Today, on June 1 in Glasgow, the Ukraine national team will play a semi-final match of the World Cup qualification playoffs against Scotland (kickoff at 9:45 PM). Here is our opponent.

Scotland

General Information

Confederation: UEFA. Governing body: Scottish Football Association. As of March 2022, the Scotland national team held the 39th place in the official FIFA ranking. The team's first match in history was played on November 30, 1872 against England (0-0), its biggest win came on February 23, 1901 over Ireland (11-0), and its worst defeat occurred on June 19, 1954 in a match against Uruguay (0-7). The national team has the nickname «Tartan Army».

Squad

Goalkeepers: David Marshall («Queen of the South», Scotland), Zander Clark («St. Johnstone»), Craig Gordon («Heart of Midlothian»), Liam Kelly («Motherwell»).

Defenders: Liam Cooper («Leeds United», England), Grant Hanley («Norwich City», England), Jack Hendry («Club Brugge», Belgium), Aaron Hickey («Bologna», Italy), Scott McKenna («Nottingham Forest», England), Nathan Patterson («Everton», England), Andrew Robertson («Liverpool», England), Steven O'Donnell («Motherwell»), Anthony Ralston, Greg Taylor (both — «Celtic»), John Souttar («Heart of Midlothian»).

Midfielders: Stuart Armstrong («Southampton», England), Billy Gilmour («Chelsea», England), John McGinn («Aston Villa», England), Scott McTominay («Manchester United», England), Lewis Ferguson («Aberdeen»), Ryan Jack («Rangers»), Callum McGregor, David Turnbull (both — «Celtic»).

Forwards: Che Adams («Southampton», England), Jake Buxton («Stoke City», England), Ryan Christie («Bournemouth», England), Lyndon Dykes («Queen of the South», Scotland), Ross Stewart («Sunderland», England).

The average age of the team is 26.5 years. The oldest player is goalkeeper Craig Gordon from Heart of Midlothian, who is 39 years and 5 months old, while the youngest is defender Nathan Patterson from Everton (20 years and 6 months).

Head Coach

The Scotland national team is coached by 58-year-old specialist Steve Clarke, who replaced Alex McLeish in the position in March 2019.

Before being appointed as the national team coach, Clarke worked as an assistant to head coaches of Newcastle United, Chelsea, West Ham and Liverpool. He also managed West Bromwich Albion, Reading, Aston Villa and Kilmarnock.

Under his leadership, the Scottish national team played 33 matches: winning 15, drawing nine and losing nine. Steve Clarke most frequently employs a 3—4—2—1 tactical formation.

Leader

The current leader of the Scotland national team can be considered central midfielder John McGinn from English «Aston Villa». The 27-year-old player has been with the «Tartan Army» since March 2016. In this time, he played in 44 matches and scored 12 goals.

McGinn started his playing career at Scottish «St Mirren» (87 matches, 4 goals), then moved to «Hibernian» (101 matches, 12 goals), and then to «Aston Villa» (123 matches, 15 goals). With «St Mirren» he won the Scottish League Cup (2012/2013), and with «Hibernian» — the Scottish Cup (2015/2016). He was named the best player of the Scottish Championship (2016/2017) and the best player of «Aston Villa» (2018/2019).

John McGinn usually plays as a central midfielder, but can also cover the position of right winger. He prefers long passes and fights well in the air. The authoritative portal Transfermarkt estimates his transfer value at 30 million euros.