Tim nasional sepak bola Ukraina

Tim nasional sepak bola Ukraina (bahasa Ukraina: збірна України з футболу) mewakili Ukraina dalam kompetisi internasional sepak bola putra dan diatur oleh Asosiasi Sepak Bola Ukraina. Markas dari tim nasional Ukraina berlokasi di Stadion Olimpiade Kiev di Kyiv. Tim nasional Ukraina telah menjadi anggota penuh dari UEFA dan FIFA sejak tahun 1992.

Ukraina

Julukan	Zhovto-Blakytni
Asosiasi	Federasi Sepak Bola Ukraina
Konfederasi	UEFA (Eropa)
Pelatih	Andriy Shevchenko
Kapten	Andriy Pyatov
Penampilan terbanyak	Anatoliy Tymoshchuk (144)
Pencetak gol terbanyak	Andriy Shevchenko (48)
Stadion kandang	Stadion Olimpiade Kiev
Kode FIFA	UKR
Peringkat FIFA
Terkini	27 2 (25 Oktober 2018)
Tertinggi	11 (Februari 2007)
Terendah	132 (September 1993)
Peringkat Elo
Terkini	21 13 (16 Oktober 2018)
Warna pertama Warna kedua Warna ketiga
Pertandingan internasional pertama
Ukraina 1–3 Hungaria (Uzhhorod, Ukraina; 29 April 1992)
Kemenangan terbesar
Ukraina 9–0 San Marino (Lviv, Ukraina; 6 September 2013)
Kekalahan terbesar
Prancis 7–1 Ukraina (Saint-Denis, Prancis; 7 Oktober 2020)
Piala Dunia
Penampilan	1 (Pertama kali pada 2006)
Hasil terbaik	Quarter-finals (2006)
European Championship
Penampilan	3 (Pertama kali pada 2012)
Hasil terbaik	Quarter-finals (2020)

Sejarah

SSR Ukraina (1925–1990)

Secara resmi tim nasional Ukraina dibentuk pada awal 1990-an dan tak lama kemudian diakui secara internasional. Namun, tidak diketahui secara luas bahwa Ukraina sebelumnya memiliki tim nasional pada tahun 1925–1935. Sama seperti Republik Sosialis Federasi Soviet Rusia, Republik Sosialis Soviet Ukraina memiliki tim nasionalnya sendiri.

Rekor paling awal dari permainan yang dimainkan dapat ditelusuri kembali ke Agustus 1928. Sebuah kejuaraan antara tim nasional republik Soviet serta tim dari kota Moskow direncanakan akan berlangsung di Moskow. Tepat sebelum turnamen dimulai, tim nasional Ukraina memainkan dua pertandingan eksibisi melawan tim Federasi Olahraga Merah dari Uruguay, satu di Kharkiv (kalah 1-2) dan yang lainnya di Moskow (menang 3–2). Di turnamen All-Soviet, Ukraina memainkan tiga pertandingan dan mencapai babak final di mana mereka kalah dari Moskow 0-1. Dalam perjalanannya, Ukraina berhasil mengalahkan tim nasional Belarus dan Republik Sosialis Federasi Soviet Transkaukasia.

Pada tahun 1929, Ukraina mengalahkan tim Austria dalam pertandingan eksibisi di Kharkiv, dengan skor 4-1.

Pada tahun 1931, Ukraina berpartisipasi dalam kejuaraan All-Soviet lainnya di Moskow. Mereka memainkan hanya satu pertandingan, mulai dari semifinal. Ukraina kalah dari tim nasional Transcaucasus 0–3 dan tersingkir.

Pada tahun 1986, Ukraina menjadi pemenang turnamen sepak bola asosiasi dari Spartakiad Rakyat Uni Soviet yang diselenggarakan di Ukraina saat di final mengalahkan Uzbekistan (Uzbek SSR).

Formasi resmi

Sebelum merdeka pada tahun 1991, pemain Ukraina mewakili Uni Soviet, dan setelah runtuhnya USSR pada tahun 1991, Rusia menggantikan Uni Soviet di turnamen kualifikasi untuk Piala Dunia 1994. Tim nasional Ukraina tidak berhasil masuk ke Kualifikasi Piala Dunia FIFA 1994 (pengundian untuk tahap kualifikasi diadakan pada 8 Desember 1991, sebelum Ukraina diterima menjadi anggota FIFA). Sementara itu, beberapa pemain terbaik Ukraina di awal 1990-an seperti Andrei Kanchelskis, Viktor Onopko, Sergei Yuran, Yuriy Nikiforov, Ilya Tsymbalar dan Oleg Salenko memilih bermain untuk membela Rusia karena mereka dinobatkan sebagai penerus resmi dari Uni Soviet. Saat itu Vyacheslav Koloskov adalah satu-satunya pejabat tinggi dari bekas Uni Soviet dan kemudian Rusia yang menjabat sebagai wakil presiden UEFA pada 1980–1996 dan mewakili semua anggota Uni Soviet dan kemudian menjadi Persemakmuran Negara-Negara Merdeka.

Valeriy Lobanovskyi, adalah Pelatih Kepala Tim Nasional pada 1979 dan antara tahun 2001 dan 2002

Koefisien UEFA lima tahun Uni Soviet, meskipun sebagian diperoleh oleh pemain Ukraina (misalnya, di final acara sukses terakhir, Euro 1988 di bawah arahan Valery Lobanovsky, 7 dari 11 pemain awal adalah orang Ukraina) yang dipindahkan ke keturunan langsung tim nasional Soviet – Rusia. Akibatnya, terjadi krisis pemain bagi tim nasional dan Liga Utama Ukraina. Ketika Ukraina kembali ke sepak bola internasional pada akhir 1994, ia melakukannya sebagai pemula mutlak.

