Ukraine national football team

Ukraine
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s) Zhovto-Blakytni
("the Yellow-Blues")
Association Football Federation
of Ukraine
Confederation UEFA (Europe)
Head coach Flag of Ukraine Oleksiy Mykhaylichenko
Captain Andriy Shevchenko
Most caps Andriy Shevchenko (85)
Top scorer Andriy Shevchenko (39)
Home stadium Olympic Stadium, Kyiv
FIFA code UKR
FIFA ranking 20
Highest FIFA ranking 11 (February 2007)
Lowest FIFA ranking 132 (September 1993)
Elo ranking T26
Highest Elo ranking 18 (March 2007)
Lowest Elo ranking 67 (March 1995)
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Home colours
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Away colours
First international
Flag of Ukraine Ukraine 1 - 3 Hungary Flag of Hungary
(Uzhhorod, Ukraine; 29 April, 1992)
Biggest win
Flag of Ukraine Ukraine 6 - 0 Azerbaijan Flag of Azerbaijan
(Kyiv, Ukraine; 15 August, 2006)
Biggest defeat
Flag of Croatia Croatia 4 - 0 Ukraine Flag of Ukraine
(Zagreb, Croatia; 25 March, 1995)
Flag of Spain Spain 4 - 0 Ukraine Flag of Ukraine
(Leipzig, Germany; 14 June, 2006)
World Cup
Appearances 1 (First in 2006)
Best result Quarter-finals, 2006

The Ukraine national football team is the national football team of Ukraine and is controlled by the Football Federation of Ukraine. After the split of the Soviet Union, they played their first match against Hungary on April 29, 1992.

Prior to the split, Ukrainian players represented the USSR national football team. Some of the best Ukrainian players of the beginning of the 1990s (including Andrei Kanchelskis, Viktor Onopko, Sergei Yuran and Oleg Salenko) chose to play for Russia as it was named the official successor of the USSR, while Ukraine did not participate in major international competitions until 1994. As a result a crisis was created for both the national team and the domestic league. Problems were further compounded when 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-88, 7 out of starting 11 players were Ukrainians[1]), were transferred directly to the direct descendant of the Soviet national football team - the Russian national football team.

In the following years, the Ukrainian team improved, showcasing talents like Andriy Shevchenko, Anatoliy Tymoschuk and Serhiy Rebrov. However, Ukraine failed to qualify for any major intercontinental tournament prior to 2005, three times failing at the last qualifying stage, the playoffs, after finishing second in their qualifying groups. It lost to Croatia, failing to get to the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Slovenia prevented Ukraine from going to Euro 2000, and Germany stopped them prior to the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

After an unsuccessful Euro 2004 qualification campaign, Ukraine appointed Oleg Blokhin as the national team's head coach. Despite initial resentment to his appointment due to his previous poor coaching record and calls for a foreign coach, Ukraine went on to qualify for their first-ever FIFA World Cup on September 3 2005, by drawing with Denmark, 1:1, in Copenhagen. In their first World Cup (2006 FIFA World Cup), they were in the group H together with Spain, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia. After being crashed in the first match by Spain 0 - 4, Ukraine beaten other two opponents to reach the knock-out stage. In the round of 16, Ukraine played the winner of group G Switzerland, which they beat on penalties reaching the quarter-final of the tournament before losing 3:0 to eventual champions Italy.

Contents

Stadiums

The most important matches of the Ukrainian national team are held in Kyiv´s Olimpiysky National Sports Complex, the previous home of Dynamo Kyiv (which presently only uses the stadium for major European matches). The alternative stadiums include: Ukraina (Lviv), Meteor (Dnipropetrovsk), Chornomorets (Odessa), Metalist (Kharkiv), and many others. However as new infrastructure and stadiums are built (especially in preparation for Euro 2012), other venues will include stadiums in the cities of Lviv, Donetsk, Odessa, among others.

2006 FIFA World Cup

In the 2006 FIFA World Cup, their first major tournament since splitting from the USSR, Ukraine were drawn in Group H along with Spain, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia.

Ukraine got off to a poor start with a 4:0 defeat against Spain, but recovered to beat Saudi Arabia 4:0 in a then-national record victory. In their last group match, a lackluster performance by Ukraine saw them hold on to second place, as they beat Tunisia 1:0 with a penalty kick scored by Andriy Shevchenko.

