Scotland national under-23 football team
 |
|
| Association | Scottish Football Association |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Scot Gemmill |
| Most caps | Christian Dailly (35) |
| Top scorer |
Scott Booth (8) Jordan Rhodes (8) |
| First international | |
 Czechoslovakia 0 – 0 Scotland  12 October 1976 |
|
| Biggest win | |
Scotland 5 – 0 Finland  6 September 1995 |
|
| Biggest defeat | |
 England 6 – 0 Scotland 13 August 2013 |
|
| UEFA U-21 Championship | |
| Appearances | 6 (first in 1980) |
| Best result | Semi-finalists (1982, 1992, 1996) |
The Scotland national under-21 football team, controlled by the Scottish Football Association, is Scotland's national under 21 football team and is considered to be a feeder team for the Scotland national football team.
As a European under-21 team, Scotland compete in the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, which is usually held every other year. The team has qualified for the final stages of these Championships on six occasions, although not since 1996. There is no global tournament for under-21 national teams. Performance in the European Championship determines qualification for football at the Summer Olympics, which Scotland is unable to compete in.
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. Similar to the full national side, however, the under-21 team has not qualified for a finals tournament since the late 1990s. The under-21 team reached the playoff round for the 2004 and 2011 tournaments, but lost to Croatia and Iceland respectively.
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