James McFadden’s long-range goal earned Scotland a landmark 1-0 victory over France night to put them firmly on course for the Euro 2008 finals on a winning night for Britain.
McFadden turned and shot with less than half an hour to go at the Parc des Princes to propel Scotland to the top of Group B and within sight of their first major finals in a decade, while England beat Russia 3-0 at Wembley and Wales claimed a deserved 5-2 victory in Slovakia.
Irish teams had a rough night however with Northern Ireland falling 2-1 in Iceland to dent their hopes of qualifying from Group F and the Republic of Ireland lost 1-0 in the Czech Republic in Group D.
But for Scotland, it was an unforgettable night.
Goalscorer McFadden said afterwards to Sky Sports: “It’s something else. To beat them at Hampden was an upset but to come to France and beat them was wonderful. They are one of the best teams in the world and we have got the win.”
McFadden said his chance simply came down to the striker’s instinct.
“We trained here last night and balls were flying everywhere,” he said. “It was just one of those things. I got a touch, turned and there was no one there so I decided to have a go.”
McFadden’s 64th minute goal followed a long kick-out from keeper Craig Gordon, the Scotland striker taking two touches before unleashing a 25-yard drive which Mickael Landreau could only palm into his net.
It is only the third victory for Scotland in France in the post-war period.
But more importantly, it is a huge boost to the qualifying hopes of Scotland, who go top of group B with overnight leaders France dropping to third behind second-placed Italy after their victory against Ukraine.
Scotland lead Group B with 21 points, a point ahead of Italy who won 2-1 in Ukraine, and two points ahead of France with just the top two teams qualifying for the finals next year.
Italy, who drew 0-0 in France on Saturday, kept on course with their victory over the Ukraine thanks to two goals from Udinese striker Antonio Di Natale, who was preferred in place of Alessandro Del Piero. Ukraine captain Shevchenko scored for the hosts.