Scotland host Ukraine in crunch European playoff semi-final on road to FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar - How to watch
The last remaining qualifying spot on offer to European nations for the biggest tournament in men's international football will be decided this week. Here's what you need to know.
Football
Competition for a place at the Qatar 2022 men's football World Cup resumes on Wednesday (1st June), with Scotland facing Ukraine in the playoff semi-final for the last European qualifying spot.
The match at Hampden Park was originally due to take place on 24th March, but was postponed by the global governing body FIFA due to the war in Ukraine.
The two nations stand just two wins away from a place at the men's World Cup starting in November, with Wales awaiting as the final hurdle in the playoff final at the weekend.
How to watch Scotland v Ukraine in the 2022 World Cup playoff semi-final
The Scotland v Ukraine playoff semi-final match takes place at Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland, on Wednesday 1st June 2022.
Kick-off is at 19:45 British Summer Time (BST), which is 18:45 GMT/UTC and 21:45 Eastern European Summer Time (EEST) in Kyiv, Ukraine.
The game will be televised by broadcasters and digital platforms around the world.
For viewers in Britain, the game is being broadcast and streamed live on Sky Sports football. In the U.S., it's available via ESPN and ESPN+, in Canada it's on TLN, and in Australia there is a live stream offered by Optus Sports.
Which top European players will join Ronaldo, Mbappe, Kane, and Lewandowski at the Qatar 2022 Football World Cup?
There are 12 teams from the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) already through to the World Cup.
Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Serbia, Spain and Switzerland all secured automatic places with their performances in the qualifying group stage. It means fans will see the superstar players including Kevin de Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, Luka Modric, Christian Eriksen, Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe, and Pedri playing in Qatar.
Christiano Ronaldo's Portugal and Robert Lewandowski's Poland booked their spots through play-offs.
The remaining 13th berth from Europe will be decided in the last playoff final on Sunday, where Gareth Bale's Wales will face the winners of the Scotland-Ukraine semi.
Full list of Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifiers is almost complete.
Following the European play-off final between Wales and Scotland/Ukraine, there will be two remaining qualifiers to decided during the Intercontinental Play-offs that take place on 13 June (Peru v Australia/UAE) and 14 June (Costa Rica v New Zealand).
Ghana, Tunisia, Morocco, Cameroon, and Senegal are the five representatives from the Confederation of African Football (CAF), after a dramatic end to their qualifying tournament.
Canada, Mexico, and the United States (USA) are the three qualifying nations from CONCACAF. Costa Rica also have a chance to represent the North America, Central America, and the Caribbean region. They play New Zealand in their intercontinental playoff final on 14 June.
Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, and Uruguay had already sealed the four automatic qualifying spots from the CONMEBOL region. There could be a fifth South American team at the tournament in Qatar, if Peru win their inter-confederation playoff against Australia/UAE.
Iran, South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and tournament hosts Qatar had already guaranteed their progress from the Asian region. UAE and Australia face each other in an AFC play-off on 7th June in Doha, with the winner progressing to face Peru on June 13th, also in the Qatari capital.
There are no direct qualification spots for the Oceania confederation (OFC), but group winners New Zealand could represent the region if they win the intercontinental playoff with Costa Rica.
The world cup draw was made in Doha on 1st April. A full list of the groups is here.
The men's FIFA World Cup is scheduled to begin on 21st November, with the final in Doha on 18th December 2022.