(Football news) Ukraine defeated Scotland 3-1 at Hampden Park to book their place in the World Cup playoffs final against Wales. Scotland will be extremely disappointed by their performance as it is now the 6 consecutive World Cup which will not feature a Scottish team. The Ukrainian team have given their countrymen something to cheer about in these difficult times. Ukraine have only qualified for the World Cup finals once when they reached the Quarter finals in 2006. They will have a chance to make their 2nd appearance with only Gareth Bale's Wales team standing in between. 

Scotland lined up with Billy Gilmour in midfield while Scott McTominay was played on the right side of a 3 man defence. The tension and pressure on the game was clearly visible as there were some hard tackling and clumsy fouls from the very beginning. The referee handed out two yellow cards in the very first 11 minutes both to Ukraine. Ruslan Malinovskyi who came very close to scoring in the 9th minute but his shot was saved by Craig Gordon. Ukraine broke the deadlock in the 33rd minute as Andriy Yarmolenko chipped the goalkeeper from 12 yards. 

4 minutes into the 2nd half the visitors doubled their lead after Roman Yaremchuk headed Alexander Karavaev's cross into the net. John McGinn had an incredible opportunity to pull one goal back when he had a free header inside the 6 yard box in the 67th minute. The Aston Villa midfielder missed the target completely as Hampden screamed in agony. The hosts did eventually pull a goal back with 12 minutes left via Callum McGregor. The stadium was absolutely buzzing after the goal as Scotland got a lifeline to keep their World Cup dreams alive. In the end it was too little too late as Ukraine negotiated the game really well and even got a third goal via Artem Dovbyk.

Ukraine now have the momentum to take to the Cardiff City stadium where they will take on Wales. Scotland in the end were outplayed at home in what was a complete lacklustre display. Captain Andy Robertson looked like a shadow of the player he was this season. Playing so many games for Liverpool has definitely taken a toll on him. Scotland now have 3 UEFA Nations League matches to focus on where they will look to give their fans something to cheer about.
 

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