Ukraine kept alive their dream of reaching the World Cup finals by beating Scotland 3-1 in their playoff at Hampden Park on Wednesday in their first competitive game since Russia started "a special military operation" in their country.

Ukraine will now face Wales on Sunday in Cardiff with the winner taking a place at November's finals in Qatar. The loss means Scotland remain without an appearance at a World Cup since 1998.

Goals from Andriy Yarmolenko and Roman Yaremchuk had put a confident and dominant Ukraine 2-0 up before Callum McGregor pulled a goal back for the Scots in the 79th minute.

The goal injected some belief into Scotland who applied some late pressure. Hampden was awakened and with Ukraine tiring, Scotland pushed forward in numbers in search of a way to take the game into extra time.

But after wasting a couple of chances on the break, with the final kick of the match, substitute Artem Dovbyk put the game to bed and set off emotional celebrations among the Ukrainians.

Ukraine's traveling support, who had come from across the United Kingdom and from as far away as Australia and the United States to cheer on their team, were jubilant with many no doubt now planning to extend their trip to a weekend in South Wales.

It was a deserved win for Ukraine, but for Scotland it was a bitter end to their hopes of a first World Cup appearance in 24 years.

"It's a disappointing night. You have to be honest, the best team on the night won," said coach Steve Clarke.

"Now is a night to suffer, we'll suffer together. It's going to take at least 48 hours just to move on. When you lose a game of this magnitude it hurts."