Heartbreak for Leeds United captain Liam Cooper as Scotland's World Cup dreams are crushed

The Tartan Army's 3-1 World Cup qualifying play-off semi-final defeat means their 24-year wait for finals participation goes on.

There was great optimism about the chances of Steve Clarke's side making it to Qatar after Scotland competed in EURO 2020, their first major tournament since 1998, last summer.

Cooper, who qualifies for Scotland through his West Lothian-born grandfather, played 90 minutes in the group stages at the home tournament as Scotland held England to a goalless draw between defeats to the Czech Republic and Croatia.

Speaking after his side bowed out before the knock-out rounds, Cooper explained that the experience gave him hope for the future of the Scottish national team.

“I tried to take an experience from it and enjoy it as much as I could," Cooper said. "The euphoria around every game was massive, everything was unbelievable.

"I took it all in and really enjoyed it, the Scotland lads are a great bunch and that made it great as well.

“We were gutted [not to get through], but hopefully that’s the start for us and we can make major tournaments again.”

Scotland were left with more than an outside chance of qualifying for Qatar 2022 after ten qualifying fixtures across 2021 left the Tartan Army runners-up in Group F and eligible to participate in the competition's qualifying play-offs.

Originally set for March, Wednesday's play-off semi-final between Scotland and Ukraine was postponed due to the Russian invasion, which meant that Cooper could play his part in his country's decisive match after recovering from the hamstring injury which kept him out for a large part of the season.

Clarke handed the Whites skipper his first international start since November at Hampden Park as Scotland sought passage to Sunday's play-off final against Wales, who qualified through a semi-final victory over Austria earlier this year.

But Scotland were found wanting by a spirited Ukraine side who, at the whistle, looked deserving to a man of their shot at the World Cup finals.

After West Ham forward Andriy Yarmolenko's opener was the difference at the break, Clarke's side suffered a nightmare start to the second half as the visitors doubled their lead through Roman Yaremchuk within five minutes of the restart.

Following Cooper's departure in the 68th minute, Scotland were handed a lifeline as Callum McGregor halved the deficit with ten minutes on the clock to find an equaliser.

But the Tartan Army could not raise the home crowd's spirits with a goal - as Scotland poured forward, gaps opened up at the back and Ukraine forward Artem Dovbyk put the result beyond doubt deep into injury time to put an end to the hosts' dream.

Whites winger Dan James could feature for Wales in the play-off final against Ukraine at the Cardiff City Stadium on Sunday, while Cooper will battle Nations League fixtures against Ireland and Armenia.