In the second round, Ukraine beat Switzerland on penalties (3:0) when the match ended 0:0 after extra-time. In the quarter-finals, Ukraine lost 3:0 to Italy to end their first World Cup campaign.

Forthcoming fixtures

Date Tournament Location Opponent
1 April 2009 World Cup Qualifier 2010 Flag of England London Flag of England England
6 June 2009 World Cup Qualifier 2010 Flag of Croatia Zagreb Flag of Croatia Croatia
10 June 2009 World Cup Qualifier 2010 Flag of Ukraine Flag of Kazakhstan Kazakhstan
5 September 2009 World Cup Qualifier 2010 Flag of Ukraine Flag of Andorra Andorra
9 September 2009 World Cup Qualifier 2010 Flag of Belarus Minsk Flag of Belarus Belarus
10 October 2009 World Cup Qualifier 2010 Flag of Ukraine Kharkiv Flag of England England
14 October 2009 World Cup Qualifier 2010 Flag of Andorra Andorra la Vella Flag of Andorra Andorra

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Group 6

See also: 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - UEFA Group 6 details
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Flag of England.svg England 4 4 0 0 14 3 +11 12
Flag of Croatia.svg Croatia 4 2 1 1 8 4 +4 7
Flag of Ukraine.svg Ukraine 3 2 1 0 4 1 +3 7
Flag of Belarus.svg Belarus 3 1 0 2 4 5 −1 3
Flag of Kazakhstan.svg Kazakhstan 4 1 0 3 5 11 −6 3
Flag of Andorra.svg Andorra 4 0 0 4 1 12 −11 0
  Flag of Andorra Flag of Belarus Flag of Croatia Flag of England Flag of Kazakhstan Flag of Ukraine
Andorra Flag of Andorra.svg 1 – 3 1 Apr 0 – 2 9 Sep 14 Oct
Belarus Flag of Belarus.svg 6 Jun 12 Aug 1 – 3 10 Oct 9 Sep
Croatia Flag of Croatia.svg 4 – 0 5 Sep 1 – 4 3 – 0 6 Jun
England Flag of England.svg 10 Jun 14 Oct 9 Sep 5 – 1 1 Apr
Kazakhstan Flag of Kazakhstan.svg 3 – 0 1 Apr 14 Oct 6 Jun 1 – 3
Ukraine Flag of Ukraine.svg 5 Sep 1 – 0 0 – 0 10 Oct 10 Jun

Recent results

Date Tournament Location Opponent Result Scorers
19 November 2008 Friendly Flag of Ukraine Dnipropetrovsk Flag of Norway Norway Win 1:0 Seleznyov 26' (pen)
11 October 2008 World Cup Qualifier 2010 Flag of Ukraine Kharkiv Flag of Croatia Croatia Drew 0:0
10 September 2008 World Cup Qualifier 2010 Flag of Kazakhstan Almaty Flag of Kazakhstan Kazakhstan Won 1:3 Ostapenko 68' - Nazarenko 45', 80', Shevchenko 53'
6 September 2008 World Cup Qualifier 2010 Flag of Ukraine Lviv Flag of Belarus Belarus Won 1:0 Shevchenko 90' (pen)
20 August 2008 Friendly Flag of Ukraine Lviv Flag of Poland Poland Won 1:0 S. Kravchenko 45'
1 June 2008 Friendly Flag of Sweden Stockholm Flag of Sweden Sweden Won 0:1 Nazarenko 82'
24 May 2008 Friendly Flag of the Netherlands Rotterdam Flag of the Netherlands Holland Lost 3:0 Kuyt 23', Huntelaar 37', Babel 63'
26 March 2008 Friendly Flag of Ukraine Kyiv Flag of Serbia Serbia Won 2:0 Shevchenko 55', Nazarenko 58'
6 February 2008 Friendly Flag of Cyprus Nicosia Flag of Cyprus Cyprus Drew 1:1 Aloneftis 20' (pen) - Milevsky 71'
21 November 2007 Euro 2008 Qualifying Flag of Ukraine Kyiv Flag of France France Drew 2:2 Voronin 13', Shevchenko 46' - Henry 20', Govou 34'

Current form: 6 wins, 3 draws, 1 losses, 12 goals scored, 7 goals allowed. The top scorer(s): Shevchenko, Nazarenko - 4 goals.

