The initial figure in this sequence was Carlos Borges.

He stood out as a lively winger and frequent scorer, having come through the Penarol youth system in Montevideo before turning professional at age 14.

During Scotland's second match at their inaugural World Cup on 19 June 1954, Borges netted three times for Uruguay in a 7-0 victory in Basel, a result that remains the nation's largest loss in international play.

Their lack of preparation was evident. The Scots wore heavy cotton kits and traditional boots ill-suited to the warm conditions.

"It was a shambles," remembered Tommy Docherty, who played that day and was tasked with marking Juan Schiaffino, about whom he knew little. "Nobody told me how good he was."

Basic scouting might have revealed more. Uruguay were the defending champions, and Schiaffino had scored in the 1950 final against Brazil.

Borges proved decisive against Scotland. He was swift, persistent and effective with both feet, completing his hat-trick within an hour before adding another in a 4-2 win over an England side featuring Stanley Matthews, Nat Lofthouse and Tom Finney.

The winger later claimed a Copa America title in 1956 and scored the first goal in Copa Libertadores history in 1960. These feats, along with one extraordinary event, cemented his status as a national hero.

In July 1963, Borges was aboard the steamship Ciudad de Asuncion, constructed in Scotland in 1929. The vessel carried 400 passengers on its regular route across the Rio de la Plata from Montevideo to Buenos Aires.

Fog reduced visibility that night of 10 July.

Around 3am the ship struck the wreck of a sunken Greek freighter and started to tilt. An engine-room blast followed soon after, and the vessel began to sink. Passengers leapt into the water.

Borges remained on deck amid the chaos. A woman identified him and passed her three-year-old son to him before falling to her death. "Save him for me," she called.

Lifeboats were full. Holding the child, Borges clung to a wooden plank and floated for 11 hours until an Argentine vessel rescued them. The next day he witnessed the boy's reunion with his father. The mother was among 70 who perished.

The incident stayed with Borges. Aged 31, he retired from football shortly afterward.

Scotland arrived in Cordoba for their meeting with Iran still smarting from their loss to Peru at the 1978 World Cup, playing before a modest crowd of 7,938.

Manager Ally MacLeod conducted limited preparation and overlooked Iran's Asian Cup successes in 1968, 1972 and 1976. The opponents were capable.

After a 3-0 opening defeat to the Netherlands, Iran attributed the result to nerves. They showed no such respect for Scotland.

MacLeod's side led through an own goal, yet Danaeifard equalised on the hour by rounding Archie Gemmill and beating Alan Rough at the near post. It marked Iran's first World Cup goal.

Rough had expected the shot to go across goal. "An all-time low," he later reflected.

The result marked MacLeod's lowest point, damaging his standing permanently. The draw against Iran proved humiliating and forced Scotland to seek a near-impossible result against the Netherlands.

Danaeifard, a defender with Taj in Tehran, had earned only his first cap the previous year and went on to win 17 in total. He and teammates later described the climate they faced.

Iran faced political unrest and protests met with force by security services. The country stood on the brink of upheaval.

The national team was viewed as a symbol of the Shah's rule, which supported the squad heavily for propaganda purposes, leading to reported death threats against Danaeifard and his colleagues from opposition groups.

Protestors questioned whether the players backed the Shah, the western-supported ruler, or Ayatollah Khomeini, the Islamic cleric.

Danaeifard believed the Shah's secret police had placed agents within the World Cup squad and avoided open discussion on sensitive topics.

Following the tournament he returned to Tehran amid the Islamic Revolution. The new leadership regarded football as a western import, and the sport declined. Danaeifard moved to the United States, spending four years with the Tulsa Roughnecks.

While in America he learned of the death of his friend and former Iran captain Habib Khabiri. Aged 29 and linked to a resistance group, Khabiri was detained, tortured and executed with 40 other opponents.

Danaeifard's experiences and the broader story of Iranian football at the time offer some context for Scotland's 1978 setback.

Memories of Scotland's 1986 encounter with Uruguay, when a victory was required to advance, centre on the South Americans' physical approach and the red card shown to Jose Batista after just 52 seconds.

The Uruguayans' aggressive and cynical style stood out in a 0-0 draw that allowed them to progress while eliminating the Scots.

Manager Omar Borras, known as the Professor, shaped this approach. Although Uruguay possessed skilled players such as Enzo Francescoli, Borras favoured toughness over flair. He drew criticism at home and abroad for the team's kicking, stamping and spitting that secured qualification at Scotland's expense.

After a 6-1 defeat to Denmark five days earlier, death threats prompted armed protection at Borras's home. Securing a result against Scotland became his sole focus, by whatever methods necessary.

The fallout from the match in Neza was intense. Scottish FA secretary Ernie Walker labelled Uruguay cheats and cowards, calling them "the scum of world football." Manager Alex Ferguson branded them a disgrace.

Borras had the audacity to criticise referee Joel Quiniou for dismissing Batista after the challenge on Gordon Strachan. "There was a murderer on the field today, the referee," he declared.

Fifa suspended him for Uruguay's last-16 clash with Argentina, which they lost 1-0. Media and fans condemned the negative tactics.

Francescoli expressed personal regret over the team's conduct, noting he had been instructed to chase long balls and contest headers despite his creative strengths.

Borras was dismissed as a controversial figure in Uruguayan football, though this brought little comfort to Scotland. He simply joined the roster of opponents who denied them their ambitions.

Costa Rica qualified for their debut World Cup in 1990 without great difficulty, defeating Panama 3-1 on aggregate before receiving a walkover against Mexico due to an age-eligibility breach.

Thus Costa Rica advanced to Italia '90.

The outcome is well known. Juan Cayasso became a legend, forever linked in the minds of many with his country's first World Cup goal, scored against Scotland.

He is perhaps the quintessential Scotland adversary, one of nine siblings nicknamed "el Nene," the Kid. He delivered the decisive strike at Stadio Luigi Ferraris on 11 June 1990. Another disappointment for Scotland.

"Children stop me in the street to greet me and say, 'you're Cayasso, the one my dad told me scored a goal in 1990'," he recalled. That goal eliminated Scotland early once more.

Cayasso viewed the moment as fated. "We were playing so bad I thought we had not much chance before going to the World Cup."

He had not anticipated Scotland's familiar struggles.

"I don't know if I remember it because I always see it on video," Cayasso said years later. "But I could never be prepared for that moment.

"My team-mate Claudio Jara knocked the ball to me, we call it a taquito here. I was close to him, I step back and when he does the taquito I read it. At first, I'm like, 'oh...' I'm frightened. But then I have to react, it's at my foot.

"Jimmy (Leighton) is out. Then it hits his belly and goes over him. I turn around and look at the referee, and he's going to the centre of the field.

"First I'm frightened, then I don't believe it, then, 'yes, goal'. I had gone far away in that moment. My mind was all about Costa Rica. I wrote a book called 'The Goal from Italia 90: Destiny, Luck or Chance'. It was so crazy."

Cayasso's goal secured Costa Rica's place in the knockout stage, where they lost 4-1 to Czechoslovakia, and earned the squad a gift of a Toyota Corolla from the president. He also secured a transfer to German football with Stuttgart Kickers, helping them reach the Bundesliga.

Cayasso collected 49 caps, yet one remains the most memorable, celebrated in two nations for contrasting reasons.