Afterthe restoration of the Ukrainian independence, the team played theirfirst match againstHungary on 29 April 1992. In their debut in a major world championship, the team reached the quarter-finals in the2006 FIFA World Cup.[3] In addition to Russia and Uzbekistan, Ukraine is the only post-Soviet state to qualify for the FIFA World Cup finals.
As the host nation, Ukraine automatically qualified forUEFA Euro 2012.[3] Four years later, Ukraine finished third in their qualifying group forEuro 2016 and advanced for the first time, via the play-off route and qualifiers, to reach aUEFA European Championship tournament. This marked the first time in Ukraine's six play-off appearances that it managed to win a tie, having lost previous play-off ties for the1998 World Cup,Euro 2000, the2002 World Cup, the2010 World Cup and the2014 World Cup, and would lose again in the2022 World Cup play-offs.
Ukraine's best performances in the UEFA European Championship and in theWorld Cup were in2020 and2006 respectively, reaching the quarter-finals for the first time in both cases.
The national team was formed in the early 1990s and was recognized internationally soon thereafter. Ukraine, under theUkrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, previously had a national team in 1924–1935[4][5] just like theRussian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. The national team included the players Andriy Ponomarenko,Ivan Privalov,Volodymyr Fomin, H. Syrota,Mykola Fomin, Anatoliy Lisnyi, Oleksandr Shatokha (goalkeeper), Dmytro Kyryllov, Dmytro Starusev, Serhiy Kopeiko, Petro Parovyshnykov (first team); Valentyn Prokofyev, Fedir Tyutchev, H. Yakubovskyi, Ivan Vladymyrskyi, Serafim Moskvin (goalkeeper), Kazymyr Piontkovskyi, Mykhailo Pashuta, Vasiliy Yepishin, Adam Bem, K. Us, Volodymyr Prasolov (second team).[6][7]
The earliest record of games played by Ukraine can be traced back to August 1928. A championship among the national teams of the Soviet republics as well as theMoscow city team took place in Moscow; at the All-Soviet tournament, Ukraine reached the final where it lost to Moscow 1–0, after defeatingBelarus andTranscaucasus.
In 1929, Ukraine beatLower Austria in an exhibition match inKharkiv 4–1, and played in another Soviet tournament. Ukraine lost to Transcaucasus 3–0.
Valeriy Lobanovskyi was Head Coach of the National Team in 1979 and between 2001 and 2002.
The Soviet Union's five-yearUEFA coefficient (earned in part by Ukrainian players), was transferred to the Russian national team. As a result, a crisis was created for both the national team and thedomestic league.
Controversy developed because the Ukrainian football league lacked adequate funding for their teams[9] due to the economic crisis affecting all CIS countries.[9] There also was a reverse influx of players;[9]Viktor Leonenko agreed on transfer fromDynamo Moscow toDynamo Kyiv. The Russian club did not want to release him, but Leonenko did not want to continue to play in Moscow.[9]
Ukraine played their first match on 29 April 1992 against Hungary inUzhhorod at theAvanhard Stadium, losing 3–1 with the sole Ukrainian goal scored byIvan Hetsko. With the creation of a "phantom" (transitional)CIS team in place of theSoviet Union playing againstEngland in Moscow in preparation for theUEFA Euro 1992.[11] That year the Ukrainian team lost some notable players to the Soviet Union team. Following several losses to Hungary and a draw to the United States, Prokopenko resigned and the last season game was led by his assistantsMykola Pavlov andLeonid Tkachenko.
Ukraine appointed head coach,Oleh Bazylevych, who made his debut with the national team in the spring of 1993 inOdesa during a friendly game againstIsrael, resulting in a 1–1 draw. Less than one month later, Ukraine finally won inVilnius against Lithuania. During that summer they lost 3–1 to Croatia; Ukraine was later seeded inGroup 4 of theUEFA Euro 1996 qualification.
Ukraine was defeated by Israel in March 1994, and drew Bulgaria and the United Arab Emirates. On 7 September 1994, the national team started its first official qualification campaign with a home loss 2–0 to Lithuania.[12] Following the defeat and a weak performances in preceding friendlies, Bazylevych was fired and the tour to South Korea was led by the Bazylevych assistantsPavlov andMuntyan. Soon thereafter the Federation signed a contract withValeriy Lobanovsky. On 24 September, theFootball Federation of Ukraine appointedYozhef Sabo as an acting manager until the end of the year after Lobanovsky signed a contract withKuwait.
Under Sabo's management, the team's next home game againstSlovenia ended goalless[13] and they eventually beat Estonia 3–0, gaining their first win in an official competitive game.[14] At the beginning of the year the Football Federation confirmedAnatoliy Konkov as the new head coach on 5 January 1995.
