The Ukraine U18 national team (players born in 2008) is preparing for the first qualifying round of Euro 2027 (U19) where “Blue and Yellows” will face Czech Republic, Finland and Estonia in Group A3. The tournament, scheduled for March 25–31, 2026, will be hosted by Finland.
From February 13 to 20 the team is holding a training camp in Rome. On Tuesday, February 17, as part of the camp the side coached by Dmytro Mykhailenko played the first of two planned friendlies against their Italian peers at the Riano Athletic Center.
The match ended in an entertaining 2:2 draw. In the 14th minute Tsymbaliuk was first to react to a loose ball and scored with a powerful second-touch strike from outside the penalty area. Italy equalized midway through the half after a corner from the left flank when Fogliaro pushed the ball into the net from close range. In stoppage time of the first half, following a throw-in by Melnyk, Dynamo midfielder Pavlo Liusin won the battle inside the opposition penalty area and fired the ball inside the near post to make it 2:1.
That scoreline held almost until the end of the second half but in stoppage time Baraglia confidently converted a penalty to set the final score at 2:2.
It is worth noting that two representatives of Dynamo Kyiv took part in the match. In addition to midfielder Pavlo Liusin, who captained the team, forward Ivan Andreiko also featured. Both players started the match with Liusin playing 88 minutes and Andreiko being substituted at halftime.
Ukraine will play their second friendly against Italy on Thursday, February 19, with kick-off scheduled for 12:00.
