Scots must get off to flier – but the omens don’t look good

Alex McLeish will be looking for his side to get off to a winning start in their Euro 2020 qualifier in Astana tomorrow before the second Group I game against San Marino on Sunday.

Here, Courier Sport looks at the opening fixtures of Scotland’s five previous qualifying campaigns in both the European Championships and World Cup.

Malta 1 Scotland 5 (September 4, 2016)

Scotland’s bid to reach the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia got off to an encouraging start with a thumping Group F win in Attard.

Robert Snodgrass bagged a hat-trick and Chris Martin and substitute Steven Fletcher were also on target for Gordon Strachan’s side.

Malta’s Alfred Effiong had quickly cancelled out an early opener from Snodgrass but the visitors scored four times after the interval and the home side ended the match with nine men, with Luke Gambin’s late dismissal following Jonathan Caruana’s controversial red card on the hour mark.

Scotland ended the campaign in third place behind England and Slovakia.

Germany 2 Scotland 1 (September 7, 2014)

The Scots put up a fight in their first Euro 2016 qualifying match before going down 2-1 to world champions Germany in Dortmund.

Thomas Muller gave the dominant hosts a first-half lead which was cancelled out by Ikechi Anya in the 66th minute. However, a second goal from Muller four minutes later proved decisive, with Scotland’s Charlie Mulgrew sent off in the closing stages.

Strachan’s side finished the campaign in fourth place in Group D behind Germany, Poland and Republic of Ireland. Scotland 0 Serbia 0 (September 8, 2012)

When Scotland were held to a goalless draw against Serbia in their opening 2014 World Cup qualifier at Hampden Park the alarm bells immediately rang.

Craig Levein’s men had been hopeful of taking maximum points from their first two Group A home games but failed to break down a stubborn Serbian defence.

That result put pressure on the Scots to beat Macedonia in the second of the Hampden Park double-header three days later but they could only manage a 1-1 draw. Scotland were unable to recover from their poor start and finished fourth in the table behind Belgium, Croatia and Serbia.

Lithuania 0 Scotland 0 (September 3, 2010)

Craig Levein’s first competitive fixture as Scotland boss was the Euro 2012 qualifying opener in Lithuania but despite territorial advantage the Group I game ended goalless.

The visitors looked comfortable in possession but they failed to find the breakthrough and consequently two points were dropped.

Despite a narrow 2-1 home win over Liechtenstein four days later Scotland could not make up ground and finished behind Spain and Czech Republic.

Macedonia 1 Scotland 0 (September 6, 2008)

In their opening fixture, George Burley’s first competitive game as boss, the visitors slumped to a 1-0 defeat in the Philip II Arena.

In Skopje’s searing heat, Macedonia took the lead after just five minutes and Ilcho Naumoski’s strike proved to be decisive.

The Scots finished third behind Holland and Norway and missed out on the South Africa finals.

Ikechi Anya after his equaliser in the game with Germany in Dortmund in 2014.