Welcome to Sportstar's highlights of the World Cup Qualifier playoff clash between Scotland and Ukraine being played at the Hampden Park in Scotland.
This was Neeladri Bhattacharjee bringing you buildup of this exciting fixture as well as minute-by-minute updates of the match as it happens. That was all for the night in this match. Thanks for tuning in and take very good care of yourselves.
Match Report:
Full Time
Scotland 1-3 Ukraine
Goals from Andriy Yarmolenko, Roma Yaremchuk and Artem Zubkov helped Ukraine register a comfortable win over Scotland and it will face Wales on Sunday on Cardiff eyeing a confirmed spot in the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
90+4' GOALLLLL!!!!!!!Artem Dovbyk makes a solo run along the left flank and buries the ball into the net to end the game with a 3-1 margin of victory in favour of Ukraine against Scotland
Scotland 1-3 Ukraine
90+3' Shot! Zubkov goes for goal with a bullet of a shot, but this one is off-target as the match's result still looks in favour of Ukraine
90' Corner for Scotland and a late clearance by Ukraine gives Scotland a last chance to score. McGinn takes it and Hanly meets it with his head, but it is off target
86' A flurry of mispasses at Hampden Park with Gordon's pass finding a yellow shirt, but Scotand tracks back on time to contain any chance for Ukraine to punish Scotland further
83' Yellow Card! There is a heated argument between Shaparenko and Christie and the referee takes note of it and books the Ukranian
79' Double Change for Ukraine!In: Oleksandr Zubkov, Artem Dovbyk, Out: Andriy Yarmolenko, Roman Yaremchuk
79' GOOOOAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!! McGregor strikes and Buschan's punch is not enough as the shot on return clears the goal line and Scotland pulls one back
SCO 1-2 UKR
76' Chance! Che Adams makes a run into the box and shoots on target which Buschan saves and Scotland shoots on the return, which is cleared for a corner kick. The corner, taken by McGinn lands to Robertson, whose long ball is too long as the ball goes out for a goal kick
75' Yarmolenko and Zinchenko pair up to build an attack. Shaparenko gets the ball in the midfield and switches play to soak energy out of the Scottish team, to limit their chances to attack
73' Shot! Stuart Armstrong goes for goal from distance but Buschan is comfrotably in control of the ball as he makes yet another save to keep Scotland limited to no goals in this match so far
72' Double Change for Ukraine now. In: Mykhaylo Mudryk, Mykola Shaparenko , Out: Viktor Tsigankov, Ruslan Malinovsky
68' Double change for Scotland! In: Stuart Armstrong, Jack Hendry, Out: Liam Cooper, Billy Gilmour
67' Miss! Scotland attacks on the counter, McTominay's cross is fisted away only for McGinn to head it in but he has put it wide!
64' Hickey makes a run and passes to Che Adams at the edge of the box. Che's cross is headed away by the yellow wall as Ukraine looks to hold on to the lead it has at the moment
Scotland faced heartbreak to Czech Republic in the Euros at this very stadium. It woudl be a shame if the same happened again tonight
62' Save! Another attack by Scotland with Che and Christie pairing up this time and Christie final shit is saved by Buschan again
61' The ball sails in the air with headers from a throw-in and Scotland goes forward in attack with Hickey's pass intercepted timely by Buschan to put that attack to bed
59' Yellow Card! John McGinn goes strong on Stepanenko to get the ball and gets booked in the process for the late challenge
57' Mistake! Buschan's back pass and a horrendous reply by Zabarnyi gives McGreor a chance, but he fails to make the most of it, which could have been a goal back for Scotland
55' Zinchenko and McTominay get into a tactical duel which ends with a corner kick. This one ends with a kick by Karavaev
54' Scotland s forced at the back and the long balls from their half is landing right onto the boots of Ukraine players and Hanley concedes a corner trying to ward off Yaremchuk
49' Yaremchuk gets a cross from the right from Karavaev and he heads the ball into the net to double the lead for Ukraine
SCO 0-2 UKR
48' Ukraine is playing in triangular passes and is keeping hold of the ball, but he final pass to Yaremchuk is too much as no attack comes of it. However, Ukraine maintains possession
46' Half-Time substitution for Scotland with Ryan Christie replaying Lyndon Dykes and the substitutute concedes a foul with a hand-ball offence early in the second half
Second Half Begins!