Alasan lain terjadinya krisis parah di sepak bola Ukraina adalah kurangnya pendanaan tim yang memadai. Hal ini dapat dimengerti dalam hal krisis ekonomi umum yang telah mempengaruhi semua anggota CIS (Persemakmuran Negara-Negara Merdeka). Namun berbeda dengan Rusia, tim Ukraina terlihat sangat buruk. Namun, ada juga arus balik dari beberapa pemain kelas atas. Viktor Leonenko menyetujui transfer dari Dynamo Moscow ke Dynamo Kyiv. Klub Rusia tidak ingin melepaskannya, tetapi Leonenko tidak ingin terus bermain di Moskow. Selama enam bulan pertamanya di Kyiv, Viktor terpaksa absen karena didiskualifikasi FIFA.

Pada tahun-tahun berikutnya, tim Ukraina mulai membaik dengan menampilkan beberapa pemain berbakat seperti Andriy Shevchenko, Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, Serhiy Rebrov dan Oleksandr Shovkovskyi. Ukraina, bagaimanapun, gagal lolos ke turnamen besar sebelum tahun 2006.

Pertandingan resmi pertama (Prokopenko)

Segera setelah diterima menjadi anggota FIFA dan UEFA pada tahun 1992, Ukraina memulai mempersiapkan pertandingan pertamanya. Awalnya direncanakan sebagai pelatih kepala tim adalah Valeriy Lobanovskyi, tetapi pada saat itu ia memiliki kontrak dengan Uni Emirat Arab. Dengan demikian, manajer pertama tim harus dipilih di antara anggota dewan pelatih yang terdiri dari Anatoliy Puzach (manajer Dynamo Kyiv), Yevhen Kucherevskyi (FK Dnipro), Yevhen Lemeshko (Torpedo Zaporizhzhia), Yukhym Shkolnykov (Bukovyna Chernivtsi) dan Viktor Prokopenko (Chornomorets Odesa). Kemudian, mereka bergabung dengan penduduk asli di Donetsk Valeriy Yaremchenko (FC Shakhtar Donetsk). Pada tahap terakhir, lingkaran dipersempit menjadi tiga kandidat yaitu Puzach, Yaremchenko dan Prokopenko membawa tim ke Uzhhorod. Yang terakhir, dengan kesepakatan antara pelatih sendiri, menjadi yang utama.

Viktor Prokopenko, pelatih pertama Tim nasional Ukarina.

Untuk pertandingan pertama, disepakati untuk melawan Hongaria pada tanggal 22 April 1992 di Kyiv di Stadion Olimpiade Kiev. Namun, karena masalah keuangan, jadwal tersebut diubah menjadi 29 April dan dipindahkan ke perbatasan dengan Hongaria di Avanhard Stadium Uzhhorod. Hampir tidak ada persiapan untuk pertandingan ini karena semua "pionir" berkumpul di Kyiv pada 27 April dan hari berikutnya harus terbang ke Uzhhorod. Pada saat yang sama, lawannya meskipun gagal lolos ke Euro 1992, sedang bersiap untuk Kualifikasi Piala Dunia FIFA 1994. Ukraina saat itu gagal diterima untuk babak kualifikasi.

Tidak seperti skuad Hungaria, yang pemainnya pernah bermain bersama sebelumnya dan dilatih oleh pelatih yang memenangi Liga Champions UEFA Emerich Jenei, tim Ukraina kehilangan beberapa pemainnya yang lebih baik dan berpengalaman ke Tim sepak bola nasional CIS yang memainkan persahabatan sendiri melawan Tim nasional sepak bola Inggris di Moskow. Di antara mereka adalah Andrei Kanchelskis, Volodymyr Lyutyi, Sergei Yuran, Viktor Onopko, Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko dan Akhrik Tsveiba (dua yang terakhir nantinya akan mewakili Ukraina). Untuk pertandingan melawan Hungaria, hanya Ivan Hetsko dan Oleh Luzhny yang memiliki pengalaman bermain di level internasional sebelumnya; pemain lain hanya bermain untuk tim sepak bola Olimpiade Soviet, sementara Serhiy Kovalets bermain untuk Ukraina di Spartakiad Rakyat Uni Soviet pada 1986.

Pertandingan kandang pertama kalah 1-3 dengan Ivan Hetsko menjadi pencetak gol pertama dalam sejarah tim nasional. Selama musim panas 1992 tim Prokopenko memainkan dua pertandingan tandang lagi pada 27 Juni melawan Amerika Serikat (0-0) dan pada 26 Agustus melawan Hongaria (1-2). Setelah kekalahan kedua dari Hongaria, Prokopenko mengundurkan diri. Memimpin dalam pertandingan melawan Hungaria, Ukraina kebobolan dua gol dalam 10 menit terakhir.

Untuk jadwal melawan Belarus di Minsk pada musim gugur, Ukraina telah pergi dengan asisten Prokopenko Mykola Pavlov dan Leonid Tkachenko. Di Dinamo Stadium, Ukraina berhasil menyelamatkan satu pertandingan dengan mengikat satu bidak dengan gol dari Yuriy Maksymov.

