Ukraine national football team

Pre-independence (1925–1935)

Officially the national team of Ukraine, the national team was formed in the early 1990s and shortly after was recognized internationally. It is not widely known, however, that Ukraine previously had a national team in 1925–1935. Just like the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic had its own national team.

The earliest record of games it played can be traced back to August 1928. A championship among the national teams of the Soviet republics as well as the Moscow city team was planned to take place in Moscow. Just before the tournament started, the Ukraine national team played two exhibition games against the Red Sports Federation team from Uruguay, one in Kharkiv (lost 1–2) and the other in Moscow (won 3–2). At the All-Soviet tournament, Ukraine played three games and reached the final where it lost to Moscow 0–1. Along the way, Ukraine managed to defeat the national teams of Belarus and Transcaucasus.

In 1929, Ukraine beat the team of Lower Austria in an exhibition match in Kharkiv, recording a score of 4–1.

In 1931, Ukraine participated in another All-Soviet championship in Moscow. It played only one game, starting from the semifinals. Ukraine lost to the national team of Transcaucasus 0–3 and was eliminated.

In 1986, Ukraine became a winner of association football tournament of the Spartakiad of Peoples of the USSR that was hosted in Ukraine when in final it beat the team of Uzbekistan (Uzbek SSR).

Official formation

Prior to Independence in 1991, Ukrainian players represented the Soviet Union national team. After independence, a Ukraine national team was formed but the Football Federation of Ukraine failed to secure recognition in time to compete in the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification. Meanwhile, some of the best Ukrainian players of the beginning of the 1990s (including Andrei Kanchelskis, Viktor Onopko, Sergei Yuran, Yuri Nikiforov, Ilya Tsymbalar and Oleg Salenko) chose to play for Russia, as it was named the official successor of the Soviet Union.

The Soviet Union's five-year UEFA coefficients, despite being earned in part by Ukrainian players (for example, in the final of the last successful event, Euro 1988, 7 out of starting 11 players were Ukrainians), were transferred to the direct descendant of the Soviet national team – the Russia national team. As a result, a crisis was created for both the national team and the domestic league. When Ukraine returned to international football in late 1994, it did so as absolute beginners.

In the following years, the Ukrainian team improved, showcasing talents like Andriy Shevchenko, Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, Serhiy Rebrov and Oleksandr Shovkovskiy. Ukraine, however, failed to qualify for any major tournaments prior to 2006.

Troubles with coaches

Soon after being accepted to FIFA and UEFA as a full member in 1992, Ukraine started its preparation to its first game. At first the head coach of the team was planned to be Valeriy Lobanovskyi, but at that time he had a current contract with the United Arab Emirates. Thus, the first manager of the team had to be chosen among members of a coaching council which consisted of Anatoliy Puzach (manager of Dynamo Kyiv), Yevhen Kucherevskyi (FC Dnipro), Yevhen Lemeshko (Torpedo Zaporizhya), Yukhym Shkolnykov (Bokovyna Chernnivtsi) and Viktor Prokopenko (Chornomorets Odesa). Later, they were joined by a native of Donetsk Valeriy Yaremchenko (Shakhtar Donetsk). At the end a circle of candidates narrowed down only to three names: Puzach, Yaremnchenko and Prokopenko, the latter who eventually became the head coach.

The first game of the team it was agreed to play against Hungary on 22 April 1992 in Kyiv at the Respublikansky Stadium. Due to financial issues, however, it was rearranged to 29 April and moved to the border with Hungary in Uzhhorod at the Avanhard Stadium. There was almost no preparation to the game as all "pioneers" gathered in Kyiv on 27 April and the next day flew out to Uzhhorod. At the same time, the opponent, while failing to qualify for the Euro 1992, was preparing for 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification. Ukraine at that time failed to be accepted for the qualification cycle.

Unlike the Hungarian squad, players of which played alongside before and were coached by the European Cup-winning coach Emerich Jenei, the Ukrainian team lost some its better and experienced players to the CIS national football team that was playing its own friendly against the England national football team in Moscow. Among those were Andrei Kanchelskis, Volodymyr Lyutyi, Sergei Yuran, Viktor Onopko, Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko and Akhrik Tsveiba (the last two would later represent Ukraine). For the game against Hungary, only Ivan Hetsko and Oleh Luzhny had previous experience of playing at international level; other players had only played for the Soviet Olympic football team, while Serhiy Kovalets played for Ukraine at the Spartakiad of People of the USSR in 1986.

2006 FIFA World Cup

After an unsuccessful Euro 2004 qualifying campaign, Ukraine appointed Oleh Blokhin as the national team's head coach. Despite initial skepticism about his appointment due to his previous somewhat undistinguished coaching record and general public calls for a foreign coach, Ukraine went on to qualify for their first-ever FIFA World Cup on 3 September 2005 after drawing 1–1 against Georgia in Tbilisi. In their first World Cup, in 2006, they were in the Group H together with Spain, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia. After losing 0–4 in the first match against Spain, the Ukrainians beat their other two opponents to reach the knock-out stage.

