After two wins at the start of the group stage of the World Cup 2024 qualifier tournament against Spain (4:3 OT) and Poland (3:2), Mikola Kostenko's and Oleksandr Korniychuk's wards secured their place in the quarter-finals of the competition.

The result of today's match against Lithuania determined which position Ukrainians would ultimately occupy in Group V, and consequently, who they would play against in the 1/4 finals. 

The task for the blue-and-yellow team was complicated by the absence of our goalkeeper Andriy Nerus', who received a red card in the previous match and was disqualified. In this situation, apart from Oleksandr Poslavskyi, Oleksandr Korniychuk occasionally performed as a goalkeeper or fifth field player.

However, things did not go wrong. As early as the first seconds of the first period, Andriy Pashko opened the score, and just three minutes later, Yaroslav Zavorotnyi doubled it. The Lithuanians responded with a goal from Paulius Gedraitis.

In the second 12-minute period, Oleg Zborovskiy and Andriy Borsuk extended our team's lead to three goals, while in the third, their opponents failed to score. Thus, 4:1 — a victory for Ukrainians.

Therefore, the Ukrainian national team secured first place in this quartet and will now play Moldova in the match for qualification to the World Cup-2024, which took second position in Group A. The game will take place on Sunday, July 9 (kickoff at 17:45 Kyiv time).

World Cup-2024 Beach Soccer Qualifying Tournament

Group V. 3rd Round

Ukraine — Lithuania — 4:1

Goals: Pashko (1), Zavorotnyi (4), Zborovskiy (16), A. Borsuk (18) — P. Gedraitis (6).

Ukraine: Nerus', Poslavskyi, Voytok, Shcheritsya, Korniychuk, Pashko, Zborovskiy, A. Borsuk, Zavorotnyi, Voytenko, Levchenko, Shchitnik.

Lithuania: Drasutis, Petrauskas, V. Gedraitis, Bartoshevich, Lebedevas, Navickas, Graciusunas, Lebedev, Novikov, P. Gedraitis, Makutunovichus, Plytnikas. 

Spain — Poland — 4:2

Final Standings

Match-ups for World Cup-2024 Qualification

09.07 Belarus — France (15:15)

09.07 Portugal — Denmark (16:30)

09.07 Ukraine — Moldova (17:45)

09.07 Italy — Spain (19:00)

The four winners of the match-ups will qualify for the World Cup-2024 in UAE, which will take place from February 15 to February 25 next year.