Kualifikasi Piala Euro 1996 (Bazylevych)

Artikel utama: UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying Group 4

Ukraina yang mulai kekurangan pemain bagus, kembali kehilangan dua pemain muda yang menjanjikan selama jeda musim dingin : Stepan Betsa dan Oleksiy Sasko, yang tewas dalam kecelakaan mobil. Mereka juga tidak dapat mengamankan kontrak dengan Valeriy Lobanovskyi, maka Ukraina menunjuk pelatih kepala lainnya yaitu seorang mantan penyerang dari klub Dynamo Kyiv yaitu Oleh Bazylevych. Dia melakukan debutnya pada musim semi 1993 di Odessa selama pertandingan persahabatan melawan Israel. Kemenangan yang mereka harapkan dibatalkan dengan hasil imbang 1-1 hanya 10 menit sebelum akhir oleh Serhiy Konovalov. Kurang dari sebulan kemudian Ukraina akhirnya merayakan kemenangan pertamanya di Vilnius dalam pertandingan persahabatan melawan Lithuania yang menghasilkan kemenangan 1-2 (gol dicetak oleh Viktor Leonenko dan Dmytro Mykhaylenko). Selama musim panas mereka memainkan satu pertandingan tandang melawan Kroasia, kalah 3-1, dengan gol dicetak Andriy Husin dan salah satu gol Kroasia dicetak oleh Davor uker. Pada Oktober 1993, Ukraina melakukan tur pertama mereka ke Amerika Serikat di mana mereka memainkan tiga pertandingan melawan AS dan Meksiko. Pertandingan mereka melawan Meksiko di San Diego, yang menghasilkan kekalahan 1-2, dihadiri oleh lebih dari 50.000 penonton. Selama jeda musim dingin, Ukraina diunggulkan di Grup 4 dari kualifikasi UEFA Euro 1996.

Pada bulan Maret 1994, Ukraina mengunjungi Israel, tetapi kalah dengan satu tendangan penalti. Selanjutnya ada laga kandang melawan Belarusia dimana Ukraina akhirnya menang 3-1 setelah sempat tertinggal di babak pertama. Tepat sebelum pertandingan kompetisi internasional resmi pertama mereka yang dijadwalkan akan dimainkan melawan Lithuania di kandang, mereka memainkan beberapa pertandingan tandang melawan Bulgaria dan Uni Emirat Arab yang keduanya berakhir imbang 1-1. Tur lainnya dijadwalkan setelah itu ke Lituania dan Korea, tim nasional yang dilatih oleh Kyivan Anatoliy Byshovets. Pertandingan pembukaan pada 7 September melawan Lithuania, mengingat pertemuan terakhir mereka, diharapkan berakhir positif, namun menghasilkan kekalahan 0-2. Kedua gol itu dicetak pada menit pertengahan babak kedua oleh striker Hamburger SV Valdas Ivanauskas. Tim nasional berangkat ke Korea tanpa Bazylevych dan asistennya yaitu Mykola Pavlov dan Vladimir Muntyan. Ukraina memainkan dua pertandingan dan kehilangan keduanya. Pada tanggal 20 September 1994, Oleh Bazylevych dikritik habis-habisan pada pertemuan federasi tetapi harus tetap pada posisinya pada pertemuan Komite Eksekutif FFU berikutnya beberapa hari kemudian. Namun, keesokan harinya Bazylevych mengundurkan diri dan menuduh Bannikov tidak bijaksana. Pada 24 September 1994, kemudian Asosiasi Sepak Bola Ukraina menunjuk Yozhef Sabo sebagai pelatih kepala sementara hingga akhir tahun.

Yozhef Sabo menjabat sebagai salah satu manajer sementara hingga diangkat dari Lobanovsky

Setelah pergantian pelatih, tim nasional masih butuh waktu untuk memperbaiki keadaan. Pertandingan kandang berikutnya melawan Slovenia berakhir imbang tanpa gol. Setelah gagal meraih kemenangan pertama mereka baru-baru ini, Ukraina jatuh ke dasar klasemen turnamen tepat di atas Estonia, yang mereka mainkan di pertandingan kandang berikutnya pada pertengahan November, yang harus mereka menangkan untuk mempertahankan harapan mereka di babak kualifikasi tetap berjalan. Estonia yang tidak dapat menurunkan tim terbaik mereka, berharap untuk mengulangi upaya Slovenia sebulan sebelumnya. Laga tersebut menghasilkan kemenangan 3-0 dengan Serhiy Konovalov mencetak gol pertama mereka di level kompetisi untuk tim nasional. Sabo meninggalkan posisinya setelah pertandingan. dan FFU mengukuhkan Anatoliy Konkov sebagai pelatih kepala baru pada 5 Januari 1995.

Oleg Blokhin, pelatih kepala pada Piala Dunia pertama di tahun 2006

Untuk menyelamatkan situasi dan mempersiapkan pertandingan melawan Italia dan Kroasia, Konkov mengadakan kamp pelatihan di pangkalan olahraga di Stubenberg, Styria dekat Kastil (Schloss) Schielleiten dari 16 hingga 23 Maret 1995. Menurut pelatih baru mereka, program set kamp pelatihan ini berhasil dicapai. Pertandingan tandang mereka ke Kroasia berakhir dengan kekalahan 0–4 di Zagreb, diikuti dengan kekalahan 0–2 dari juara dunia tiga kali Italia di Stadion Olimpiade Kiev (saat itu Respublikanskiy).

1998–2004: near misses

Ukraine participated in the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification, where the team was drawn into Group 9. Ukraine had improved their performance well, and surprised the qualification by taking the second place instead of the more-favored Portugal, only behind Germany, thus sent Ukraine to the first ever playoff, against Croatia. Unfortunately, Ukraine was eliminated 3–1 after aggregate by Croatia, and missed the chance to qualify for the first ever competitive tournament.

In UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying, Ukraine, assigned in Group 4, once again managed to top ahead of another favorite, Russia, thanks to an important draw in Moscow, but still only qualified for playoff despite being undefeated, including two successful goalless draws to then-world champions France. Ukraine then fell to Slovenia 3–2 after aggregate as well, and lost the chance to qualify for the third time. Ukraine's defeat to Slovenia was more tragic, when Miran Pavlin canceled early Ukrainian lead at home and sealed Slovenia in instead.

The 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification saw Ukraine in Group 5, and most of Ukraine's opponents were much weaker than Germany and France. Yet, Ukraine suffered a denting home loss to Poland in their opening account, and a number of draws had hampered Ukrainian hope to process. Ukraine eventually reached the playoff again, but this time could not manage to overcome the old foe, Germany, losing 5–2 on aggregate, and once again missed a major tournament debut.

The UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying was perhaps the most humiliating moment of Ukrainian football since its foundation. Assigned into Group 6, Ukraine's only major opponent at the time was a much stronger Spain. Ukraine had been in comfortable competitive place with Spain, having drawn the Spaniards at home. However, a surprising resurgence from the less known Greece had dented any hope for Ukraine, as Ukraine failed to reach playoff for the first time since UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying due to Greek resurgence. Greece would go on to conquer the first European title.

2006 FIFA World Cup

After an unsuccessful Euro 2004 qualifying campaign, Ukraine appointed Oleg 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; as well as Ukraine's difficult group position, being drawn with Turkey, Denmark and Greece, the latter had already won the Euro 2004 and caused upset on Ukraine in Euro 2004 qualification, 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 Group G, Switzerland, whom they beat on penalties. In the quarter-finals, they were beaten 0–3 by eventual champions Italy.

2006–2010: disappointment return

National football team of Ukraine, before the match with Bulgaria, "Vasil Levski" stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria, 14-12-2012

After a successful 2006 World Cup debut, Ukrainian enthusiasm increased for UEFA Euro 2008. Ukraine was assigned to Group B, only this time there was no playoff competition and thus, Ukraine had to seek one of the top two places. However, Ukraine failed to deliver the promised performance, partly because the team was unlucky to be drawn with 2006 World Cup finalists Italy and France; however, Ukraine had also performed terribly against weaker opponents like Scotland, Georgia and Lithuania, two shock losses and a draw away to these opponents had effectively ruined Ukraine's hope to qualify for the tournament, finishing in fourth place.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification saw Ukraine regain some good improvement. Drawn in the Group 6, two good draws to a strong Croatian side and more importantly, a home win over England, sending Ukraine to a playoff for the first time since 2004 Euro qualification. However, Greece, which had been eliminated by Ukraine in the qualifiers four years earlier, would take revenge. Despite successfully drawing goalless in Athens, Ukraine suffered a bitter home defeat to the Greeks in Donetsk, a reply to Ukraine's elimination of Greece back in Athens. This meant Ukraine lost its first ever playoff match at home, and failed to qualify for 2010 FIFA World Cup.

UEFA Euro 2012

Artikel utama: UEFA Euro 2012 Group D

Ukraine national football team in 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.

2014 World Cup qualification – UEFA Group H

The 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification was acceptable for the Ukrainian squad. Being drawn with fellow Euro 2012 host Poland, together with England and newcomer Montenegro, Ukraine had to face tough competitors. Despite facing struggles from the Montenegrin side, Ukraine was able to qualify for the playoff, thanks to two wins over Poland and two draws over England, where it would play against France. Ukraine beat France at home 2–0, but suffered a bitter 0–3 loss away, and thus failed to reach the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Artikel utama: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group H

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group H

UEFA Euro 2016

Ukraine national football team in 2015

In 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 their other matches, they finished third due to poor results against Spain and Slovakia. They therefore had to face Slovenia in the play-off route (the side to which they had succumbed at the same stage of the 2000 edition) ; they recorded a 2–0 win at Lviv before forging a 1–1 draw at the very end of the second game.

Ukraine convincingly won 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 participants Northern Ireland, the Ukrainian team was expected to advance at least to the next round.

The tournament however, turned into a dreadful upset. Ukraine lost all of their three games, while also failing to score a single goal. Their first match resulted in a 2–0 loss to Germany, despite good resistance and great chances during an entertaining first half, they eventually came close to levelling the score but were caught on the counterattack at the very end of the game. This was followed by a second 2–0 loss to Northern Ireland, with a goal once again conceded in injury time. The Ukrainian media mainly criticized 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 under-performance was also mentioned. Ukraine at this stage were the first team eliminated from the competition and lost their last game to Poland 1–0.

Artikel utama: UEFA Euro 2016 Group C

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group I

Ukraine started off with a home draw to eventual group leaders Iceland and an away draw to Turkey. This was followed by two home wins, 3–0 against Kosovo and 1–0 against Finland. Despite a 1–0 away loss to Croatia, they beat Finland 1–2 away and Turkey 2–0 at home. This was followed by a 2–0 away loss to Iceland and a 0–2 away win against Kosovo. Going to the last game, Ukraine stood a strong chance of qualifying for the tournament, but after a 0–2 home loss to Croatia, they failed to qualify for the play-offs for their first time since UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying. In their last game against Croatia, former Dynamo Kyiv footballer Domagoj Vida became famous for his "Slava Ukraini" video which showed solidarity with Ukraine for the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2014.

