Association football is one of the national sports of Scotland and the most popular sport in the country. There is a long tradition of "football" games in Orkney, Lewis and southern Scotland, especially the Scottish Borders, although many of these include carrying the ball and passing by hand, and despite bearing the name "football" bear little resemblance to association football. Founded in 1873, Scotland has the second oldest national Football Association in the world (behind England's FA), and has various professional and amateur levels. The trophy for the national cup, the Scottish Cup, is the oldest national sporting trophy in the world. Scotland and Scottish football clubs hold many records for football attendances.

There has been debate as to whether Scotland is the traditional home of football, rather than England. The first game of international association football was played in Glasgow, and resulted in a 0–0 draw between Scotland and England. In respect of Scotland's footballing history, it is one of only four permanent members of the International Football Association Board (IFAB) which governs the Laws of the Game. The earliest record of football in Scotland dates from 1424 in an act of the Parliament of Scotland, whereby the King of Scotland, James I prohibited men from "playing at the football" and branded the game "decreed".

The national team play home matches at Hampden Park in Glasgow, and have appeared in eight FIFA World Cup competitions (the most recent being 1998) and four appearances at the UEFA European Championship (the most recent being 2024. Scotland also compete in the UEFA Nations League, and were in Group A for the 2024–25 instalment. For the 2026–27 tournament, Scotland will compete in Group B.

In 2025, Scotland was revealed as the country with the highest football attendance per capita in Europe for the third year in a row.

A game known as "football" was played in Scotland as early as the 15th century. It was prohibited by the Football Act 1424, as it distracted men from their marital duties, and although the law fell into disuse, it was not repealed until 1906. The sport was played by commoners and royalty, such as King James VI and Mary, Queen of Scots, alike. In Perth, apprentices progressing to become master craftsmen in the 16th century had to pay for a banquet and a game of football.

There is evidence for schoolboys playing a "football" ball game in Aberdeen in 1633 (some references cite 1636) which is notable as an early allusion to what some have considered to be passing the ball. In the 1700s, Football was known to cause riots and severe damage to both property and players. Football in general had almost an ill repute. Football was mainly played during times of festival like New Years Day or Fastern's E'en. During these events, football was a "mass participant, low regulation event". There were also separate matches for men and women. Association Football's use as a leisure sport started in the 1840s as working schedules started to shift with the introduction of the half day work schedule on Saturdays. This search for "rational recreation" was brought upon by the temperance movement along with city municipal and philanthropic projects. By the late 1800s, Association Football was one of the major cultural activities among the male population of Western Scotland, both as player and as spectator. Railroads helped with accessibility for travel to games in other cities, making a professional league viable. Of the thirty seven football grounds in existence in 1887, twenty of them were within one hundred yards of a railroad station.

It is clear that the game was rough and tackles allowed included the "charging" and pushing/holding of opposing players ("drive that man back" in the original translation, "repelle eum" in original Latin). It has been suggested that this game bears similarities to rugby football. Contrary to media reports in 2006 there is no reference to forward passing, game rules, marking players or team formation. These reports described it as "an amazing new discovery" but has actually been well documented in football history literature since the early twentieth century and available on the internet since at least 2000.

The Scottish Football Association (SFA) is the principal organising body for Scottish football. Members of the SFA include clubs in Scotland, affiliated national associations as well as local associations. It was formed in March 1873, making it the World's second oldest national football association. The founding clubs were Queen's Park, Clydesdale, Vale of Leven, Dumbreck, Third Lanark, Eastern Granville and Kilmarnock.