Driving home from school and suddenly Léon, completely seriously, comes out with: The best Scotland ever did in the world Cup was in 1954. They came second, you know!
I lived with Dad for twenty odd years and I was absolutely certain, even with no access to google as I was driving, that if Scotland had ever made it to the World Cup final, dad would have mentioned it every four years, in true England-1966 fashion. I knew for certain, as all Scottish people my age do, that Scotland has never advanced beyond the group stage, but Léon was adamant. He was willing to concede he might have got the year wrong but it was definitely either 54 or 58!
So I checked wikipedia...
Group 3[edit]
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Uruguay | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 4 |
 Austria | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 4 |
 Czechoslovakia | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
 Scotland | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
- Uruguay finished ahead of Austria on drawing of lots
| Uruguay | 2–0 | Czechoslovakia |
|---|---|---|
Míguez  71'Schiaffino 84' |
| Austria | 5–0 | Czechoslovakia |
|---|---|---|
| Stojaspal 3', 65' Probst 4', 21', 24' |
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 France | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 7 | 1.57 | 4 |
 Yugoslavia | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 1.17 | 4 |
 Paraguay | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 12 | 0.75 | 3 |
| Scotland | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0.67 | 1 |
- France finished ahead of Yugoslavia on goal average
| France | 7–3 | Paraguay |
|---|---|---|
| Fontaine 24', 30', 67' Piantoni 52'Wisnieski 61'Kopa 70'Vincent 83' | Amarilla 20', 44' (pen.) Romero 50' |
| Yugoslavia | 1–1 | Scotland |
|---|---|---|
| Petaković 6' | Murray 49' |
| Yugoslavia | 3–2 | France |
|---|---|---|
| Petaković 16' Veselinović 63', 88' | Fontaine 4', 85' |
| Paraguay | 3–3 | Yugoslavia |
|---|---|---|
| Parodi 20' Agüero 52'Romero 80' | Ognjanović 18' Veselinović 21'Rajkov 73' |