Artikel utama: 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group I

2018–19 UEFA Nations League

Ukraine was drawn with the Czech Republic and Slovakia in League B. They beat the Czech Republic 1–2 away and Slovakia 1–0 at home, before earning a promotion with a 1–0 home win to the Czech Republic, before ending with a heavy 4–1 away loss to Slovakia.

Artikel utama: 2018–19 UEFA Nations League B

UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying – UEFA Group B

Artikel utama: UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying Group B

Ukraine were placed in a tough group with Euro 2016 title holders Portugal, and Serbia—a side with personnel playing for multiple prominent club teams. According to many sports analysts, Ukraine were tipped to finish third in the group. The first match proved to be the most difficult match—an away game against Portugal. With the centre-back Yaroslav Rakytskiy absent due to his controversial move to Russian club Zenit Saint Petersburg and the return of Cristiano Ronaldo to the Portuguese lineup after an absent Nations League, the Portuguese were favoured to win by a comfortable margin. However, contrary to popular prediction, Andriy Shevchenko's side proved to be very stubborn. Although the Portuguese controlled the majority of the game's possession, they could not find the back of the net. A heroic showing from goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov as well as persistent marking of Cristiano Ronaldo and the Portuguese attack by Ukraine's defense earned Ukraine a valuable point in Lisbon. The match ended with a 0–0 scoreline.

The second game (4 days after the positive result in Portugal) was away to supposed minnows of the group, Luxembourg. However, this match proved to be an absolute nightmare for the Ukrainians. After struggling to come up with inventive attacks, a very lacklustre Ukrainian side found themselves down 1–0 thanks to a goal from David Turpel, aided by very disorganized defending on the part of the Ukrainians. Right before the end of the first half, Ukraine did find an equalizer through Viktor Tsyhankov. Ukraine struggled to create any meaningful opportunities in a stressful second half. However, with literally the last kick of the ball in stoppage time (from a freekick), Ukraine found themselves extremely lucky and unlikely 2–1 winners when Gerson Rodrigues of Luxembourg headed the ball into his own goal. Therefore, after the first two matchdays, Ukraine found themselves top of the group with 4 points after Portugal and Serbia played a 1–1 match in Lisbon on the same day.

Matchday 3 came with a stiff test—a home match against a well-rounded and versatile Serbian squad boasting many experienced and skillful players from multiple world-renowned clubs. While it was expected to be a reasonably close match, it could not have been more of a rout. What appeared to be a well balanced and close affair within the opening exchanges of the first half quickly changed when Viktor Tsyhankov scored the opening goal in the 26th minute of play. The second goal (also by Tsyhankov) was scored from a thunderous strike from long range less than two minutes later. Ukraine went on to win the match 5–0 with Roman Yaremchuk achieving his first ever international goal and Yevhen Konoplyanka helping himself to two goals. At this point, with positive results against the two supposedly strongest opponents in the groups, Ukraine looked as though they could secure a top two finish and avoid the play-offs.

After another stiff contest with Luxembourg, Ukraine managed to secure a 1–0 victory only three days after their triumph over Serbia. The goal came in the 6th minute from Roman Yaremchuk. Two matches—away and home against Lithuania (winning 3–0 and 2–0 respectively) saw Ukraine with 16 points and in need of only a point against Fernando Santos's Portuguese side, who at this point were crowned UEFA Nations League Champions.

The match against Portugal was expected to be an interesting test for Shevchenko's men, who had not lost a single match in qualifying and had only conceded once. Ukraine started brightly with noticeably more attacking intent than in the previous meeting between these two teams. Indeed, their pressure paid off when Roman Yaremchuk scored from close range after an initial save from Rui Patrício on 6 minutes. In the 27th minute, Ukraine doubled their advantage with an Andriy Yarmolenko goal. After building this comfortable lead, Ukraine began to sit back and defend as they did in Lisbon on matchday one. Portugal was once again unable to crack Ukraine's defense. However, in the 72nd minute, Cristiano Ronaldo was awarded a penalty kick from a supposed hand-ball by Taras Stepanenko as he blocked the ball from a Portuguese shot. While VAR was not an option, replays showed that this was an incorrect call from the referee, as the ball was blocked by Stepanenko's leg, before making contact with his arm as it deflected into the air. This incident also resulted in a red card for Stepanenko. Thus, Ukraine had to play the rest of the match with ten men. Ronaldo scored from the spot, giving Portugal a glimmer of hope to rescue the game and earn a valid point in Kyiv. However, it wasn't to be Portugal's night. Ukraine won 2–1 and subsequently won the group.

The last match was played in Belgrade against Serbia. Because Ukraine had already qualified and won the group, Shevchenko decided to field a team with a few less experienced players. Serbia on the other hand, had to win for any hopes of automatic qualification. Serbia took the lead early through a Dušan Tadić penalty kick. After controlling the majority of the match after falling behind, Ukraine found an equaliser through the inevitable Yaremchuk. Serbia took control of the second half and restored their lead thanks to a beautiful Aleksandar Mitrović finish. Serbia continued to search for another goal with multiple chances. However, in the last minute of stoppage time, Yarmolenko sent a low cross across the Serbian goal which was received by Artem Biesiedin and finished into the bottom corner. The match ended 2–2 and Ukraine accomplished a successful qualification campaign without a single loss. With Portugal beating Luxembourg 2–0, Serbia's hopes of direct qualification were shot.
Templat:UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying group tables

