World Cup qualifying betting: Scotland is favored to beat Ukraine

Ukraine is an underdog to get to the World Cup.

The Ukrainians are at +240 at BetMGM to beat Scotland in regulation on Wednesday (2:45 p.m. ET, ESPN2) and advance to play Wales on Sunday for the final spot available in Qatar.

This week’s games were pushed back months because of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine earlier in 2022. The World Cup draw went ahead as scheduled despite the delay for these Path A qualifiers, and the winner of this playoff is set to be in Group B alongside England, Iran and the United States.

Wales has to play just one game this week after beating Austria 2-1. The Path A winner will join Poland and Portugal among the three teams that qualified for the World Cup through the European playoffs.

If Ukraine beats Scotland and Wales it will set up one of the biggest underdog stories in World Cup history given the circumstances of the past year. The Ukrainians haven’t qualified for a World Cup since 2006, a year where they advanced all the way to the quarterfinals. That was the country’s first appearance in the tournament as an independent nation.

If you’re a soccer fan you’ll likely recognize some names on the Ukraine team as well. Oleksandr Zinchenko is part of Manchester City’s EPL-winning team and vice-captain Andriy Yarmolenko plays for West Ham.

Scotland, meanwhile, hasn’t qualified for a World Cup since 1998 and has never made it out of the group stage of the tournament in eight tries so far. The country holds the record for most World Cup appearances without making it to the knockout rounds.

Here are some of the odds available for Wednesday’s game at BetMGM. The second playoff game kicks off at Noon ET on Sunday on ESPN2.

Scotland vs. Ukraine (over/under 2.5 goals)

• Scotland to win in regulation (+125)

• Ukraine to win in regulation (+240)

• Regulation tie (+210)

• Scotland to advance (-165)

• Ukraine to advance (+120)

• Both teams to score in regulation (+110)

• Both teams will not score in regulation (-150)

• Over 2.5 goals in regulation (+135)

• Under 2.5 goals in regulation (-200)

• Scotland wins 1-0 in regulation (+525)

• 1-1 tie in regulation (+525)

• 0-0 tie in regulation (+600)

• Ukraine wins 1-0 in regulation (+700)