Scotland will take on Ukraine in the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup playoffs on Wednesday evening, with the winner set to face Wales in the final on Sunday.
The last-four contest was originally set to take place in April, but the match was rescheduled for the start of June due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Match preview
© Reuters
Scotland have not been present in the finals of a World Cup since 1998, but a win on Wednesday would see them take on Wales for a position in the 2022 competition.
The winners of Sunday's final will advance to the finals of the tournament, taking on England, Iran and the USA in the group stage.
Scotland impressed in their World Cup qualification group, picking up 23 points from their 10 matches courtesy of a record of seven wins, two draws and one defeat, while they only conceded seven times in Group F.
Steve Clarke's side have actually won each of their last six qualification games, including a 2-0 success over Denmark last November, but they have played twice since then, drawing with Poland and Austria in friendlies back in March.
Scotland are entering a busy period, preparing to face Armenia twice and the Republic of Ireland in the UEFA Nations League, but there is no question that their full focus will currently be on securing World Cup qualification, and they will need to beat two tough teams to advance to the finals.
© Reuters
Ukraine, meanwhile, claimed second in Group D behind France, picking up 12 points from their eight matches, which allowed them to finish a point above third-place Finland.
The Blue and Yellows have not been present in the finals of a World Cup since 2006, when they reached the quarter-finals of the competition, losing 3-0 to Italy in Hamburg.
Due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, football has had to take a back seat, and this will be their first competitive match since beating Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-0 in their final World Cup qualifier on November 16.
Oleksandr Petrakov's side reached the quarter-finals of Euro 2020, losing 4-0 to England in the final eight, and they are preparing to take on Scotland for just the third time in their history.
Both fixtures occurred during qualification for Euro 2008, with Ukraine winning 2-0 in Kiev before Scotland recorded a 3-1 victory in Glasgow one year later.
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- D
- D
- D
- D
- D
- W
- D
- W
- D
- W
- D
- D
- W
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Liverpool defender Andrew Robertson played the full 90 minutes of Saturday's Champions League final with Real Madrid, but the left-back is expected to start for Scotland here.
Kieran Tierney is definitely out through injury, while Ryan Jack has been forced to pull out of the squad through injury, with uncapped Allan Campbell earning a call-up.
Nathan Patterson has a chance of playing a part against Ukraine, having recovered from an ankle injury, while John McGinn, Lyndon Dykes and Ryan Christie are set to feature in the forward areas.
Manchester United's Scott McTominay is expected to line up in central midfield alongside Callum McGregor, but there are plenty of other options in that area, including Stuart Armstrong and Billy Gilmour.
Ukraine, meanwhile, have no fresh injury concerns heading into the contest, and there are not expected to be any major surprises in their starting side.
Manchester City's Oleksandr Zinchenko will feature in central midfield, while Andriy Yarmolenko is set to play in a front three alongside Roman Yeremchuk and Viktor Tsyhankov.
Everton's Vitaliy Mykolenko will play at left-back for Ukraine, while Taras Stepanenko and Zinchenko are expected to be joined in central midfield by Ruslan Malinovskyi.
Scotland possible starting lineup:
Gordon; Hendry, Hanley, Cooper; O'Donnell, McTominay, McGregor, Robertson; McGinn, Dykes, Christie
Ukraine possible starting lineup:
Pyatov; Karavaev, Zabarnyi, Matvienko, Mykolenko; Malinovskyi, Stepanenko, Zinchenko; Yarmolenko, Yaremchuk, Tsygankov
We say: Scotland 2-1 Ukraine
Ukraine are more than capable of triumphing on Wednesday, but Scotland have home advantage, and they will be backed by a vocal crowd in Glasgow. Ukraine have enough quality in the forward areas to score, but we fancy Clarke's team to net twice to secure their spot in the playoff final.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
