28 YEARS LATER

For the first time since 1998, Scotland and their fans are back at a World Cup, thanks to one of the greatest nights in the country's football history. Next up? Bring on Brazil...

- Words Alasdair Mackenzie Additional reporting Ed McCambridge, Chris Flanagan

They'll be coming down the road.

Finally. After 28 years, the noise of the Tartan Army is set to reverberate around World Cup arenas once more, after a torturous series of qualification failures ended in the most spectacular fashion possible.

Three of the best goals ever scored by Scotland players - Scott McTominay’s gravity-defying overhead kick, Kieran Tierney’s crucial curling shot, and Kenny McLean’s unthinkable lob from halfway - helped seal a spot on an unforgettable night against Denmark last November. This time it wasn't glorious failure, it was simply glorious.

It wasn’t a bolt from the blue, either. Steve Clarke has had to navigate some tricky moments during his seven years as manager but, true to character, his record does the talking for him after qualifying for three major tournaments from his four attempts. It has brought back memories of years gone by, when tartan-clad clans descended on every World Cup from 1974 to 1998 bar one - funnily enough, the last time it was held in the United States in 1994.

After that, Scotland missed six World Cups in a row - plenty has changed since the days when the national team were regular fixtures at the tournament. “It was a different world,” smiles Gordon Strachan, part of the squads for 1982 and 1986. “When you were at the World Cup, there were no phones, there was no telly - you were sharing a horrendous room with somebody who was the exact opposite of your wife! You would get one three-minute phone call a week, with someone queuing up behind you.