World Cup record

Year Round Position P W D L GF GA Scorers
1930 to 1994 Did not enter, was part of USSR - - - - - - - -
1998 to 2002 Did not qualify - - - - - - - -
2006 Quarter-finals 8th 5 2 1 2 5 7 Shevchenko (2), Kalynychenko, Rebrov, Rusol
2010 Qualification in progress
Total Best: Quarter-finals Best: 8th 5 2 1 2 5 7 Top scorer: Shevchenko (2)

European Championship record

Year Round Position P W D L GF GA Scorers
1960 to 1992 Did not enter, was part of USSR - - - - - - - -
1996 to 2008 Did not qualify - - - - - - - -
2012 Qualified as host nation (along with Poland) - - - - - - - -
Total Best: - Best: - - - - - - - Top scorer:

Qualifying campaigns

FIFA World Cup European Football Championship
1994 - Qualifying spot not granted by FIFA 1996 - Finished 4th in Qualifying group
1998 - Finished 2nd in Qualifying group, lost to Croatia in playoffs 2000 - Finished 2nd in Qualifying group, lost to Slovenia in playoffs
2002 - Finished 2nd in Qualifying group, lost to Germany in playoffs 2004 - Finished 3rd in Qualifying group
2006 - Finished 1st in Qualifying group, qualified for WC 2006 2008 - Finished 4th in Qualifying group
2010 - Qualification in progress 2012 - Qualified as host nation

Former famous players

[2] For notable players from the USSR era, see USSR national football team.

  • Oleh Luzhny 52 (0)
  • Yuri Kalitvintsev 22 (1)
  • Oleksandr Holovko 58 (0)
 
  • Vitaly Kosovsky 25 (2)
  • Oleg Kuznetsov 3 (0)
  • Gennadiy Litovchenko 4 (0)
 
  • Oleksiy Mykhaylichenko 2 (0)
  • Dmytro Parfenov 18 (0)
  • Serhiy Popov 54 (5)
 
  • Oleh Protasov 1 (0)
  • Hennady Zubov 29 (3)

Player records

Player/coach records are accurate as of October 11, 2008.

Most capped Ukraine players

# Name Career Caps Goals
1 Andriy Shevchenko [3] 1995 - Present 85 39
2 Oleksandr Shovkovskiy [3] 1994 - Present 84 0
3 Anatoliy Tymoschuk [3] 2000 - Present 81 1
4 Serhiy Rebrov [3] 1992 - 2007 75 15
5 Andriy Husin 1993 - 2006 71 9
6 Andriy Vorobei [3] 2000 - Present 68 9
7 Andriy Nesmachniy [3] 2000 - Present 66 0
8 Vladislav Vashchuk [3] 1996 - 2007 63 1
9 Oleksandr Holovko 1995 - 2004 58 0
10 Andriy Voronin [3] 2002 - Present 56 6

Top Ukraine goalscorers

# Player Career Goals (Caps)
1 Andriy Shevchenko 1995 - Present 39 (85)
2 Serhiy Rebrov 1992 - 2007 15 (75)
3 Andriy Vorobei 2000 - Present 9 (68)
Andriy Husin 1993 - 2006 9 (71)
5 Timerlan Huseinov 1993 - 1997 8 (14)
6 Serhiy Nazarenko 2003 - Present 7 (33)
Maksym Kalynychenko 2002 - Present 7 (38)
8 Viktor Leonenko 1992 - 1996 6 (14)
Ruslan Rotan 2003 - Present 6 (33)
Oleh Husyev 2003 - Present 6 (47)
Andriy Voronin 2002 - Present 6 (56)

Players in Bold are still active.

Ukraine captains

Player/coach records are accurate as of October 11, 2008.

