On Thursday, March 26, a crucial 2026 FIFA World Cup playoff semifinal between Ukraine and Sweden took place in Valencia, Spain.
Heading into the match Ukraine had a positive record against Sweden, having beaten them at both Euro 2012 and Euro 2020. However this time the result did not go in favor of the “yellow and blue.”
Sweden opened the scoring early in the 6th minute when Viktor Gyökeres finished from close range after a cross from the left flank. Shortly after halftime, in the 51st minute, a long distribution from the goalkeeper led to a breakaway, allowing the Swedish striker to double the lead. Gyökeres completed his hat-trick in the 72nd minute, earning and converting a penalty to make it 3:0.
Ukraine managed a late goal in stoppage time. After a cross from the left Matvii Ponomarenko, who came on in the 77th minute for his debut, scored with a header into the top corner, marking an impressive first appearance for the national team.
Oleksandr Tymchyk started and played the full match (his 25th cap), receiving a yellow card in the 57th minute. Mykola Shaparenko came on as a substitute in the 85th minute (his 49th appearance).
2026 World Cup Qualifying Playoff
Ukraine – Sweden – 1:3 (0:1)
Ukraine : Trubin, Tymchyk, Zabarnyi (c), Bondar, Mykolenko, Kaliuzhnyi (Hutsuliak, 60), Yarmoliuk (Shaparenko, 85), Sudakov (Ponomarenko, 77), Tsyhankov, Zubkov (Ocheretko, 60), Vanat (Yaremchuk, 60).
Sweden: Nordfeldt, Lagerbielke, Lindelöf (c), Ekdal (Starfelt, 37), Gudmundsson (Svensson, 77), Nygren, Karlström, Ayari (Bergvall, 77), Johansson, Gyökeres, Elanga (Svanberg, 90+4).
Goals: Ponomarenko (90+1) – Gyökeres (6, 51, 73)
With this defeat Ukraine fails to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, meaning fans will not see the team compete in the tournament hosted by the USA, Canada, and Mexico.
The team, coached by Serhii Rebrov, will play a friendly match against Albania on March 31 after Albania lost 1:2 to Poland in their own playoff match.
