The Ukraine national football team represents Ukraine in men’s international football and is administered by the Ukrainian Association of Football, the governing body of football in Ukraine. Ukraine’s home ground is the Olympic Stadium in Kyiv. Team UEFA Has been a full member of FIFA since 1992. Ukraine Football history.

After the independence of Ukraine and the country’s separation from the Soviet Union, they played their first match on 29 April 1992 against Hungary. The team reached the quarter-finals of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, their debut in a major championship final.
Four years later, Ukraine finished third in their qualifying group for Euro 2016 and progressed through the playoffs to reach the UEFA European Championship tournament via qualifiers for the first time. It was the first time in Ukraine’s six playoff appearances that they managed to win such a tie.

Ukraine best performance

Ukraine’s best performance at the UEFA European Championship was in 2020 when they reached the quarter-finals for the first time.
The national team was form in the early 1990s and gained international recognition soon after. However, it is not widely known that Ukraine first had a national team in 1925-1935.

The earliest records of games played by Ukraine can be trace back to August 1928. A championship between the national teams of the Soviet republics as well as the Moscow City team was planne to be held in Moscow. In the All-Soviet tournament, Ukraine reached the final where they lost 1–0 to Moscow after defeating Belarus and Transcaucasia.

In 1929, Ukraine defeated Lower Austria 4–1 in an exhibition match in Kharkiv and played in another Soviet tournament. Ukraine lost 3-0 to Transcaucasia.

Government formation

Before independence in 1991, Ukrainian players represented the Soviet Union’s national team. After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, Russia replaced the Soviet Union national team in the qualifying tournament for the 1994 World Cup. The Ukrainian national team did not qualify for the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification (the draw for the qualification stage took place on 8 December 1991, before Ukraine was admitte to FIFA). Meanwhile, some of the best Ukrainian players of the early 1990s (including Andriy Kanchelskys, Viktor Onopko, Sergey Uran, Yuriy Nikiforov, Ilya Similar, and Oleg Salenko) chose to play for Russia, as it was officially recognize by the Soviet Union. He was declare the successor.

The Soviet Union’s five-year UEFA coefficient, despite being achieve in part by Ukrainian players (for example, in the finals of the last successful event, Euro 1988. Under the direction of Valery Lobanovskyi, 7 of the starting 11 players were Ukrainian) National Team. A direct descendant of the Russian national team was transferred. This resulted in a crisis for both the national team and the domestic league.

Ukraine football team

Another reason for the severe crisis in Ukrainian football was the lack of adequate funding for the teams, due to the general economic crisis that affected all CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries. There was also a reverse influx of players. Viktor Leonenko agreed to transfer from Dynamo Moscow to Dynamo Kyiv. The Russian club did not want to release him, but Levinenko did not want to continue playing in Moscow.

In the following years, the Ukrainian team improved, featuring the likes of Andriy Shevchenko, Anatoly Tymoshchuk, Serhiy Rebrov, and Oleksandr Shukovsky.

After qualifying for Euro 2004, Ukraine appointed Oleg Blokhin as the head coach of the national team. Seeded in Group 2 Ukraine after a 1–1 draw against Georgia in Tbilisi on 3 September 2005. And as group winners for their first FIFA World Cup. Between Turkey, Denmark, and last campaign rivals Greece on 3 September 2005. Qualified. Despite a poor performance on home turf, it was the first successful qualification campaign for Ukraine.

In 2006 World Cup

In the 2006 World Cup, they were draw in Group H along with Spain, Tunisia, and Saudi Arabia. After losing the first match against Spain 4–0, Ukraine won the next two matches to face Switzerland in the round of 16. Tied at 0, Ukraine managed to take Switzerland to a penalty shootout. Where Oleksandr Shvkovsky scored a goal with two saves.

A positive result for Andriy Shevchenko despite the first-kick miss for his team. Switzerland, who did not concede a single goal, sent home early with Ukraine advancing to the quarter-finals. Italy faced Ukraine in the quarter-finals, beaten by two second-half goals from Luca Toni to secure a comfortable 3–0 victory for the future 2006 World Cup champions.

2006-2012

After the World Cup, Ukraine was place in UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group B alongside Italy and France. Ukraine also performed poorly against Scotland, Georgia, and Lithuania, eventually finishing fourth. Due to the poor performance of the national team, Oleg Blokhin resigned. And surprisingly signed a contract with the recently formed FC Moscow.
With another Soviet football star player Oleksiy Mykhailichenko as the new head coach.

In the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification, Ukraine drew Croatia in Group 6. And a win against England sent Ukraine into the playoffs. Greece, knocked out by Ukraine in the qualifiers four years ago, will finally seek revenge. Ukraine Football history.

Home Stadium

During the Soviet era (prior to 1991), only three stadiums in Ukraine were use for official sports. Olimpiyskyi NSC in Kyiv (then known as Republican Stadium), the predecessor of Chornomurets, BSS Central in Odesa; Stadium, and Lokomotiv Stadium in Simferopol. Ukraine Football history.

Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, all matches are currently being play in nearby Poland. For more details click here