A fan's controversial selfie is being blamed for helping knock Scotland out of Euro 2016 - it's also complete bunk

Scott Heppell/AP

Scotland lost out on a spot in the Euro 2016 finals when they were knocked out of the qualifier in stunning fashion as Poland scored an equalizer on the final kick of the match.

The loss was a bitter one for the Scottish side, and now supporters are blaming one young fan as the game-tying goal may have never happened if he had not run on to the field causing a delay.

The incident came in the 88th minute when the fan can be seen running on to the pitch during a stoppage in play.

Fox Sports 2

The next shot of the fan on the Fox Sports 2 broadcast was him being escorted off the field by security as the players waited to resume the match.

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In between, the fan stopped to take a selfie with Poland's star captain, Robert Lewandowski, who made news recently when he scored five goals in nine minutes for his German club team.

Reuters

The selfie was later uploaded to Instagram. It has since been taken down but can still be seen at the UK Daiy Record.

That photo is now being blamed for Scotland's loss.

The score at the time was 2-1 Scotland. A win, and they are in the Euro 2016 finals.

As regulation time ended, it was announced that four minutes of stoppage time would be added. Scotland just needed to hang on for four more minutes.

This is where the controversy picks up steam.

Scottish fans, and some UK media outlets, believe that only three minutes of stoppage time should have been added. Here is the reasoning from the Daily Record (emphasis ours):

A total of six substitutions were made in the second half of the game. FIFA rules state that the referee must add 30 seconds for each change, meaning an extra three minutes were due ... With no stoppages for treatment, it appears referee Viktor Kassai added an extra minute to account for the fan-cam incident.

The problem with this is, there was a stoppage for treatment in the second half. In the 54th minute, Arkadiusz Milik of Poland went down after a hard tackle and the referee called for the trainers.

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The game was delayed for approximately 80 seconds, slightly more than one minute.

Fox Sports 2

Of course, that moment had long been forgotten, when in the 94th minute, and on the final kick of the game, Lewandowski knocked home a fluke loose ball in front of the net for the equalizer.

Scotland's Euro 2016 dream was over.

The poor lad is being skewered in the UK today. But three minutes for substitutions and one minute for the injury and it sure looks like the young fan actually had a better chance of helping Scotland by taking away precious seconds from Poland's comeback attempt.

Unfortunately for Scotland, he needed to take a few more.