STAT ATTACK
Half-Time
Scotland 0-1 Ukraine
45' Yarmolenko is forced to the back with Scotland man-marking the yellow shirts at the moment. Ukraine's manager indicated one minute of additional time to his players -- to hang on
44' Yellow Card! Dykes goes for the ball with a raised elbow and fould Stepanenko to get the first booking for Scotland and the third in the match
44' Malinovsky carries the ball from the midfield to the final third with a brilliant solo run, but his final shot lacks force as the attack fizzles out
42' Hickey gets the ball in front though the right flank, but the final pass is stopped through a crucial block by Matviyenko as Ukraine continues to stay on top with a slender lead
39' Fans' cheer has just gone a level up as they cheer for their home team with Ukraine, the visitor, having taken the lead
33' GOOOOOOOAAAALLLLLLLL!!!!! Yarmolenko gets the ball at the edge of the box and dinks the ball over Gordon to give Ukraine the lead
Scotland 0-1 Ukraine
31' Dykes intercepts the cross which was targeted for Yarmolenko, but eventually Scotland loses control of the ball as Ukraine continues to dominate possession, something it has done so far today
30' Roberston gets the ball up front for McGinn, but yelow shirts force the ball away, as far as Hickey, who shoots the ball into the gloves of Buschan
28' Zinchenko's long ball is intercepted by McTominay and Scotland goes on attack. However, Ukraine tracks back on time to steal the ball back as McGinn loses it easily
27' Shot! Yarmolenko gets the ball from the left and tries to go for the magnificent from distance with his right foot. This time though, the ball flies off target
26' Malinovsky takes the ball from the midfield and tries to carry it into the final third, but McGinn tracks back and launches himself onhim for the ball as the referee blows his whistle for a foul
24' Roberston dribbles though the left wing again, cuts to his right and shoots for goal, which is blocked for a corner. The kick that follows is cleared by Ukraine
22' Dykes passes to his right, but Robertson's run is thwarted by Ukraine for a throw-in. In the follow up, Robertson's cross for Che reaches the box as the latter goes down in the box. No penalty given though
22' Zinchenko gets the balll in his control, passes to Yarmolenko and now the yellow shorts are enjoying possession
20' Tsigankov carries the ball into zone 14 and passes for Yaremchuk, whose shot is saved by Gordon and the corner kick that follows is headed away by Scotland only to outside the box.
Ukraine delivers a cross for Yaremchuk, whose shot is off-target this time.
18' Chance for Scotland! Hanley heads the ball in from a corner kick and the ball just flies over the net
17' Chance! Ukraine attacks on the counter ankd this time its Yarmolenko who shoots and Gordon's touch is not enough to stop it initially asthe ball glides right in front of the goal line. Gordon recovers and makes the save.
15' Scotland gets the ball back to Gordon as Steve Clarke's side looks to build the attack from the back
13' Stepanenko looks to have beengiven the job to stick to McGinn to contain any attack from the Aston Villa player. Andrey Shevchenko, Ukraine's all-time leading goalscorer, looks on. He was in charge of the side not so long ago
11' Foul! Malinovsky barges in for the ball behind Dykes and the referee after deliberation reaches for the pocket for the second booking of the match. Two yellow cards in the match so far, both for Ukraine
7' Save! Ukraine gets the ball in the final third as Tsigankov gets the ball right in front of the box and shoots on target. But Gordon saves it for a corner, which is saves again after the kick
4' Buschan gets the ball high with Tsigankov trying to get the ball in front, but Scotland contains the danger. Yaremchuk tries to get the ball back and concedes a foul and a booking
3' Scotland has begin the match presing high with Zabarnyi forced to get the ball back to the keeper. Ukraine is playing with a back four keeping the wings in check, especially with Robertson lurking around
2' Buschan gets the ball rolling at the other end, but no real danger through runs from either end so far.
1' Ukraine tries to make a forward run, but blue shirts stop them in their tracks as the Scottish goalie gets the ball back
12:17 am: Kick Off!
