Belarus v Scotland: Line-ups, stats and preview

Belarus v Scotland preview

In Belarus’s first World Cup qualifying attempt under manager Carlos Alos, there was a moment of respite for the Spaniard when German Barkovsky scored his first international goal with a late consolation penalty in their 5-1 defeat in Greece on Friday.

“Carlos came in and supported us all,” said 23-year-old forward Barkovsky, whose side now meet Scotland in the Hungarian city of Zalaegerszeg.

“He said we shouldn’t throw mud at each other but stick together until the end. It’s clear that our group isn’t easy but we can play and I think everything will be fine with us.

“We have to go through stages like this and forget it, and head to Hungary positively.”

Alos, who was appointed in 2023, suggested Kostantinos Katetsas’ third-minute opener may have “mentally broken” his players “to some extent”.

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“Some nervousness and doubts appeared that prevented us from playing to our strengths,” he said, having seen his team fall 4-0 behind after 36 minutes. “We put up poor resistance in all areas of the pitch during the first half.”

Scotland made an encouraging start to their campaign with a 0-0 draw away to a Denmark side who had won 25 of their previous 28 home games, although Lyndon Dykes spurned a clear sight of goal inside the penalty area during the second half.

Manager Steve Clarke has encouraged his players to “respect the conditions” of a game that will be played behind closed doors.

“[It will be] totally different from [Copenhagen], where even the opposition crowd give you that momentum to keep going,” explained Clarke.

“You could hear the Scotland fans – the Tartan Army – all night. That gives the players that little bit of incentive when they’re starting to flag physically.

“What we have to do is make sure that we approach the game [against Belarus] with the same manner, the same intensity and try to get the points we need.”

Dykes has enjoyed Scotland’s unity. “We all get on so well,” said the Birmingham City forward.

“There are a few new faces in the squad but when they come in, it’s like a family and we show that on the pitch.

“Hopefully we can show that Monday and then we kick on from there. I’ll look back on that [opportunity] and hopefully another chance comes and I do better.”

Belarus v Scotland team news

Sochi’s Roman Pasevich and fellow midfielder Maksim Myakish, of Dinamo Minsk, made their Belarus debuts in Greece, replacing Valery Gromyko and Evgeny Yablonsky.

Barkovsky – currently on loan to Piast Gliwice from another Polish club, Puszcza Niepołomice – could be a candidate for a starting spot after coming on at half-time for Baltica Kaliningrad midfielder Yuri Kovalev.

Celtic full-backs Kieran Tierney and Anthony Ralston withdrew from Scotland’s squad with knocks. Sassuolo’s Josh Doig was called up as cover.

Brentford full-back Aaron Hickey returned as a starter against Denmark after an absence from the squad of almost two years following hamstring problems.

Belarus v Scotland predicted line-ups

Belarus starting XI: Pavel Pavlyuchenko, Vadim Pigas, Alexander Martynovich, Pavel Zabelin, Kirill Pechenin, Valeriy Gromyko, Nikita Korzun, Evgeniy Yablonsky, Yuri Kovalev, Trofim Melnichenko, Max Ebong

Scotland starting XI: Angus Gunn, Aaron Hickey, John Souttar, Grant Hanley, Andry Robertson, John McGinn, Scott McTominay, Ryan Christie, Che Adams, Lewis Ferguson, Lyndon Dykes

How to watch Belarus v Scotland: TV channel, live online streams

Kick-off on Monday is at 19:45 BST (14:45 ET / 11:45 PT), with live coverage in the UK on BBC One Scotland and BBC Three.

Fans can live-stream the action via the BBC iPlayer app or the BBC Sport website.

Belarus v Scotland stats

• Belarus have not scored more than one goal in any of their last nine competitive fixtures, although they have drawn four and won three of those games
• They are unbeaten in their last six matches in Hungary, drawing their last three and scoring one goal across those matches
• Since a 4-2 win over Estonia in Minsk in March 2021, Belarus have lost all eight of their World Cup qualifiers and failed to score in five of those matches
• The White Wings have never qualified for the finals and have won exactly one game in each of their last three qualifying group stages
• At 38, centre-back Aleksandr Martynovich – forced off with a possible facial injury against Greece – needs 19 more caps to overtake retired midfielder Aleksandr Kulchiy’s record of 101 for Belarus
• Scotland have two wins to one for Belarus in the four meetings between the sides
• Gary McAllister’s goal gave them a 1-0 win in Belarus in June 1997 but they have failed to win the last two editions of the fixture, drawing 0-0 in Minsk and losing 1-0 in Glasgow in 2005
• This match will be Steve Clarke’s 70th in charge of Scotland, one behind Craig Brown’s record
• Clarke’s players have gone almost four hours without scoring a competitive goal since McTominay’s penalty in their 1-0 win in Greece on March 20
• Scotland are unbeaten in four away World Cup qualifiers since losing 2-0 in Denmark in September 2021, winning three times along the way