# Player Ukraine career Captain Caps (Total Caps)
1 Oleh Luzhny 1992 - 2002 39 (52)
2 Andriy Shevchenko [3] 1995 - Present 38 (85)
3 Oleksandr Holovko 1995 - 2004 13 (58)
Yuri Kalitvintsev 1995 - 1999 13 (22)
5 Oleksandr Shovkovskiy [3] 1994 - Present 10 (84)
6 Anatoliy Tymoschuk [3] 2000 - Present 9 (81)
7 Serhiy Bezhenar 1992 - 1997 4 (23)
Yuri Maximov 1992 - 2002 4 (27)
9 Serhiy Diryavka 1992 - 1995 3 (9)
Ihor Kutepov 1992 - 1993 3 (4)

Ukraine managers

Manager Ukraine career Played Won Drawn Lost GF[4] GA[5] Win %
Viktor Prokopenko 1992 3 0 1 2 2 5 0
Mykola Pavlov (caretaker) 1992 1 0 1 0 1 1 0
Oleh Bazilevich 1993–1994 11 4 3 4 13 14 36.36
Mykola Pavlov (caretaker) 1994 2 0 0 2 0 3 0
Yozhef Sabo 1994 2 1 1 0 3 0 50
Anatoly Konjkov 1995 7 3 0 4 8 13 42.86
Yozhef Sabo 1996–1999 32 15 11 6 44 26 46.88
Valery Lobanovsky 2000–2001 18 6 7 5 20 20 33.33
Leonid Buriak 2002–2003 19 5 6 8 18 23 26.32
Oleg Blokhin 2003–2007 46 21 14 11 65 40 45.65
Oleksiy Mykhaylichenko 2008– 9 6 2 1 10 5 66.67

Current players

Players' records are accurate as of November 19, 2008.
The following players have all recently been called up to the Ukraine squad for the World Cup 2010 Qualifiers.

Goalkeepers
Name Date of birth Club Caps (goals) Most Recent Call up
Oleksandr Shovkovsky 02.01.1975 Flag of Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv 84 (-65) v Croatia, October 11, 2008
Andriy Pyatov 28.06.1984 Flag of Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk 9 (-5) v Norway, November 19, 2008
Vyacheslav Kernozenko 04.06.1976 Flag of Ukraine Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 5 (-8) v Poland, August 20, 2008
Bohdan Shust 04.03.1986 Flag of Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk 4 (-1) v Serbia, March 26, 2008
Stanislav Bohush 25.10.1983 Flag of Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv 1 (0) v Norway, November 19, 2008
Rustam Khudzhamov 05.10.1982 Flag of Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk 0 (0) v Kazakhstan, September 10, 2008
Defenders
Name Date of birth Club Caps (goals) Most Recent Call up
Andriy Nesmachniy 28.02.1979 Flag of Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv 66 (0) v Norway, November 19, 2008
Andriy Rusol 16.01.1983 Flag of Ukraine Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 43 (3) v Norway, November 19, 2008
Volodymyr Yezerskiy 15.11.1976 Flag of Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk 39 (2) v Sweden, June 1, 2008
Dmytro Chyhrynsky 07.11.1986 Flag of Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk 13 (0) v Norway, November 19, 2008
Oleksandr Kucher 22.10.1982 Flag of Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk 11 (1) v Norway, November 19, 2008
Taras Mikhalik 28.10.1983 Flag of Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv 11 (0) v Croatia, October 11, 2008
Vyacheslav Shevchuk 13.05.1979 Flag of Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk 11 (0) v Norway, November 19, 2008
Hrygory Yarmash 04.01.1985 Flag of Ukraine Vorskla Poltava 6 (0) v Croatia, October 11, 2008
Vitaliy Mandzyuk 24.01.1986 Flag of Ukraine Arsenal Kyiv [6] 6 (0) v Norway, November 19, 2008
Oleh Dopilka 12.03.1986 Flag of Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv 2 (0) v Serbia, March 26, 2008
Vitaliy Fedoriv 21.10.1987 Flag of Russia Amkar Perm [6] 1 (0) v Norway, November 19, 2008
Oleh Krasnoperov 25.07.1980 Flag of Ukraine Vorskla Poltava 1 (0) v Norway, November 19, 2008
Midfielders
Name Date of birth Club Caps (goals) Most Recent Call up
Anatoliy Tymoschuk 30.03.1979 Flag of Russia Zenit Saint Petersburg 81 (1) v Croatia, October 11, 2008
Oleh Husyev 25.04.1983 Flag of Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv 47 (6) v Serbia, March 26, 2008
Maksym Kalynychenko 26.01.1979 Flag of Ukraine Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 38 (7) v Croatia, October 11, 2008
Oleh Shelayev 05.11.1976 Flag of Ukraine Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 36 (1) v France, November 20, 2007
Serhiy Nazarenko 16.02.1980 Flag of Ukraine Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 33 (7) v Norway, November 19, 2008
Ruslan Rotan 29.10.1981 Flag of Ukraine Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 33 (6) v Serbia, March 26, 2008
Oleksiy Hai 06.11.1982 Flag of Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk 14 (0) v Norway, November 19, 2008
Serhiy Kravchenko 24.04.1983 Flag of Ukraine Vorskla Poltava 7 (1) v Norway, November 19, 2008
Yevhen Levchenko 02.01.1978 Flag of the Netherlands Groningen 7 (0) v Croatia, October 11, 2008
Denys Golaydo 03.06.1984 Flag of Ukraine Tavriya Simferopol 4 (0) v Croatia, October 11, 2008
Oleksandr Aliyev 03.02.1985 Flag of Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv 4 (0) v Norway, November 19, 2008
Valentyn Slyusar 15.09.1977 Flag of Ukraine Metalist Kharkiv 1 (0) v Norway, November 19, 2008
Serhiy Valyayev 16.09.1978 Flag of Ukraine Metalist Kharkiv 1 (0) v Norway, November 19, 2008
Forwards
Name Date of birth Club Caps (goals) Most Recent Call up
Andriy Shevchenko 29.09.1976 Flag of Italy Milan 85 (39) v Croatia, October 11, 2008
Andriy Vorobei 29.11.1978 Flag of Ukraine Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 68 (9) v Serbia, March 26, 2008
Andriy Voronin 21.07.1979 Flag of Germany Hertha Berlin[7] 56 (6) v Croatia, October 11, 2008
Artem Milevsky 12.01.1985 Flag of Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv 16 (1) v Norway, November 19, 2008
Oleksandr Hladky 24.08.1987 Flag of Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk 8 (1) v Sweden, June 1, 2008
Yevhen Seleznyov 20.07.1985 Flag of Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk 5 (1) v Norway, November 19, 2008
Volodymyr Homenyuk 19.07.1985 Flag of Ukraine Tavriya Simferopol 4 (0) v Norway, November 19, 2008
Marko Dević 27.10.1983 Flag of Ukraine Metalist Kharkiv 1 (0) v Norway, November 19, 2008
Artem Kravets 03.06.1989 Flag of Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv 0 (0) v Serbia, March 26, 2008

