC play-off) International association football competitions hosted by Australia International association football competitions hosted by Scotland International sports competitions in Glasgow Soccer competitions in Melbourne FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA-OFC play-off) Association football matches in Scotland Football competitions in Glasgow