Scotland vs. Ukraine result: Yarmolenko keeps his country's 2022 World Cup dreams alive

Dan Gibbs

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Scotland vs. Ukraine result: Yarmolenko keeps his country's 2022 World Cup dreams alive image

Ukraine took a huge step closer to securing their spot at the 2022 World Cup later this year by beating Scotland 3-1 at Hampden Park in their World Cup qualifier playoff semi-final.

Ukraine now face Wales on Sunday, June 5 for a chance to seal their place in the November tournament taking place in Qatar.

Andriy Yarmolenko, Roman Yaremchuk and Artem Dovbyk all got on the scoresheet and despite a late comeback by the home side courtesy of Callum McGregor's strike, Ukraine's football dreams remain alive and kicking.

An emotional night in Glasgow saw Ukraine, featuring in their first international match against another country since Russia unleashed an attack on their homeland in February, dominate from start to finish, and if it wasn't for Scottish goalkeeper Craig Gordon's first half heroics the score would have been bigger.

Manchester City's Oleksandr Zinchenko, who broke down in tears during his pre-match press conference on Tuesday discussing the impact of the war on his homeland, put in a stunning individual performance just 24 hours later to ensure his team put some smiles on the faces of Ukrainians all around the world.

“Every game for us now is like a final. We have one more and we need to win it - we need to take it or this won’t mean anything," he said.

“We scored three goals, we could’ve scored even more. [Sunday] is going to be a massive game for us. We need to show the best performance of our lives.”

As for Steve Clarke's Scotland, their wait for a first World Cup finals appearance since 1998 goes on.

MORE: Which group will Ukraine or Wales play in Qatar?

Scotland vs. Ukraine final score

  1H 2H Final
Scotland  0 1 1
Ukraine 1 2 3

Goals:

UKR - Andriy Yarmolenko - 33rd min

UKR - Roman Yaremchuk - 49th min

SCO - Callum McGregor - 79th min

UKR - Artem Dovbyk - 90th min + 4

Scotland vs. Ukraine live updates, highlights from World Cup playoff semi-final

FULL-TIME: Scotland 1-3 Ukraine 

Ukraine have done it! They've come to Hampden Park and upset the home side to reach the final. They'll face Wales for a place at the 2022 World Cup.

90th min + 4: GOAL!

Dovbyk adds a third for Ukraine on the break. He beats the offside trap and keeps his composure when one on one to fire it past Gordon. That's the last kick of the game.

*Only available in UK

90th min + 2: Incredible feet from Zinchenko who plays in Zubkov but his curled effort goes wide. Stepanenko is taken off for Sydorchuk.

90th min + 1: Adams does well to win a corner. Robertson's corner is into the box but Hanley's header goes wide of the post.

89th min: Defender Hanley is playing as a centre-forward and it's route one football from the Scots. Four minutes added on.

87th min: Scotland have everyone forward and are in danger of being caught on the break. But Clarke knows his side are running out of time. Ukraine are running the clock down at any opportunity they get.

84th min: Shaparenko is booked for a clumsy challenge on Christie. Ukraine look a little rattled as the Scotland fans roar their team on.

81st min: Back down the other end McGregor is the hero again, making a challenge on substitute Artem Dovbyk who was about to pull the trigger.

79th min: GOAL!

McGregor pulls one back for Scotland. A poor punch from Bushchan finds the Scot on the edge of the box and his shot goalwards should be dealt with by the keeper but he can't hold onto it and the ball trickles over the line. Game on!

*Only available in UK

78th min: Goalscorers Yaremchuk and Yarmolenko go off to standing ovations from the Ukraine fans.  Dovbyk

76th min: Adams does well on his own down the right to get his shot away but it's a good save from the goalkeeper. McGinn has another follow up effort from further out this time but it's blocked and goes out for a corner.

73rd min: A weak effort from Stuart Armstrong on the edge of the box doesn't trouble Bushchan.