2020–21 UEFA Nations League

Ukraine was drawn with Switzerland, Spain, and Germany in League A. The Ukrainians started their campaign by overcoming Switzerland at home 2–1 to temporarily take first place. However, their next opponent Spain proved to be too strong, and Ukraine was unable to produce any significant threat, losing 4–0. In October, Ukraine returned home to play two subsequent games against Germany and Spain, with nearly half of the main squad having contracted COVID-19 or injured. The first match against Germany saw a German win by a score of 2–1 in Kyiv. With a demoralized squad, Ukraine had to face a powerful Spain side who was impressing in the Nations League. However, despite significant absence of many key members, Ukraine shockingly defeated Spain for the first time with a 1–0 win to end Spain's 13 games undefeated streak. In November, Ukraine had two important games in order to survive in the League, and their first game against Germany away saw Ukraine obtain an early lead, but it was to be in vain when the Germans bounced back to win 3–1. As the COVID-19 crisis in Ukraine worsened, eight players from the starting squad tested positive (including one positive SARS-CoV-2 test upon arrival to Lucerne), and as a result, the entire delegation was put into quarantine by the Department of Health of the Canton of Lucerne. Their game against Switzerland away was sequently cancelled. Ukraine faced relegation if the game was to be awarded 3–0 to Switzerland or if the result is decided by a drawing of lots and Switzerland were to be handed a 1–0 victory. Eventually, UEFA decided that the match result would be 3–0 in favour of Switzerland, meaning that Ukraine had been officially relegated after just one season in League A.

Artikel utama: 2020–21 UEFA Nations League A

UEFA Euro 2020

Artikel utama: UEFA Euro 2020 Group C

Templat:UEFA Euro 2020 group tables Ukraine managed to qualify to the knockout stages in the European Championship for the first time, as one of the best third-placed teams. Then, they upset the Swedish team, 2–1, in the round of 16, on June 29, as Artem Dovbyk scored the winning goal at 120+1 minute. Unfortunately, they were not able to progress to the semi-finals as they were knocked out 4–0 by England in the quarter-final. Ironically, Ukraine's quarter-finals finish in Euro 2020 would end up seeing Italy emerged victorious in the tournament once again, a repeat of the 2006 FIFA World Cup performance.

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group D

Artikel utama: 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group D

Ukraine first got a surprise 1–1 draw over the world champions France, which was highly praised. Antoine Griezmann made the first goal in the 19th minute. Serhiy Sydorchuk then kicked the ball at the 57th minute which deflected off of Presnel Kimpembe for an own goal on France. However, Ukraine subsequently disappointed the next three games, when both their home games against weaker opponents Finland and Kazakhstan ended in two another one-one draws, before tying Kazakhstan 2–2 on the road as well on September 1, with Ukraine blew up its lead in the injury times of the second half. Following the game against France at home, where Ukraine blew up its lead to end the game in yet another 1–1 draw, Ukraine has officially broken the record previously held by Australia for the most consecutive draws in a World Cup qualification, with five straight draws out of five to Australia's four back in the previous qualification, leaving Ukraine's hope to qualify for Qatar in limbo.

They picked up a much-needed victory over Finland, ending their run of draws and giving them a two-point lead over Bosnia and a three-point lead over Finland. However, both Bosnia and Finland have a game in hand over Ukraine.

Rekor kompetisi

Piala Dunia

Tahun	Putaran	Posisi	Mn	M	S*	K	GM	GK
1930–1990	Bagian dari Uni Soviet
1994	Tidak ikut (tempat tidak diberikan oleh FIFA)
1998	Tidak lolos
2002
2006	Perempat final	8	5	2	1	2	5	7
2010	Tidak lolos
2014
2018
Total	Perempat final	1/7	5	2	1	2	5	7

*Dinyatakan imbang termasuk pertandingan babak gugur yang ditentukan dengan adu penalti.

Piala Eropa

Tahun	Putaran	Posisi	Mn	M	S*	K	GM	GK
1960–1992	Bagian dari Uni Soviet
1996	Tidak lolos
2000
2004
2008
2012	Babak grup	13	3	1	0	2	2	4
2016	Babak grup	24	3	0	0	3	0	5
Total	Babak grup	2/6	6	1	0	5	2	9

Liga Negara UEFA

Tahun	Divisi	Babak	Pos	Mn	M	S*	K	GM	GK
2018–19	B	Babak grup	1	3	3	0	0	4	1
Total		—	1/1	3	3	0	0	4	1

Pemain terkenal

Oleh Luzhny 52 (0) Yuriy Kalitvintsev 22 (1) Oleksandr Holovko 58 (0) Vitaly Kossovsky 25 (2) Oleg Kuznetsov 3 (0) Gennadiy Litovchenko 4 (0)

Oleksiy Mykhaylichenko 2 (0) Yuri Nikiforov 3 (0) Serhiy Popov 54 (5) Oleh Protasov 1 (0) Oleg Salenko 1 (0) Hennady Zubov 29 (3)

Pelatih

Pelatih	Masa melatih
Viktor Prokopenko	1992
Mykola Pavlov (pelaksana tugas)	1992
Oleh Bazylevych	1993-1994
Mykola Pavlov (pelaksana tugas)	1994
Yozhef Sabo	1994
Anatoliy Konkov	1995
Yozhef Sabo	1996-1999
Valery Lobanovsky	2000-2001
Leonid Buriak	2002-2003
Oleh Blokhin	2003-2007
Oleksiy Mykhaylichenko	2008-2009
Myron Markevych	2010
Yuriy Kalitvintsev (pelaksana tugas)	2010-2011
Oleh Blokhin	2011-2012
Andriy Bal (pelaksana tugas)	2012
Oleksandr Zavarov (pelaksana tugas)	2012
Mykhaylo Fomenko	2012-2016
Andriy Shevchenko	2016-

Catatan sepanjang waktu

Tabel berikut menunjukkan semua catatan waktu internasional Ukraina, per 16 Oktober 2018.

