Docherty’s Scotland Under-21s Take Third After a 2-0 Win

Barney Stewart and Bobby Wales scored as Scotland Under-21s beat Bulgaria 2-0 in Pazardzhik on 6 October and finished third in European Championship qualifying Group B. Stewart’s 32nd-minute drive was his third goal in two matches under new head coach Tony Docherty. Wales, on as a substitute, tucked in the second in added time.

Portugal already had the finals place and Czechia the play-off berth. Docherty still treated the night as a trial for the next cycle, after sending several older caps home.

Two Wins Do Not Rewrite a Lost Group

The Scottish FA named Scotland Under-21 head coach on 24 August 2026, with Steven Naismith as assistant, after Scot Gemmill left the job he had held since 2016. Docherty, 55, inherited eight games of a campaign and two fixtures. By the time he reached Rugby Park, the maths on Albania and Serbia next summer were already gone.

Chief football officer Craig Mulholland said Sébastien Pocognoli, the new senior head coach, sat in on the hiring because the Under-21s would be asked to copy the A squad’s shape and habits. Docherty had used a 3-4-2-1 at Dundee. He used it again in Kilmarnock and in Bulgaria.

The first night was a 5-2 win over Azerbaijan on 30 September. The second was this 2-0 in Pazardzhik. That is two matches, seven goals scored and two conceded, and no change to the fact Scotland never led Group B when it counted.

DOCHERTY’S FIRST TWO MATCHES

• 30 September: Scotland 5-2 Azerbaijan at Rugby Park, Stewart scoring twice before half-time.
• 6 October: Bulgaria 0-2 Scotland in Pazardzhik, Stewart then Wales.
• The sample: two wins, 7-2 on aggregate, six points from a group already lost.
• The limit: Azerbaijan finished fifth and Bulgaria finished with 10 men, so the run is a start, not a qualifying case.

He said after taking the job that everyone was aligned on a clear national-team identity, and that the work was to push young Scottish players. The Bulgaria trip was the first time that brief had to live without a finals carrot.

Stewart Scores Three Times in Six Days

Andrew Tod, the Dunfermline Athletic forward filling in after Rangers winger Findlay Curtis went back to the senior camp, won the ball in midfield and found Stewart. The West Bromwich Albion striker drove a low 20-yard shot past Plamen Andreev in the 32nd minute. Leeds United goalkeeper Rory Mahady, in for Liam McFarlane, then stretched to deny Martin Georgiev.

Six days earlier Stewart had headed in on 23 minutes and scored from close range on 26 minutes, the opening two goals at Rugby Park in the 5-2 win. West Brom signed him from Falkirk in June on a four-year contract. He has had only scraps of Championship time; the Scotland shirt is where the finishing has looked simple.

#SCO21s | A driving strike from Barney Stewart opens the scoring in Bulgaria 💪

📺 Watch live here: https://t.co/8d5F84u1Hf#YoungTeam pic.twitter.com/gHFcMScNRn

— Scotland National Team (@ScotlandNT) October 6, 2026

The strike in Pazardzhik was a no-nonsense low drive. Andreev had no dive that could catch it. Dunfermline supporters in the replies clocked Tod’s press as the real work, which fitted a night when two Pars-linked players created the lead and Stewart, who once scored for fun on loan there, put it away.

They want us to mirror exactly what the first team do. We sit down and watch the first-team games. I’ve got everyone in my ear saying, ‘you see what they did there?’ We watch patterns of play, pressing, you name it.

Barney Stewart, Scotland Under-21 striker

Wales, a Swansea City forward on loan at Dundee, had scored Scotland’s fifth against Azerbaijan after replacing Stewart on 73 minutes. In Bulgaria he came on for Hearts striker James Wilson on 75 minutes and finished Stewart’s pass at 90+1. That is two goals in two appearances off the bench, before he went off injured for Aidan Borland at 90+3.

Curtis had four assists in Kilmarnock and a hand in all five goals, then rejoined Pocognoli’s squad for Slovenia at Hampden. Tod, Wilson and Stewart were the inside-forward and striker group left to prove the same patterns without him. Manchester United midfielder Tyler Fletcher, already a senior cap after the summer World Cup, wore the armband.

Older Caps Go Home Before the Last Tie

Before the squad flew, Docherty stripped it for age. The Scottish FA listed Jeremiah Chilokoa-Mullen, Dire Mebude, Emilio Lawrence, Ben McPherson, Daniel Kelly, Taylor Steven and McFarlane as returning to their clubs, with Curtis moving the other way to the senior camp and Kyle Glasgow staying behind. Celtic goalkeeper Corey Shaw was brought up from the Under-19s.

Chilokoa-Mullen, Mebude, Lawrence and McPherson were at the end of their Under-21 eligibility. Mullen, now at Wigan, would have been winning a 24th cap. Docherty put them in front of the group, then sent them away.

PLAYERS SENT BACK BEFORE PAZARDZHIK

• End of eligibility: Jeremiah Chilokoa-Mullen, Dire Mebude, Emilio Lawrence and Ben McPherson were released with no more Under-21 years left.
• Senior recall: Findlay Curtis joined Kristi Montgomery in Pocognoli’s camp for Slovenia at Hampden.
• Club return: Daniel Kelly, Taylor Steven and Liam McFarlane went back to full training at club level.
• The addition: Corey Shaw came in from the Under-19s who had just faced Finland, Czechia and Ukraine.

The public reason was minutes for the next qualifying cycle, not a thank-you tour. Third place was still live, and the Scottish FA had already said there were qualification pot seedings to play for even though the championships in Albania and Serbia were gone.