Oleg Blokhin, two spells in charge of the Ukraine national team
Under coach Konkov, the team started with away losses of 4–0 to Croatia and 3–0 to Italy.[15] Following the losses, there was a three-game winning streak including a home victory against Croatia. A subsequent loss to Slovenia had the team finishing in fourth place in its first qualification campaign behind Lithuania.
Following Konkov's departure in 1996, the Federation appointed Sabo as head coach. Separately, there was a preliminary agreement with Lobanovsky to coach following his contract end with Kuwait.
Ukraine participated in1998 World Cup qualification, where the team was drawn intoGroup 9. Ukraine took second place, behindGermany and ahead ofPortugal, but was defeated in a play-off stage 3–1 on aggregate byCroatia. The qualification campaign became notable as the beginning of the international career ofShevchenko as well as providing more play time for players such asOleksandr Shovkovsky andSerhiy Rebrov.
In theUEFA Euro 2000 qualifying, Ukraine, assigned inGroup 4, finished aboveRussia, thanks to an important draw inMoscow and a home victory. However, they still only qualified for the playoff behind theFrench side despite being undefeated. Ukraine then fell toSlovenia 3–2 on aggregate. Following the qualification campaign, the Federation finally signed a contract withValery Lobanovsky, ending Sabo's tenure as a head coach.
The2002 FIFA World Cup qualification saw Ukraine inGroup 5. With Lobanovsky as a head coach, there were expectations of the first qualification to the finals. Yet, Ukraine suffered a home loss toPoland in their opening match, and many draws resulted in Ukraine qualifying for the playoff, losing to Germany, 5–2 on aggregate. Under public pressure, particularly theHigher League, head coaches argued for the removal of Lobanovsky and the Federation decided not to renew its contract with Lobanovsky, instead moving him toDynamo Kyiv.
After theEuro 2004 qualifying match, Ukraine appointedOleg Blokhin as the national team's head coach. Placed inGroup 2, Ukraine went on to qualify as a group winner for their first-everFIFA World Cup on 3 September 2005, after drawing 1–1 againstGeorgia inTbilisi (and ahead of Turkey), playing Denmark and their last campaign against rivals Greece (among others). This was the first successful qualification campaign for Ukraine despite a poor home turf performance.
In the2006 World Cup, Ukraine was inGroup H withSpain,Tunisia andSaudi Arabia. After losing 4–0 in the first match against Spain, the Ukrainians won the next two matches to faceSwitzerland in round 16. Drawing goalless, Ukraine took Switzerland to a penalty shoot-out where two saves fromOleksandr Shovkovsky secured a positive outcome for his side despite the first kick miss byAndriy Shevchenko. Switzerland which did not lose or yield a single goal was sent home early with Ukraine advancing to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, Ukraine, facingItaly, was defeated with two second half two goals fromLuca Toni, securing a comfortable 3–0 win for the future 2006 World Cup champions.
With another Soviet football star playerOleksiy Mykhaylychenko as the new head coach,2010 FIFA World Cup qualification saw Ukraine inGroup 6, drawingCroatia and winning againstEngland, sending Ukraine to the playoff. Greece, which had been eliminated by Ukraine in the qualifiers four years earlier, would eventually get revenge.[citation needed] Following the failure to qualify, the Federation decided not to renew the contract with Mykhaylychenko.[18]
Ukraine in 2012Ukraine before a match against Bulgaria, 14 December 2012
As co-hosts, Ukraine qualified automatically forEuro 2012,[3] marking their debut in theUEFA European Championship. The Federation decided to appointMyron Markevych to prepare and lead the national team in the Euro finals. However, following a few friendlies Markevych resigned due to the off-pitch politics and having held coaching office of both the national team andMetalist Kharkiv.[19][20] For the next several games in 2010 and 2011 the national team was led by caretakerYuriy Kalitvintsev who starred for Ukraine back in its first qualification campaign for the Euro 1996.
On 21 April 2011, Blokhin was again appointed head coach of the Ukraine national team signing a four-year contract.[21][22] With Blokhin at helm in their opening game againstSweden, Ukraine won 2–1 in Kyiv. In Donetsk, Ukraine was eliminated after a 2–0 loss to France and a 1–0 defeat to England.
Drawn intoUEFA Group H for2014 World Cup qualification, Ukraine played against France, beating France at home 2–0 but suffered a 3–0 loss away. Blokhin stepped down due to health concerns in the autumn of 2012 soon after the first home game againstEngland and was replaced byAndriy Bal[23] and laterOleksandr Zavarov.
