FIFA World Cup 2022 Qualifier: Ukraine defeats Scotland 3-1 in playoff semifinal, to face Wales in last European playoff final on June 5th

European Play off Fixtures 2022: Ukraine beat Scotland 3-1 in the play-off semi-final clash at Hampden Park on June 1, 2022. Ukraine’s Andriy Yarmolenko, Roman Yaremchuk and Artem Dovbyk scored the goals for Ukraine to set up stage for the playoff final against Wales on June 5, 2022. 

Ukraine now stands a chance to qualify for FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar later this year. Scotland unfortunately fell short in their quest to qualify for the FIFA World Cup Qatar despite Callum McGregor’s second-half strike.

It was an emotional night as Ukrainian players stood draped in their country’s flag as their national anthem played ahead of the match, their first competitive match since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24th. 

Andriy Yarmolenko, Roman Yaremchuk and Artem Dovbyk scored the goals for Ukraine to set up a play-off final away to Wales on Sunday for a place in Qatar later this year pic.twitter.com/EDJfatEXbi

— AFP News Agency (@AFP)
June 1, 2022

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FIFA World Cup Qualifiers 2022: How many qualifiers are remaining?

Only three playoffs deciders are left to be decided in June after the 2022 FIFA World Cup draw, two of which are intercontinental playoffs between Australia, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Peru and the United Arab Emirates. Only two teams among these will qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar.

The third playoff decider is the delayed European Playoff qualifier that will decide the fate of three teams, out of which only one will qualify. 

Why was the European Playoff rescheduled?

The European playoffs got complicated after and European body UEFA jointly suspended Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. The last European playoff decider was postponed after the Ukrainian FA petitioned UEFA and FIFA to push its matches from their original March dates.

UEFA along with the support of Ukraine’s opponent Scotland immediately agreed to reschedule the matches to give Ukraine time to prepare a team amid the war. Many members of the Ukraine national team play for the Ukrainian league, which had been paused due to the war.

The European playoff semifinal between Wales and Austria went on as scheduled in March and Wales beat Austria to secure its place in the playoff decider. The playoff semi-final between Ukraine and Scotland Bale was rescheduled to June 1, which Ukraine won 3-1. 

What a performance 🇺🇦 👏 pic.twitter.com/wDvyyYHLVW

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup)
June 1, 2022

The last European playoff decider will now be played between Ukraine and Wales on June 5, 2022.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland 1-3 Ukraine 🇺🇦

The clash for Europe’s last #FIFAWorldCup ticket will see 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Wales host Ukraine on Sunday! pic.twitter.com/COPA1jTdV7

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup)
June 1, 2022

Italy out of FIFA World Cup 2022

In the most shocking exit, Italy was knocked out of the FIFA World Cup 2022 after losing to North macedonia in their playoff semifinals. Italy is the current European Champion.