A top-two finish in their European Championship qualifying group already looks a slim chance after an opening defeat to a team ranked 117th in the world. Kazakhstan had only won three of their previous 40 competitive matches - against Andorra, Latvia and the Faroe Islands.

The opening two goals were particularly painful for Aberdeen midfielder Graeme Shinnie - who was standing in at left-back after Kieran Tierney and Andy Robertson lost fitness battles.

Shinnie, who played left-back earlier in his career, allowed both Yuriy Pertsukh and Yan Vorogovskiy to get in behind him to net.

Scotland's defence, which also featured Sheffield Wednesday's Liam Palmer making his debut at right-back, and Scott McKenna and David Bates in the middle, continued to look susceptible to home attacks and Baktiyor Zainutdinov headed a simple third in the 51st minute. Scott Bain, handed the gloves following Allan McGregor's international retirement, was blameless.

Alex McLeish's team - who started with Oli McBurnie up front with Oliver Burke and James Forrest either side - had not registered a shot on target by then and they limped to defeat after having a couple of efforts saved just before the hour mark.

While 27,000 home fans celebrated a memorable Kazakh New Year holiday, around 600 Scotland supporters watched in disbelief after travelling about 4,000 miles to see their team reach a new low.

Things looked like they were starting well enough in the Astana Arena, which had its roof closed for the occasion, as Scotland enjoyed good early possession on the artificial turf. But they were caught out by a ball over the top in the sixth minute as Michal Bilek enjoyed the perfect start to his reign as Kazakhstan head coach.