Ukraine v Scotland
Tuesday 27th September 2022 – 20.45pm CEST
Stadion Cracovii, Kraków, Poland
Slightly different Sporran Guide for this fixture versus Ukraine. The continued war in Ukraine means the game has to played in Poland, we hope being able to play matches gives the people of Ukraine some comfort and enjoyment during this really difficult period and sends a message to Russia that we are all behind Ukraine and want an end to the bloodshed.
We have been really fortunate that David McGirr of Kraków Expats Directory has taken the time to write a guide for the Tartan Army in Kraków and given he lives in the city we don’t think we could do anywhere near as good a job. You can find the guide on their website
krakowexpats.pl/sport/tartan-army-guide-to-krakow
This contains all the usual useful information we would put in the Sporran Guide and he has continued to update it including the latest information about ticket pickup. ATAC would like to thank David for the time taken to create this guide. The Scottish FA have also issued really good guidance that can be found here.
Ticket Collection
We would just reiterate the Ticket Collection information. Lead bookers with ID (photocopies are acceptable) can collect from
Location: Hotel Indigo Kraków Old Town, Św. Filipa 18, 31-150 Kraków
Time: Tuesday 27 September 10am-3pm
Location: Ticket Box 3, Stadion Cracovii, Józefa Ignacego Kraszewskiego, 30-110 Kraków
Time: Tuesday 27 September 6pm-8.45pm
This will be the fifth occasion Scotland has met Ukraine, the 3rd in 3 months and 2nd in a week after that fantastic 3-0 win at Hampden on Wednesday night. The biggest of course was the 3-1 loss in the World Cup play offs in June, unfortunately for Ukraine they will also be watching the World Cup from the sidelines after losing to Wales in the play off final. Ukraine played their first official match in April 1992 (a 3-1 loss to Hungary) although there were 8 Ukranians in the Commonwealth of Independent States team that competed at Euro 1992 the same summer. The final game for the CIS was a 3-0 loss to Scotland after drawing with Germany and the Netherlands. There have also been a number of Ukranians that have played against Scotland when they were part of the USSR. Ukraine have probably been one of the most successfull nations that have competed after the break up of the Soviet Union. They reached the World Cup Quarter Finals in 2006, losing to eventual champions Italy. The loss to Wales was actually the 5th time Ukraine have missed out on the World Cup in a play off, in fact of the 7 World Cups they have competed in (including Qatar 2022) they have reached the play offs 5 times, qualified once and only once not at least made the play offs. They hosted Euro 2012 with Poland, their first time in the finals where they defeated Sweden but lost to England and France. They have now qualified for 3 Euros in a row and reached the Quarter Finals in 2020, the run included an extra time win over Sweden at Hampden.
As we play Ireland at Hampden on Saturday Ukraine will be in Yerevan where they will need to match Scotland’s result to retain the chance of topping Group B1. It is a huge game for both teams as group winners will be in pot 2 for the Euro 2024 qualification draw in October as well as guaranteeing at least a play off for the same tournament. That isn’t even mentioning the promotion to League A in the Nations League, leading to some huge games against the top teams in Europe in 2024 and the opportunity to make it to the Finals and win the competition in 2025. There may be some changes between now and then with UEFA looking to tinker and add in South American teams to the Nations League but no doubt winning the group will be another significant achievement for Steve Clarke’s Scotland. We can also go into the game with a free hit as last week’s result means we cannot finish bottom of the section and therefore cannot be relegated to League C. In the last Nations League we put ourselves in a similarly strong position but just couldn’t hold off the Czech Republic so hopefully Scotland can go one better this time and win group B1.
Tuesday will be Ukraine’s 138th ‘home’ match and the matches have been spread across 12 different stadiums. As a result of the war with Russia they are currently forced to play matches in Poland, where they beat Armenia 3-0 and drew with the Republic of Ireland in Łódźv. The last game of this campaign moves to Kraków, a little closer to the Ukranian border. Whilst on the football field Scotland will be desperate to take another win and 3 points, ATAC and all of the Scotland support stand with Ukraine and hope for an end to the war and for Russia to withdraw from Ukraine. We send our love and best wishes to the people of Ukraine and hope they can return to some semblance of normality as soon as possible and next time the countries meet on the field it can be back in Ukraine where it should be.