68th min: Stuart Armstrong and Jack Hendry are brought on to replace Liam Cooper and Billy Gilmour.

66th min: A huge miss from McGinn! Scott McTominay fires a shot from close range at a tight angle which the goalkeeper flaps at. The rebound falls kindly to McGinn who has a free header and somehow heads it wide.

59th min: McGinn is booked for a foul on Stepanenko.

56th min: Ukraine's goalkeeper Heorhiy Bushchan is lucky to get away with one there as he miss-controls a back pass and McGregor is hot on his heels and blocks his clear effort only for the ball to bounce back just past the post.

52nd min: Far too easy for Yarmolenko who dribbles it past Scotland's backline and into the box before unleashing a shot and Gordon denies him.

49th min: GOAL!

Ukraine double their lead as Yaremchuk heads his side in front. It's brilliant movement from the striker but in the end it's a simple header from the back post back across Gordon. Scotland have it all to do now.

46th min: Just the one change at the break as Ryan Christie is on for Dykes.

We're underway!

HALF-TIME: Scotland 0-1 Ukraine 

44th min: Dykes goes into the referee's book after his aerial challenge with Taras Stepanenko sees him lead with his arm and the Ukrainian hits the deck.

42nd min: McGregor drills the ball from outside the box but it's blocked. It then falls to McGinn but he can't get the ball out from his feet and it's brilliant defending from Mykola Matviyenko who clears.

38th min: How will Scotland respond to that then? The crowd's gone a little quiet and Ukraine are happy to let Scotland have possession while they regroup. It's not quite clicking for the home side and the front two need to get more involved.

33rd min: GOAL!

Yarmolenko fires the visitors in front. A floated ball over the top from Malinovskyi sees the Hammer take one touch to control the ball and quickly lob the oncoming Gordon with a beautiful finish. Replays show Hanley just played him onside by the smallest of margins.

*Only available in UK:

32nd min: Some sustained pressure from Ukraine at the moment, particularly down the left, is causing Scotland problems. A great pace to the game.

28th min: Good defensive work from Yarmolenko breaks up a Scottish attack as he cuts out Adams' pass to Andy Robertson in the final third.

24th min: Callum McGregor plays a key part in Scotland's best move of the game. He gets down the left and cuts the ball back to John McGinn but the Aston Villa midfielder blazes the ball over the bar.

21st min: Scotland look all over the place at the back. Gordon again bails his team out with another save. This time smothering the ball to force a corner after Hanley got into a mess close to goal.

18th min: Scotland have a corner but a free header from Grant Hanley goes over.

17th min: Andriy Yarmolenko has to score! A ball into the box finds its way to the West Ham forward inside the six-yard box but Gordon flings himself at it and sticks out a hand to deny him.

14th min: Che Adams attempts an ambitious pass from the right into Dykes but it's overhit and Ukraine clear.

11th min: A second yellow card for Ukraine. This time Ruslan Malinovskyi puts Lyndon Dykes on the deck with a late tackle.

8th min: Craig Gordon pulls off a brilliant save to deny Yaremchuk from close range. The Ukrainian forward hits it first time from a low cross about 10 yards out and Gordon's reflexes are tested early as he tips the ball over with his left hand. A big let off for the home side.

4th min: A few nervy touches from both sides so far. Scotland attempt to drive the ball forward but Roman Yaremchuk arrives late with a sliding challenge on Billy Gilmour and picks up the first yellow card of the match.

We're underway! 

*Only available in UK

3 mins from kick off: Both teams enter the pitch and the atmosphere is spine-tingling. Ukraine players each have an individual flag of their country draped round them and despite them looking nervous they look unbelievably proud.

10 mins from kick off: Scotland fans have been showing their class by giving the Ukrainian players a huge welcome when they entered the pitch to warm up. Liverpool legend Graeme Souness says it will be one of the stranger atmosphere's he's encountered at a ground. 

