Joe Jordan (footballer) - International Career

International Career

On 19 May 1973, three days after appearing in the European Cup Winners Cup final for Leeds, Jordan played his first game for the Scotland national team, a 1–0 defeat to England at Wembley.

In 1973, as part of the qualification campaign for the 1974 World Cup to be held in West Germany, Jordan scored with a flying header in what turned out to be a crucial winning goal, in a game against Czechoslovakia at Hampden Park in Glasgow. Securing Scotland a place at the finals, this was the first time they had qualified for the World Cup in 16 years, failing at three previous attempts. They had last played in the finals in the 1958 World Cup in Sweden.

The game, which ended 2-1, was the second to last game and Scotland's third win in the four game qualification series in UEFA Group 8. The last fixture saw Czechoslovakia play out a meaningless 1-0 victory over Scotland, which saw them finish second on five points, behind Scotland on six. Denmark completed the group bottom, on one point. Jordan earned nine more Scotland caps by the end of the 1973-4 season, scoring two goals on the way, which saw him be selected for the finals.

At the 1974 World Cup, Jordan scored the second goal in a 2–0 win over Zaire in the first group game, and a last minute equaliser in a 1–1 draw with Yugoslavia. Scotland finished the group unbeaten, but went out of the competition at the group stage on goal difference.

In the second to last game of the qualification campaign for the 1978 World Cup to be held in Argentina, Jordan won a controversial penalty against their opponents Wales, said to have helped Scotland to qualify at their expense.

During the game, played at Anfield in Liverpool in 1977, both Jordan and the Welsh defender David Jones went to challenge for the ball in the Welsh penalty area, from a throw-in by Scotland midfielder Asa Hartford. The referee decided Jones had handled the ball, and awarded Scotland a penalty, although it has long been debated that it was in fact Jordan's arm which made contact with the ball. He has always denied it was.

The penalty was duly converted, and along with a second goal, the 2-0 result was Scotland's third win in the four game qualification series, seeing them qualify for the cup finals top of UEFA Group 7 with six points, ahead of Czechoslovakia on four and Wales on two. In the final game, Czechoslovakia beat Wales 1-0.

He was selected by Ally MacLeod in the Scotland squad for the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, scoring in the opening 3–1 defeat against Peru. Scotland again failed to qualify beyond the group stage.

In 1982, Jordan was again in the Scotland squad for the 1982 World Cup. Scotland once again failed to progress beyond the group stages; however, a personal milestone was achieved when he scored in the 2–2 draw against the USSR, meaning he had scored in three successive World Cup Finals. Unfortunately he was injured in the same match, missed the rest of the tournament and never played for his country again.

In total, Jordan earned 52 international caps, scoring 11 goals, and is the only Scottish player to have scored in three World Cups.