In the round of 16, Ukraine played against the winner of the Group G Switzerland, who they beat on penalties. In the quarter-finals, they were beaten 0–3 by eventual champions Italy.

UEFA Euro 2012

As co-hosts, Ukraine qualified automatically for Euro 2012, marking their debut in the UEFA European Championship. In their opening game against Sweden, Ukraine won 2–1 in Kyiv. Despite the team's efforts, however, Ukraine was eliminated after a 0–2 loss to France and a 0–1 loss to England, both in Donetsk.

Euro 2016

For the Euro 2016 qualifying round, Ukraine were drawn against Spain, Slovakia, Belarus, Macedonia and Luxembourg. The Zbirna was expected to qualify for the tournament as runners-up of the group behind Spain but, despite having won all of their games against Belarus, Macedonia and Luxembourg, the Ukrainians finished third due to a lack of finishing during the top matches against Spain and Slovakia. They therefore had to face Slovenia in the play-off route and succeeded in taking revenge over the team which eliminated Ukraine at the same stage in 1999. They recorded a 2–0 win at Lviv before catching the 1–1 draw at the very end of the second game.

Ukraine won convincingly all of their preparation friendlies against Cyprus, Wales, Romania and Albania. At club level, FC Dnipro had recently reached the UEFA Europa League final in 2015, while Shakhtar Donetsk had progressed to the semi-finals one year later, as the Ukrainian clubs succeeded in sending one participant to the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League two times in a row. Having been drawn against world champions Germany, Slavic neighbors Poland and first-time Euro competitors Northern Ireland, the Ukrainian team was expected to advance at least to the next round.

The tournament, however, turned into a surprising nightmare. Ukraine lost all of their three games, becoming the only participant in such a case and the first team to exit the tournament, also failing to score a single goal. The Ukrainians started against Germany and were beaten despite good resistance and great chances during an entertaining first half. They came close to levelling the score but were unable to deliver the final end product and were hit by Germany on the counterattack at the very end of the game. Despite a 2–0 loss, it appeared that they would prove to be a stubborn opposition for their opponents. This game was followed by a dreadful and disastrous second 2–0 loss against Northern Ireland with a new goal conceded at the very end of the encounter. The Ukrainian media mainly criticized the coach Mykhaylo Fomenko's perceived inadequate psychological preparation of the squad as much as predictable tactics which were judged as easy to break down. Ukrainians stars Andriy Yarmolenko and Yevhen Konoplyanka's underperformance was also mentioned. Ukraine were the first team eliminated of the competition at this point and lost 1–0 their last game to Poland in which they suffered of an important lack of finishing and a poor performance from striker Roman Zozulya.

Stadiums

The most important matches of the Ukrainian national team are held in Kyiv's Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex, also home of Dynamo Kyiv. New infrastructure and stadiums were built in preparation for Euro 2012, and other venues include stadiums in the cities of Donetsk, Kharkiv, Lviv, Dnipro, Odesa. The alternative stadiums are: Donbass Arena (Donetsk), Metalist Stadium (Kharkiv), Arena Lviv (Lviv), Dnipro-Arena (Dnipro), Chornomorets Stadium (Odesa).

During the Soviet time era (before 1991), only two stadiums in Ukraine were used in official games, the Olimpiysky NSC in Kyiv (known then as Republican Stadium) and the Lokomotiv Stadium in Simferopol.

Recent and forthcoming matches

The following matches were played or are scheduled to be played by the national team in the current or upcoming seasons.

Most capped Ukraine players

As of 24 March 2017
Players in bold are still active, at least at club level.

Ukraine managers

Last updated on 24 March 2017.

Coaching staff

Currently approved:

Current squad

The following players have been called up for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Croatia on 24 March 2017.

Players' records are accurate as of 24 March 2017 after the match against Croatia.

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for the team within the last 12 months.

Notes:

Previous squads

FIFA World Cup record

All-time team record

The following table shows Ukraine's all-time international record, correct as of 24 March 2017.

Home venues record

Since Ukraine's first fixture (29 April 1992 vs. Hungary) they have played their home games at 11 different stadiums.

Kit history and evolution

On 29 March 2010, Ukraine debuted a new Adidas kit. This replaced the Adidas kit with a yellow base and the traditional Adidas three stripe with a snake sash which was used in 2009. Prior to 5 February 2009 Ukraine wore a Lotto kit. On 2009 the official team kit is produced by German company Adidas which has a contract with the Ukrainian team until 31 December 2016.

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Sponsors

Marketing for the Football Federation of Ukraine is conducted by the Ukraine Football International (UFI).

Former title and general sponsors included Ukrtelekom and Kyivstar.