The national team of Ukraine can continue to dream of the 2022 World Cup. Thanks to the away win in Scotland, the Eastern Europeans are in the final of the playoffs for the last ticket for the tournament in Qatar.
In the middle of the war, the Ukrainian national soccer team gave their compatriots a small sporting ray of hope. Almost without proper preparation, Ukraine won the semi-finals for the last European World Cup ticket in Scotland, deservedly 3-1 (1-0) and can dream of the finals in Qatar. The last hurdle is the playoff final in Cardiff against the hosts Wales on Sunday (from 8.45 p.m. in the t-online live ticker).
Former Dortmund player Andriy Yarmolenko (33′), Roman Yaremchuk (49′) and Artem Dowbyk (90′ + 5′) were the heroes of the day in Glasgow’s sold-out Hampden Park on Wednesday. Yarmolenko lobbed the ball sensitively over Scottish goalkeeper Craig Gordon, Yaremchuk hit his head, his ecstatic celebration in front of the 3,000 fans in the away block was a moment of goosebumps. Callum McGregor (79th) scored the goal for the Scots.
Scots for over an hour without a real chance to score
Viktor Zygankov (9′) and Yarmolenko (14′) forced Gordon to brilliant saves early on in the Scottish goal. It turned out that the game wasn’t easy for the Scots mentally either: despite all their own dreams of the World Cup, the opponent was very lucky to win. The friendly atmosphere in Hampden Park did the rest.