Keterangan

	Positive balance (lebih banyak kemenangan)
	Neutral balance (rasio menang/kalah seimbang)
	Negative balance (lebih banyak kekalahan)

Lawan	Main	Menang	Seri	Kalah	GM	GK	SG
Albania	6	5	1	0	13	4	+9
Andorra	4	4	0	0	17	0	+17
Armenia	8	5	3	0	17	8	+9
Austria	2	1	0	1	4	4	0
Azerbaijan	2	1	1	0	6	0	+6
Belarus	9	5	3	1	12	5	+7
Brasil	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2
Bulgaria	5	3	2	0	7	2	+5
Kamerun	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Kanada	1	0	1	0	2	2	0
Chili	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1
Kosta Rika	1	1	0	0	4	0	+4
Kroasia	9	1	3	5	5	15	−10
Siprus	3	1	1	1	5	5	0
Ceko	4	2	1	1	3	5	−2
Denmark	3	1	1	1	2	2	0
Inggris	7	1	2	4	3	9	−6
Estonia	4	4	0	0	10	0	+10
Kepulauan Faroe	2	2	0	0	7	0	+7
Finlandia	2	2	0	0	3	1	+2
Prancis	9	1	3	5	5	14	−9
Georgia	9	6	3	0	16	6	+10
Jerman	6	0	3	3	5	12	−7
Yunani	6	2	2	2	4	3	+1
Hungaria	2	0	0	2	2	5	−3
Islandia	4	1	2	1	3	4	−1
Iran	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1
Israel	6	2	2	2	7	5	+2
Italia	8	0	2	6	3	15	−12
Jepang	3	2	0	1	3	2	+1
Kazakhstan	4	4	0	0	9	3	+6
Kosovo	2	2	0	0	5	0	+5
Latvia	3	2	1	0	3	1	+2
Lituania	8	5	1	2	15	8	+7
Libya	2	1	1	0	4	1	+3
Luksemburg	3	3	0	0	9	0	+9
Makedonia Utara	4	2	1	1	3	1	+2
Meksiko	1	0	0	1	1	2	−1
Moldova	5	3	2	0	6	3	+3
Montenegro	2	1	0	1	4	1	+3
Maroko	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Belanda	2	0	1	1	1	4	−3
Niger	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1
Irlandia Utara	5	2	2	1	3	3	0
Norwegia	5	4	1	0	5	0	+5
Polandia	8	3	2	3	9	9	0
Portugal	2	1	0	1	2	2	0
Rumania	6	2	1	3	10	14	−4
Rusia	2	1	1	0	4	3	+1
San Marino	2	2	0	0	17	0	+17
Arab Saudi	2	1	1	0	5	1	+4
Korea Selatan	2	0	0	2	0	3	−3
Skotlandia	2	1	0	1	3	3	0
Serbia	5	5	0	0	9	1	+8
Slowakia	7	3	3	1	8	6	+2
Slovenia	6	1	3	2	7	7	0
Spanyol	5	0	1	4	3	10	−7
Swiss	2	1	1	0	2	2	0
Swedia	4	2	1	1	4	3	+1
Tunisia	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
Turki	8	2	2	4	9	11	−2
Uni Emirat Arab	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
Amerika Serikat	4	3	1	0	5	1	+4
Uruguay	1	0	0	1	2	3	−1
Uzbekistan	2	2	0	0	4	1	+3
Wales	4	2	2	0	3	1	+2
Total	238	114	62	62	336	224	+112

Pemain

Skuad terakhir

Para pemain berikut dipanggil untuk pertandingan kualifikasi Piala Dunia FIFA 2022 melawan Finlandia dan Bosnia dan Herzegovina pada 9 dan 12 Oktober 2021. Penampilan dan gol diperbarui pada 8 September 2021, setelah pertandingan melawan Republik Ceko.

0#0	Pos.	Nama Pemain	Tanggal lahir (umur)	Tampil	Gol	Klub
12	1GK	Andriy Pyatov	28 Juni 1984	99	0	Shakhtar Donetsk
1	1GK	Heorhiy Bushchan	31 Mei 1994	11	0	Dynamo Kyiv
23	1GK	Dmytro Riznyk	30 Januari 1999	0	0	FC Vorskla Poltava
22	2DF	Mykola Matviyenko	2 Mei 1996	43	0	Shakhtar Donetsk
21	2DF	Oleksandr Karavayev	2 Juni 1992	39	1	Dynamo Kyiv
4	2DF	Serhiy Kryvtsov	15 Maret 1991	27	0	Shakhtar Donetsk
2	2DF	Eduard Sobol	20 April 1995	23	0	Club Brugge
13	2DF	Illya Zabarnyi	1 September 2002	15	0	Dynamo Kyiv
3	2DF	Oleksandr Syrota	11 Juni 2000	1	0	Dynamo Kyiv
8	2DF	Viktor Korniyenko	14 Februari 1992	1	1	Shakhtar Donetsk
	2DF	Artem Shabanov	7 Maret 1992	2	0	Dynamo Kyiv
19	2DF	Oleksandr Tymchyk	20 Januari 1997	6	0	Dynamo Kyiv
7	3MF	Andriy Yarmolenko	23 Oktober 1989	102	42	West Ham United
5	3MF	Serhiy Sydorchuk	2 Mei 1991	43	3	Dynamo Kyiv
6	3MF	Taras Stepanenko	8 Agustus 1989	65	3	Shakhtar Donetsk
15	3MF	Viktor Tsyhankov	15 November 1997	31	6	Dynamo Kyiv
10	3MF	Mykola Shaparenko	4 Oktober 1998	20	1	Dynamo Kyiv
11	3MF	Oleksandr Zubkov	3 Agustus 1996	14	1	Ferencvárosi TC
	3MF	Ihor Kharatin	2 Februari 1995	4	0	Legia Warsawa
14	3MF	Serhiy Buletsa	16 Februari 1992	1	0	Zorya Luhansk
	3MF	Oleksandr Pikhalyonok	7 Mei 1997	0	0	SC Dnipro-1
9	4FW	Roman Yaremchuk	27 November 1995	32	11	Benfica
26	4FW	Artem Dovbyk	21 Juni 1997	3	1	SC Dnipro-1
20	4FW	Danylo Sikan	16 April 2001	3	1	Shakhtar Donetsk

