If you want to know a little more about football in Kazakhstan, here’s a piece from our archive …
Teams: Kazakhstan v Scotland
Kazakhstan: Nepohodov, Yerlanov, Maliy, Postnikov, Vorogovskiy, Pertsukh, Kuat, Merkel, Suyumbayev, Murtazayev, Zainutdinov
Scotland: Bain, Palmer, Bates, McKenna, Shinnie, Armstrong, McGregor, McGinn, Forrest, McBurnie, Burke
Preamble
Scotland are on a roll. They’ve won three of their last four competitive matches – two against Israel and a swaggering triumph in Albania – and now they can dream about reaching their first major finals since 1998. They’ve already secured a playof spot thanks to their exploits in the Nations League but today begins their attempt to march straight into the final through the group stages. It’s a tricky path, to be sure, with Russia and Belgium in the way as well as Kazakhstan, who host Alex McLeish’s men today on an artificial pitch. But the Tartan Army can believe again! Can’t they?