LONDON, Sept 9: Scotland and Denmark both played goalless draws at home in their opening European qualifying matches for the 2014 World Cup on Saturday.

At Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland failed to get their Group ‘A’ campaign off to a winning start as they were held to a stalemate by Serbia.

Although the Scots had more of the ball and the better chances, they rarely looked like scoring against a well-marshalled Serbian defence who easily coped with whatever the Scots created.

Serbia almost stole all three points in the 90th minute when Dusan Tadic broke through on goal but was denied by a good save from Scottish goalkeeper Allan McGregor.

“We didn't manage to get the three points and I'm disappointed but more about the fact we had opportunities and didn't take them,” Scotland manager Craig Levein said.

In Copenhagen, the Czech Republic hung on to claim a point away to Denmark who lacked bite without striker Nicklas Bendtner who was serving a one-match ban for revealing a betting company logo on his underpants at Euro 2012.

The home side's best chance fell to Michael Krohn-Dehli, who fired wide after chesting down a cross from the right in the Group ‘B’ encounter.

“We had like 10 chances or so, and we should have scored,” said coach Morten Olsen. “We are all disappointed. The ball should have crossed the line.”

Results: Group ‘A’ Scotland 0    Serbia 0 Group ‘B’ Denmark 0    Czech Republic 0—Agencies