It was a really mature conversation and we spoke about how my priority now is with the younger players, so they will go back to their clubs. We put them in front of the group to give them a wee round of applause for all their help.

Tony Docherty, Scotland Under-21 head coach

St Mirren midfielder Ryan Carr started again and was booked on 66 minutes. Dylan Lobban, the Aberdeen player on loan at Dunfermline, kept popping up in both boxes. The XI in Pazardzhik was a younger, narrower version of the Kilmarnock side, which was the point of the cuts.

Shishkov’s Red Takes the Scotland Bench With Him

Bulgaria came out for the second half looking for a way back into a game they had to win to nick third. Antoan Stoyanov headed wide from 10 yards. Andreev then denied Dylan Lobban twice in a short burst. Lobban blocked Tsvetoslav Marinov’s shot on the line; Filip Gigov stabbed the rebound wide.

Frustration spilled on 82 minutes. Simeon Shishkov was sent off for violent conduct after a late challenge on Lobban. Referee Granit Maqedonci then dismissed Docherty and Naismith for coming onto the pitch in the melee. Stewart had already been booked on 80 minutes. Samuel Cleall-Harding and Bulgaria captain Rosen Bozhinov followed into the book.

Six minutes of added time were signalled. Stewart still had the composure to slide Wales in at 90+1. Valeri Vladimirov and Aleksandar Marinov were cautioned at 90+5 as the hosts ran out of discipline. Kick-off had been 5:30pm UK time at Stadium Georgi Benkovski, a dead rubber that finished like a derby.

A first week in the job now has a disciplinary file as well as two wins. Naismith’s extra brief at the association is a mentorship programme for pathway players. His second match on the bench ended with a red card beside the head coach.

Why Scotland Have Missed the Finals Since 1996

Scotland have not reached the UEFA Under-21 Championship finals since 1996. Gemmill’s decade produced players who moved into the senior side, including names later capped by Steve Clarke, and it did not produce a finals tournament. Docherty was hired into that gap, not into a play-off.

Pocognoli’s staff and the youth coaches are meant to share one way of playing. SFA observers, including Mulholland, were at Rugby Park for the 5-2. The 3-4-2-1 in Bulgaria, with Cleall-Harding, Josh Feeney and Henry Fieldson across the back and Tod and Wilson off Stewart, was that instruction in kit.

FROM 1996 TO A THIRD-PLACE FINISH

1. 1996: Scotland last appear in the Under-21 finals, in Spain.
2. September 2016: Scot Gemmill is appointed Under-21 head coach.
3. July 2026: Gemmill leaves after 10 years without a finals place.
4. 24 August 2026: Docherty and Naismith take the Under-21 roles in Pocognoli’s wider reset.
5. 30 September 2026: Czechia’s 1-0 win over Bulgaria ends Scotland’s route, hours before the 5-2 against Azerbaijan.
6. 6 October 2026: Scotland win 2-0 in Pazardzhik and close Group B in third.

The drought is the job description. Two wins against a fifth-placed side and a 10-player Bulgaria do not end it. They do give Docherty a clean sample of who presses, who finishes, and who can play the senior shape when the older names have been clapped off.

What Third Place Buys for the Next Draw

Scotland close on 17 points from 10 games, with a 5-2-3 record, 25 goals scored and 12 conceded. Only Portugal scored more in the group. Bulgaria finish on 14 points. The two sides had been level on 14 points overnight; the 2-0 split them by goal difference and by the three points.

GROUP B FINAL STANDINGS

UEFA’s format sends the nine group winners and the best runner-up, with results against sixth-placed teams stripped out, to the final tournament from 16 June to 3 July in Albania and Serbia. Czechia go to November’s play-offs. Scotland, third, take a coefficient bump into the next qualifying draw and nothing else.

That is the wager Docherty actually placed. He cut the players who had run out of Under-21 years, kept the ones who can still be in the next group, and left Pazardzhik with Stewart on three goals in two games, Wales on two, and a 3-4-2-1 that looks like the senior side. The red cards are on the same sheet as the six points.

Third is a seeding number. It is not a ticket to the finals Scotland have not reached since 1996.

Frequently Asked Questions

When Did Scotland Last Reach the Under-21 Euros?

Scotland last played in the UEFA Under-21 Championship finals in 1996 in Spain and finished fourth after a 1-0 defeat by France in the third-place match on 31 May. They had lost 2-1 to Spain earlier in that tournament. The side has six finals appearances in all, with semi-final runs in 1982, 1992 and 1996.

How Do the 2027 Under-21 Play-Offs Work?

The eight group runners-up who do not finish as the best second-placed team play two-legged ties between 9 and 17 November 2026. The draw is in Nyon at 11:00 CET on 9 October and is made without seeding. The four winners join the group winners, the best runner-up and co-hosts Albania and Serbia in the 16-team finals.

Which Players Can Still Be Used in the 2027 Tournament?

Players born on or after 1 January 2004 are eligible for the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. Stewart, born on 7 April 2004, remains inside that cut for the next qualifying cycle, which is why Docherty’s Bulgaria squad was built around that age band rather than around caps already spent.

What Extra Jobs Do Docherty and Naismith Hold at the SFA?

Docherty will lead a Future Managers initiative, contribute to a new talent-ID process and support four clubs in a Club Growth Programme. Naismith will run a mentorship programme for pathway players and work on the same talent-ID and club projects. National youth coaches are also due to rotate across age groups rather than sit permanently with one team.