Previous squads

Home venues record

Since Ukraine's first fixture (April 29, 1992 vs. Hungary) they have played their home games at 9 different stadiums.

Venue City Played Won Drawn Lost GF GA Points per game
Olimpiyskyi Kyiv 41 20 14 7 65 33 1.80
VVL Dynamo Kyiv 10 6 4 0 17 5 2.20
Ukraina Lviv 5 5 0 0 11 3 3.00
Chornomorets Odessa 2 1 1 0 2 1 2.00
Shakhtar Donetsk 2 0 1 1 0 2 0.50
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 1 1 0 0 1 0 3.00
Meteor Dnipropetrovsk 1 0 1 0 2 2 1.00
Metalist Kharkiv 1 0 1 0 0 0 1.00
Avanhard Uzhhorod 1 0 0 1 1 3 0.00
Totals 64 33 22 9 99 49 1.89
Last updated: Ukraine 1–0 Norway, November 19, 2008. Statistics include official FIFA-recognised matches only.

World rankings

Date FIFA Ranking Elo Rating
January 1994 90th 49th
January 1995 77th 63rd
January 1996 69th 55th
January 1997 59th 44th
January 1998 49th 44th
January 1999 34th 34th
January 2000 27th 36th
January 2001 34th 34th
January 2002 45th 42nd
January 2003 45th 40th
January 2004 61st 49th
January 2005 57th 31st
January 2006 40th 30th
January 2007 13th 21st
January 2008 30th 39th
Highest position ever
FIFA: 11 (February 2007)
Elo: 18 (March 2007)
Lowest position ever
FIFA: 132 (September 1993)
Elo: 67 (March 1995)

See also

Notes

  1. European Championship 1988 - Final Tournament - Full Details
  2. Historical site of the Ukrainian soccer. (in Ukrainian)[1]
  3. 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 Still available for selection
  4. Goals for / scored
  5. Goals against / conceded
  6. 6.0 6.1 On loan from Dynamo Kyiv
  7. On loan from Liverpool F. C.

External links