A new episode of Football Daily, the BBC Sport football podcast, takes listeners back to the summer of 1998 — when Scotland stepped onto the world stage in Paris to face the defending champions, Brazil, in the opening match of the FIFA World Cup.

Host Rick Edwards sits down with Gordon, Paul, and Iain, three supporters who were there on the ground, following the national side across France as proud members of the Tartan Army. For them, that summer remains one of the most vivid chapters in Scottish football history.

From Bannockburn to the Stade de France

The episode charts the full arc of Scotland's 1998 campaign — beginning with memories of the squad that earned qualification, through the electric atmosphere of the opening game against Brazil at the Stade de France. The guests recall what it meant to be inside that stadium, the noise, the colour, and the sheer scale of the occasion.

One of the more colourful anecdotes involves Iain and a flag borrowed — his word — at Bannockburn, a story that captures the spirit of the travelling support that followed Scotland across Europe and beyond throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.

The heartbreak unfolds

The mood shifts as the conversation turns to the moments that ultimately defined Scotland's tournament: Tom Boyd's own goal against Brazil, a difficult encounter with Norway in Bordeaux, and then the campaign-ending defeat to Morocco in the final group game — a result that sent the Scots home early and, in many eyes, marked the close of a golden era of Scottish World Cup qualification.

The guests reflect on what it felt like to watch that era come to an end, and what those summers in France — despite the pain — still mean to them decades later.

Eyes on World Cup 2026

The episode does not dwell entirely in the past. The conversation closes with a look ahead to FIFA World Cup 2026, with the guests sharing their hopes for Scotland's chances of returning to football's biggest stage for the first time since that bittersweet campaign in France.

The full episode is available now on BBC Sounds.