John Swinney has defended spending £45,000 of taxpayers' cash on business class flights to attend the World Cup.
First Minister's travel costs
The First Minister and two senior officials flew business class to Boston in June to attend Scotland's opening match against Haiti, which the Scots won 1-0 thanks to a deflected John McGinn strike.
But sports minister Maree Todd - who attended Scotland's defeat to Brazil in Miami - and several others travelled to the US on significantly cheaper economy-class flights.
Swinney insisted the SNP Government had tried to "minimise" costs.
In total, the government spent £98,442 on trips for Swinney, Todd and their officials to the US, including flights, hotels and expenses.
Flights for Swinney and his private secretary John Webster cost £17,893 each. Business-class tickets for the first minister's special adviser Colin McAllister cost £9,864.
The SNP shelled out a further £11,800 on economy-class flights for several officials accompanying Swinney, as well as more than £10,000 on car hire for the first minister's visit.
The cost of plane tickets for Todd and four accompanying officials to visit Miami for Scotland's final game was £5,485.
Government travel rules
The Scottish government's travel rules state that business-class flights should only be used on flights of more than 10 hours "unless otherwise agreed".
Swinney told the BBC: "Obviously, when flights have got to be booked, when there's intense pressure on the time involved, then the costs are likely to be higher."
He added: "We tried to minimise those costs."
Neil Gray, the Justice Secretary, defended the spending. "These are busy trips for ministers and it is right that they are able to arrive fresh, they're able to arrive in a way that means that they're able to participate and do their work immediately, so I think that's a proportionate use," he said.
Gray claimed the potential benefits of the trip - such as increasing Scotland's "soft-power reach and the ability to make significant international connections" - justified the cash.
He added: "It was right that the first minister and his team were there to participate and to be part of that."
Political reaction
Conservative MSP Stephen Kerr said: "Nobody begrudged SNP ministers joining the Tartan Army to cheer on Scotland men's team at their first World Cup appearance in nearly three decades, but in typical SNP fashion costs were never kept under control.
"Swinney and his ministerial colleague were clearly happy to escape all the challenges facing them back home, but they should have met these significant costs out of their own pocket."