12:15 am: Ukraine starts in its yellow kit while Scotland starts in its blue home kit with Liverpool's Andy Robertson leading the side into the match. Scotland starts in a 3-5-2 shape while Ukraine has decided to go with a 4-1-4-1 shape.
Danny Makkelie will be the referee of the match today.
12:12 am: The Ukrainian team steps out on the pitch with the players wrapped in Ukrainian flags in a resounding Hampden Park as both the teams lineup for the National Anthems.
12:10 am: Squad updates for Scotland!
Scott McTominay returns for Scotland and fortifies the back while Aaron Hickey makes his competitive debut. Dyches and Adams lead the attack for Steve Clarke's side.
John McGinn starts at the No. 10 position and no player has scores more goals under Steve Clarke than the Aston Villa player (12 goals).
12:00: Players to watch out for:
Andy Robertson, Scotland: The Liverpool full-back has been a danger along the wings throughout the season and returns to the National team after winning the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup with the Reds.
The 28-year-old will be a key player in orchestrating attacks through wing-play and also in containing counter-attacks led by Andriy Yarmolenko and Roman Yaremchuk.
Roman Yaremchuk, Ukraine: The Benfica forward held Liverpool to a draw in the Champions League quarterfinals and has created a vicious attack for the Portuguese side along with Darwin Nunez.
He is currentky the highest goalscorer for the team (in the current squad) with eight goals in three matches.
11:50 pm: "The players are going to play for the future of Ukraine"
11:40 pm: FORM GUIDE: Both the teams, Scotland and Ukraine, are unbeaten in their last five matches with Scotland having three wins and two draws while Ukraine has won twice and drawn the remaining three matches.
Scotland's last five matches:
- Draw: Austria 2-2 Scotland
- Draw: Scotland 1-1 Poland
- Win: Scotland 2-0 Denmark
- Win: Moldova 0-2 Scotland
- Win: Faroe Islands 0-1 Scotland
Ukraine's last five matches:
- Win: Bosnia and Herzegovina 0-2 Ukraine
- Draw: Ukraine 1-1 Bulgaria
- Draw: Ukraine 1-1 Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Win : Finland 1-2 Ukraine
- Draw: Czech Republic 1-1 Ukraine
11:25 pm: HEAD-TO-HEAD: Ukraine and Scotland last met in the European Championship 15 years ago and it was Scotland which had come out victorious.
- Scotland 3-1 Ukraine -- European Championship (October 13, 2007)
- Ukraine 2-0 Scotland -- European Championship Qualifier (October 11, 2006)
11:00 pm: Starting Lineups out!
Scotland Starting XI: Craig Gordon (GK), Aaron Hickey, Liam Cooper, Grant Hanley, Lyndon Dykes, Scott McTominay, Callum McGregor, Andy Robertson, John McGinn, Billy Gilmour, Che Adams
Ukraine Starting XI: Bushchan, Karavaev, Zabarnyl, Matvlyenko, Mykolenko, Stepanenko, Malinosvkyi, Zinchenko, Tsygankov, Yaremchuk, Yarmolenko.
MATCH PREVIEW
Scotland and Ukraine will lock horns in the World Cup qualifier play-offs on Thursday to secure a spot for the final in the playoff for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The winner of this match will meet Wales in the eliminator (in Cardiff) and the winner here will seal a spot in Qatar 2022.
Only one spot of the 13 from Europe remain for the World Cup and the winner will be grouped alongside England, Iran and the United States of America.
Russia was scheduled to take part in the playoffs but was suspended from international football by UEFA and FIFA, following its invasion of Ukraine.
The World Cup is scheduled to take place from November 21 to December 18.
Scotland has played in eight world cups so far, with five consecutive appearances between 1974 to 1990, but it has not gone beyond the group stage in any of them.
It's last apperance in the tournament was in 1998, under manager Craig Brown, when the team could not win a single match and was eliminated in the group stage.
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Ukraine, since its formation after the collapse of the Soviet Union, has qualified for the World Cup just once, in 2006. The team, led by Andriy Shevchenko, finally lost to eventual champion Italy in the quarterfinals.
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