again failed to qualify for the European Championships, as they won just one match in their qualifying group. Despite this, the team qualified for their fourth successive World Cup in dramatic circumstances. Scotland went into their last qualification match needing a point to earn a play-off match. With Wales leading 1–0, Scotland were awarded a penalty kick with just nine minutes remaining, which was scored by Davie Cooper. As the players and fans celebrated the final score of 1–1, rumours began to circulate that manager Jock Stein had suffered a heart attack, from which he soon died. Stein's assistant Alex Ferguson took the role of manager on a part-time caretaker basis, as he was still managing his successful Aberdeen side. Scotland won the qualifying play-off against Australia 2–0 on aggregate, but they went out of the World Cup with just one point from their three matches, as the team lost to Denmark and West Germany. The final match against Uruguay ended in a goalless draw, despite the Uruguayans having a player sent off in the opening minutes. The SFA chief executive Ernie Walker memorably described the Uruguayans as "animals". Ferguson relinquished the Scotland job after the World Cup and moved on to Manchester United a few months later. Following the 1986 FIFA World Cup, Andy Roxburgh took charge of Scotland for the 1988 European Championship qualifying section. Scotland performed poorly in the qualifying group, although an away victory against Bulgaria handed qualification to the Republic of Ireland. Following this failure, Scotland regrouped for the 1990 World Cup and qualified narrowly. They beat France 2–0 at Hampden Park in heavy rain, with Mo Johnston scoring twice. Scotland looked on course to qualify comfortably, but they then lost heavily in both France and Yugoslavia, leaving them needing to avoid defeat at home to Norway in the final game. Scotland were leading 1–0 when a bad error from goalkeeper Jim Leighton allowed the Norwegians to equalise. Had the Norwegians scored again, Scotland would have been out, but the 65,000 crowd breathed a sigh of relief when the final whistle went. 1990s 1990 World Cup The team went into the 1990 World Cup finals with some confidence thanks to beating World Cup holders Argentina 1–0 in a friendly match, with Stewart McKimmie scoring the only goal. In their opening World Cup match, however, the team shockingly lost 1–0 to World Cup debutants Costa Rica.