*Only available in UK:

20 mins from kick off: Remember the winner of Scotland/Ukraine and Wales already know their opponents should the reach Qatar with the draw conducted earlier this year.

The winners of Sunday's playoff final will be placed in Group B alongside England, USA and Iran.

Scotland boss Steve Clarke has paid Ukraine such respect in the build up to the game but insists his side are focused on the task in hand.

"They made a decision to get their football players out the country and to a training camp because they want to play and want to try to give their nation a boost by qualifying for Qatar," he said.

"The game goes ahead amid the horrific outside influence, but for us, we focus on the game of football.

"How you would deal with yourself if you were put in that situation, you don't know until you're actually there, but I've nothing but good thoughts for them and good wishes for them - except for during the game."

45 mins from kickoff: The importance of tonight's match cannot be understated. The 2022 men's World Cup in Qatar is mere months away and will feature 32 teams before the field expands to 48 teams for the 2026 World Cup. As previously mentioned, Wales await the winner of Scotland vs Ukraine with the victor of that match determined as the final European World Cup berth.

If you want a full rundown of which countries have already qualified for the 2022 World Cup then look no further.

FIFA World Cup: Which teams have qualified to Qatar 2022? Full list of all 32 nations

60 mins from kickoff: Tonight's match was originally supposed to be played in late March but Russia's invasion of Ukraine at the end of February saw football understandably take a back seat.

Ukrainian players and their families have endured a difficult few months along with the rest of the nation and the ongoing conflict and its impact saw Manchester City midfielder Zinchenko break down in tears during his pre-match press conference. 

"Every Ukrainian wants one thing - to stop this war," he said.

"I spoke to people from different countries, all over the world and I spoke to some Ukrainian kids who just don't understand what's happening back in Ukraine.

"They only want the war to stop. They have one dream to stop the war.

"When it comes to football, the team, we have our own dream. We want to go to the World Cup, want to give these incredible emotions to the Ukrainians because they deserve it so much at this very moment."

75 mins from kickoff: The teams are in!

Ukraine's starting XI is as follows: Bushchan, Karavaev, Zabarnyl, Matvlyenko, Mykolenko, Stepanenko, Malinosvkyi, Zinchenko, Tsygankov, Yaremchuk, Yarmolenko.

100 mins from kickoff: Hello and welcome to The Sporting News' live coverage of tonight's all-important World Cup playoff semi-final between Ukraine and Scotland.

Only one team can move to within 90 minutes of a place in the 2022 Qatar World Cup with the winner of tonight's match set to travel to face Wales. It will be an emotional night at Hampden Park and we've got you covered with all the updates throughout the evening.

MORE: Why Ukraine FA wants legend stripped of awards & titles

How to watch Scotland vs. Ukraine

  UK USA Canada Australia
Date Wed, June 1 Wed, June 1 Wed, June 1 Thur, June 2
Time 19:45 BST 14:45 ET 14:45 ET 04:45 AET
TV channel Sky Sports ESPN2, TUDN TLN —
Streaming Sky Go, NOW TV fuboTV, ESPN+ TLN, UEFA.tv Optus Sport

UK: The match is carried by Sky Sports on TV and streaming platforms.

USA: Scotland vs. Ukraine will be televised on ESPN2 (English) and TUDN (Spanish) with both channels streamed on fuboTV. The match will also be streamed on ESPN+for subscribers.

Canada: TLN will carry the match in Canada with a stream also available on UEFA.tv.

Australia: Optus Sport have streaming rights to UEFA World Cup qualifiers in Australia.

Dan Gibbs

Dan Gibbs Photo

Dan joined The Sporting News as a sub-editor in 2022, having previously been the deputy sports editor at the Daily Star and a sports journalist at The Metro, focusing on football and tennis. Often found following his team home and away, the most famous red and blue shirt in football ... Crystal Palace.