World Cup 2006

Ukraine

Nickname(s)

Zhovto-Blakytni
(”the Yellow-Blues”)

Association

Football Federation
of Ukraine

Confederation

UEFA (Europe)

Head coach

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

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)




Home colours




Away colours

First international

Ukraine 1 - 3 Hungary

(Uzhhorod, Ukraine; 29 April 1992)

Biggest win

Ukraine 6 - 0 Azerbaijan

(Kyiv, Ukraine; 15 August 2006)

Biggest defeat

Croatia 4 - 0 Ukraine

(Zagreb, Croatia; 25 March 1995)

Spain 4 - 0 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Forthcoming fixtures

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

[edit] 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

[edit] Group 6

See also: 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - UEFA Group 6 details

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
England	4	4	0	0	14	3	+11	12
Croatia	4	2	1	1	8	4	+4	7
Ukraine	3	2	1	0	4	1	+3	7
Belarus	3	1	0	2	4	5	−1	3
Kazakhstan	4	1	0	3	5	11	−6	3
Andorra	4	0	0	4	1	12	−11	0


Andorra	–	1 – 3	1 Apr	0 – 2	9 Sep	14 Oct
Belarus	6 Jun	–	12 Aug	1 – 3	10 Oct	9 Sep
Croatia	4 – 0	5 Sep	–	1 – 4	3 – 0	6 Jun
England	10 Jun	14 Oct	9 Sep	–	5 – 1	1 Apr
Kazakhstan	3 – 0	1 Apr	14 Oct	6 Jun	–	1 – 3
Ukraine	5 Sep	1 – 0	0 – 0	10 Oct	10 Jun	–

[edit] Recent results

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

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

[edit] 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)

[edit] 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:

[edit] 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