In 2012, the Federation appointedMykhailo Fomenko as a head coach .[24] Even though the team under Fomenko did not manage to qualify for the World Cup, the Federation decided to retain his services until the end of 2015.[25]
Ukraine in 2015
During ongoingconflicts with Russian, Ukraine inEuro 2016 qualifying was drawn against Spain,Slovakia, Belarus,Macedonia andLuxembourg. Despite having won all matches except those against Spain and Slovakia, Ukraine finished third. They defeatedSlovenia in the playoff, marking their first qualification for a major tournament through the playoffs.
Ukraine lost all three games at Euro 2016 without scoring a goal.
Following the Euro 2016, Fomenko was replaced withAndriy Shevchenko as head coach (who was his assistant during the Euro finals).[26] Seeded in theUEFA Group I, Ukraine started with a home draw toIceland in 2018 World Cup qualifying and an away draw toTurkey but lost to Croatia failing to qualify for the playoffs for the first time sinceUEFA Euro 2004.
In theinaugural UEFA Nations League, Ukraine was drawn with theCzech Republic and Slovakia in League B. They beat the Czech Republic 2–1 away and Slovakia 1–0 at home, before earning a promotion to League A with a 1–0 home win to the Czech Republic.
Ukraine was placed in a group with Euro 2016 championsPortugal as well asSerbia.
As theCOVID-19 crisis inUkraine worsened, eight players from the starting squad tested positive (including one positiveSARS-CoV-2 test upon arrival toLucerne), as a result the entire delegation was put into quarantine by the Department of Health of theCanton of Lucerne.[27][28] Their game against Switzerland away was subsequently cancelled. UEFA decided that the match result would be 3–0 in favour of Switzerland and theCAS subsequently upheld the result, meaning that Ukraine had been officially relegated after just one year in League A.[29][30]
Ukraine qualified for the knockout stages in the European Championship as one of the best third-placed teams for the first time in the 2020 tournament, postponed to 2021 due toCOVID-19. They beat Sweden 2–1 in the round of 16,and were then defeated by England in the quarter-final, recording their best finish at a major tournament since 2006.
In August 2021, Shevchenko[31] was replaced withOleksandr Petrakov. In the2022 World Cup qualifying rounds, Ukraine drew 1–1 in both games against France.[32] Ukraine would qualify for the playoff after breaking the record set byAustralia for the most consecutive draws in World Cup qualification, with five straight draws.[citation needed] Ukraine eventually 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 had a game in hand over Ukraine, who qualified for the playoffs after a 2–0 win over Bosnia and a Finnish loss to France. Ukraine facedScotland in the Group A playoff semifinals, postponed in March 2022 to June afterRussia invaded the country in February,[33] winning 3–1 atHampden Park, but ultimately losing 1–0 toWales.[34]
Ukraine, wasrelegated to League B in the2nd Nations League due to their last-place finish (2 wins to 4 losses), failed to gain promotion to League A in the following Nations League, finishing 2nd in their group in the3rd Nations League, beaten by Scotland.
In thequalifiers for the Euro 2024, Ukraine finished third in their group, with four wins, two draws and two defeats.
Eligible for the play-offs as the best non-group winner, Ukraine initially defeatedBosnia 2–1 away in thesemi-finals of the Path B play-offs on March 21, 2024.[35] Five days later, on March 26, 2024, Ukraine qualified forEuro 2024 in Germany, beating Iceland 2–1 in theplay-off final at theWrocław Stadium inPoland.[36][37] In this decisive final, as in the semi-final against Bosnia, Ukraine managed to turn the match around, winning by a narrow margin at the very end. Having been drawn into Group E with Romania, Belgium and Slovakia, Ukraine finished level with all the other teams in the group on four points, but were knocked out on goal difference.
On 29 March 2010, Ukraine debuted a newAdidas kit.[39] This replaced the Adidas kit with a yellow base and the traditional Adidasthree stripe with a snake sash which was used in 2009.[40] Before 5 February 2009, Ukraine wore aLotto kit which was used for the 2006 World Cup.
Official sponsors:Henkel (Ukraine),Adidas, Airline "MAU" (Ukraine International Airlines), NIKO (officialMitsubishi distributor in Ukraine), Boris clinic, Tour agency "Love Cyprus", Resort center "Grand Admiral Club"
^Oleksandr Petrakov took over ascaretaker for seven games, until he was formally appointed full-time on 17 November 2021.
^abFIFA adopted a decision not to allow to participate in the 1994 FIFA World Cup the national teams of those former Soviet republics that did not participate in the qualification draw on 8 December 1991.[9] A proposition of Ukraine to arrange a separate tournament for all successors of the Soviet Union and supported by Georgia and Armenia was blocked by Russia.[66]
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