match stats

Scotland will face Wales for the 107th time tonight. The Scots lead the series 61-22, with 23 draws. Scotland have scored 242 goals in the fixture, Wales have netted 122. Wales’ first-ever international game was in Scotland at Hamilton Crescent in Partick in 1876. Scotland won 4-0 in front of a crowd of 17,000. The first 13 matches between the nations were won by Scotland. Wales didn’t beat Scotland until 1905 – an amazing 30 games into the series. Grounds in Scotland that have hosted the games include Hampden, Hamilton Crescent, Cathkin Park, Cappielow, Tynecastle, Dens Park, Fir Park, Easter Road, Rugby Park, Underwood Park in Paisley, Carolina Port in Dundee, Pittodrie, Parkhead, Love Street and Ibrox. The fixture has been played twice outside Scotland or Wales – a 1977 World Cup qualifier in Liverpool and a Carling Cup game in Dublin last year. Scotland’s highest win is 9-0 in 1878, while Wales’ biggest victory is 4-0 in 2004, when Robert Earnshaw fired a hat-trick past Berti Vogts’s team. Hughie Gallacher is the top scorer in the series with nine goals. Denis Law scored the first of his 30 goals for Scotland on his debut against Wales in 1958. Rangers have a combined cap total of 195 in the series, compared with Celtic at 141 and Queen’s Park at 79. Rangers also provide the most goalscorers with 38 goals, Queen’s Park have 35, Celtic have 24. Kenny Dalglish won more caps against Wales than any other Scot with 11, followed by Alan Morton with ten. The combined attendance for the matches is 2,841,406. The highest crowd was at Hampden in 1947, when 86,582 watched Wales win 2-1. Gareth Bale has scored 25 goals this season for Tottenham and Wales – more than Scotland’s top-flight stars Steven Fletcher (11), Shaun Maloney (4), Steven Naismith (3) and Kenny Miller (3) – put together. If Scotland fail to take all three points at Hampden Park tonight, they will equal their longest sequence of competitive matches without a win, six, which was set in 1986 under Alex Ferguson (two draws, two defeats) and then Andy Roxburgh (two draws).