Slovenia 2-2 Scotland
World Cup 2018 Qualifiers
Group Stages
Sun 8th October 2017
18:00 (17:00 UK)
Stozice Stadium, Ljubljana (A)
Att: 5,000
Referee: Jonas Eriksson (Sweden)
Griffiths(32)
Snodgrass(88)
McArthur(32)
D Fletcher(88)
C Gordon
K Tierney (S Fletcher 80)
C Berra
C Mulgrew
A Robertson
M Phillips
J McArthur (R Snodgrass 79)
D Fletcher(C)
B Bannan
C Martin (I Anya 52)
L Griffiths
Manager:
Gordon Strachan
FIFA Ranking: 43
Bezjak(52,72)
Ilicic(52)
Mevlja(72)
Cesar(90+2)
J Oblak
A Struna (N Skubic 46)
M Mevlja
B Cesar(C)
B Jokic
J Repas (R Bezjak 46)
J Kurtic
R Rotman
B Verbic
J Ilicic
T Matavz (A Vetrih 89)
Manager:
Srecko Katanec
FIFA Ranking: 55
Key: Goals Assists Missed Penalty Red Card
| 1 | Craig Gordon (Celtic) | (51 Caps) | Age: 34 | ||
| 2 | Kieran Tierney (Celtic) |  |
(8 Caps) | Age: 20 | |
| 3 | Andrew Robertson (Liverpool) | (19 Caps) | Age: 23 | ||
| 4 | Christophe Berra (Hearts) | |
(40 Caps) | Age: 32 | |
| 5 | Charlie Mulgrew (Blackburn Rovers) | |
(31 Caps) | Age: 31 | |
| 6 | Barry Bannan (Sheffield Wednesday) | (27 Caps) | Age: 27 | ||
| 7 | James McArthur (Crystal Palace) | |
(32 Caps) | Age: 30 | |
| 8 | Darren Fletcher (Stoke City) Captain | (80 Caps) | Age: 33 | ||
| 9 | Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) |
 |
(17 Caps) | Age: 27 | |
| 10 | Chris Martin (Derby County) | (17 Caps) | Age: 28 | ||
| 11 | Matt Phillips (West Bromwich Albion) | (8 Caps) | Age: 26 | ||
| 13 | Ikechi Anya (Derby County) | (29 Caps) | Age: 29 | ||
| (Replaced Chris Martin 52 min) | |||||
| 15 | Robert Snodgrass (Aston Villa) |
|
(25 Caps) | Age: 30 | |
| (Replaced James McArthur 79 min) | |||||
| 17 | Steven Fletcher (Sheffield Wednesday) | (31 Caps) | Age: 30 | ||
| (Replaced Kieran Tierney 80 min) | |||||
Yellow Card  Red Card  Double Booking Goals Scored Assist  Penalty Save |
|||||
2 Kieran Tierney
World Cup 2018 Qualifiers
Group Stages
Sun 8th October 2017
18:00 (17:00 UK)
Stozice Stadium, Ljubljana (A)
Att: 5,000
Referee: Jonas Eriksson (Sweden)
World Cup 2018 Qualifiers
Group Stages
Sun 8th October 2017
18:00 (17:00 UK)
Stozice Stadium, Ljubljana (A)
Att: 5,000
Referee: Jonas Eriksson (Sweden)
Following Belgium's defeat of Bosnia the previous day, Scotland knew that victory over Slovenia would guarantee a play-off place. Strachan started with a 4-4-2, which raised some eyebrows, with Chris Martin assisting Leigh Griffiths up front. After only 6 minutes, Gordon had to pull off a save from Ilicic to prevent Slovenia from taking the lead. At the other end Chris Martin had a low shot saved after 17 minutes. Just after the half hour mark, Scotland took the lead. McArthur headed the ball into the box, into the path of Griffiths who shot a half volley from a tight angle to beat the keeper at the far corner. Six minutes into the second half, some poor defending from a dubious free-kick, allowed Slovenia to equalise with a downward header at the back post from the substitute Bezjak. Slovenia were now on top, as Scotland were being pushed further back into their own half. A few minutes later, Gordon had to pull off a save from a deflected shot from Bezjak. With just under 20 minutes remaining, Scotland's hopes started to fade, when Slovenia and Bezjak got a second. Again, some poor defending at a corner let Ilicic roll the ball back to Bezjak, who picked his spot in the goal, while in a crowded box. With 77 minutes on the clock, Scotland had a great chance to equalise when McArthur layed the ball off to Fletcher who shot over from only 10 yards out. With only 2 minutes remaining, Fletcher played a great ball into the box, for substitute Snodgrass to chest down and beat the keeper, to make it 2-2. This put some life into a previously deflated Scotland side, and less than a minute later, Phillips played a low ball into the box, that was deflected off a defender and almost beat the keeper at the near post. Slovenia then went up the other end and called Craig Gordon into action with a great one-handed save. A minute into injury time, Cesar was shown a red card for violent conduct. Right at the death Snodgrass had a chance to get a winner, but his header was saved by Oblak. When the full time whistle went the Scotland players fell to the floor, as they had lost out on goal difference, as Slovakia beat Malta 3-0. It would now be more than 20 years since Scotland qualified for the finals of a tournament.