Goram made his debut in that game on 16 October 1985, coming on in the second half as a substitute for Jim Leighton.[35] In the run up to the 1986 FIFA World Cup Goram played the full 90 minutes in friendly matches against Romania and the Netherlands, keeping clean sheets in both games.[36] Goram travelled to Mexico in the summer 1986 as a member of Scotland's World Cup squad, although he was third choice behind Leighton and Alan Rough and did not play in any of Scotland's three games.[3]