Baru dipanggil

Berikut merupakan para pemain yang juga dipanggil ke dalam skuad Ukraina dalam dua belas bulan terakhir dan masih dapat berpartisipasi untuk seleksi.

Pos.	Nama pemain	Tanggal lahir (usia)	Tampil	Gol	Klub	Panggilan terakhir
GK	Andriy Lunin	11 Februari 1999	2	0	Leganés	v. Italia, 10 Oktober 2018 U21
GK	Maksym Koval	9 Desember 1992	2	0	Al-Fateh	v. Slowakia, 10 November 2017
DF	Oleh Danchenko	1 Agustus 1994	0	0	Shakhtar Donetsk	v. Slowakia, 9 September 2018
DF	Andriy Tsurikov	5 Oktober 1992	0	0	Oleksandriya	v. Slowakia, 9 September 2018
DF	Yevhen Khacheridi INJ	28 Juli 1987	51	3	PAOK	v. Ceko, 6 September 2018 WD
DF	Eduard Sobol	20 April 1995	9	0	Jablonec	v. Albania, 3 Juni 2018
DF	Artem Shabanov	7 Maret 1992	1	0	Dynamo Kyiv	v. Albania, 3 Juni 2018
DF	Pavlo Lukyanchuk	19 Mei 1996	0	0	Kisvárda	v. Albania, 3 Juni 2018
DF	Ivan Ordets INJ	8 Juli 1992	11	1	Shakhtar Donetsk	v. Jepang, 27 Maret 2018
DF	Oleksandr Svatok	27 September 1994	0	0	Zorya Luhansk	v. Arab Saudi, 23 Maret 2018 PRE
DF	Oleksandr Kucher	22 Oktober 1982	56	2	Kayserispor	v. Slowakia, 10 November 2017
MF	Vitaliy Buyalskyi INJ	6 Januari 1993	3	0	Dynamo Kyiv	v. Italia, 10 Oktober 2018 WD
MF	Volodymyr Shepelyev	1 Juni 1997	1	0	Dynamo Kyiv	v. Ceko, 6 September 2018 U21
MF	Viktor Kovalenko	14 Februari 1996	17	0	Shakhtar Donetsk	v. Albania, 3 Juni 2018
MF	Mykola Shaparenko	4 Oktober 1998	2	0	Dynamo Kyiv	v. Albania, 3 Juni 2018
MF	Ruslan Rotan	29 Oktober 1981	100	8	Pensiun	v. Jepang, 27 Maret 2018
MF	Yevhen Shakhov	30 November 1990	4	1	PAOK	v. Slowakia, 10 November 2017
MF	Oleksandr Andriyevskyi	25 Juni 1994	1	0	Dynamo Kyiv	v. Slowakia, 10 November 2017
MF	Serhiy Myakushko	15 April 1993	1	0	Karpaty Lviv	v. Slowakia, 10 November 2017
MF	Vyacheslav Tankovskyi INJ	16 Agustus 1995	0	0	Shakhtar Donetsk	v. Slowakia, 10 November 2017
MF	Denys Harmash	19 April 1990	30	2	Dynamo Kyiv	v. Slowakia, 10 November 2017 WD
FW	Artem Kravets INJ	3 Juni 1989	22	8	Kayserispor	v. Ceko, 16 Oktober 2018 WD
FW	Artem Besyedin INJ	31 Maret 1996	10	1	Dynamo Kyiv	v. Italia, 10 Oktober 2018 WD
FW	Yevhen Seleznyov	20 Juli 1985	57	11	Akhisar Belediyespor	v. Slowakia, 9 September 2018
FW	Yuriy Kolomoyets	22 Maret 1990	1	0	Vorskla Poltava	v. Arab Saudi, 23 Maret 2018 PRE

Catatan:

• ^INJ = Sedang cedera.
• ^WD = Mundur karena cedera.
• ^PRE = Skuad awal.
• ^RET = Pensiun dari tim nasional.
• ^SUS = Ditangguhkan untuk pertandingan berikutnya.
• ^U21 = Bergabung dalam tim nasional U-21 Ukraina.
• ^ALT = Pengganti - menggantikan posisi anggota skuad yang cedera.

Pranala luar

• http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=328162&cc=5901
• http://ukraine.worldcupblog.org Diarsipkan 2015-09-15 di Wayback Machine.