Ukraine deserve ‘cheer’ after World Cup play-off win, former Scotland boss says

The last manager to take Scotland’s national men’s team to a World Cup said Ukraine deserve “cheer and encouragement” following their 3-1 win in Wednesday night’s play-off.

The Ukrainian team had not played a competitive match since November 2021 and had originally been due to meet Scotland in the semi-finals of the World Cup play-offs in March, but this had to be postponed due to the war.

If Ukraine win against Wales on Sunday, they will qualify for a place at the World Cup in Qatar later this year.

Craig Brown took Scotland to the 1998 World Cup in France when he managed the team between 1993 and 2001.

Speaking to BBC’s Good Morning Scotland on Thursday, he told the show “it wasn’t too bad” to lose to Ukraine due to the Russian invasion in March.

He said:”I’ve got to say this in fairness. If we’re going to lose to anyone, I think to lose to Ukraine wasn’t too bad because of the state their country is in at the moment.

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