The UEFA Euro 2023 (U-19) futsal tournament is taking place in Poreč, Croatia. The Ukrainian youth national team continued its run in the finals with a semifinal match against Spain.

The blue-and-yellow team started the European Championship with a loss to Italy (1:2), but they went on to win their next matches against Slovenia (4:2) and Finland (7:4). Thus, they advanced to the semifinals—the second time in our team's history.

There, Igor Moskvichov’s wards faced Spain—champions of the previous two final tournaments at this level (2019, 2022). It's worth noting that in preparation for the Euro 2023 (U-19), Ukraine exchanged victories with the Pyrenean team—5:4 and 2:5.

"Furia Roja" started the match with two goals. First, Tapias scored after intercepting a pass, then Panadés completed a counterattack successfully. The blue-and-yellow team needed time to recover from this blow.

At the 13th minute, both teams exchanged dangerous attempts by Kano and Rybitskyi. Later, Moreno missed our team from an excellent position, while Snitsarenko, intercepting a ball, lost a duel with the goalkeeper. And yet, at the 17th minute, our boys managed to score one goal—Malynovskiy's pass was finished off by Rybitskyi. Spain responded with Rodo’s shot hitting the post, and in Ukraine, Fedik had a dangerous attempt.

At the start of the second half, blue-and-yellow equalized—Yelishev intercepted, and Snitsarenko powerfully scored. However, Spain quickly regained their lead—Ramos scored from a corner kick. Thereafter, "Furia Roja" continued to control the initiative, with Vincente narrowly missing the crossbar.

Spain focused on ball possession; several times Dychenko had to save Ukraine. In the final minutes, blue-and-yellow went for an all-out attack, using a fifth field player, but they failed to score a decisive goal. 2:3. Thus, for the second consecutive European Championship, Ukraine's national team stops at the semifinals.

UEFA Euro 2023 (U-19) Futsal Final Tournament

08.09.2023

Semifinals

Ukraine — Spain — 2:3 (1:2)

Goals: Rybitskyi (17), Snitsarenko (24) — Tapias (2), Panadés (3), Ramos (25).

Ukraine: Dychenko — Rybitskyi, Fedik, Malynovskiy, Skibchik (c); Belimov, Rafalskiy, Prykhodko, Tatumiak, Tkachenko, Yelishev, Snitsarenko, Tyutyray, Pelycky.

Spain: Lopez — Kano, Panadés, Tapias (c), Moreno; Nicolas, Salas, Vincente, Rodo, Ramos, Martinez, Santa-Cruz, Soler, Garcia.

Yellow cards: Fedik (8), Rybitskyi (37) — Martinez (8).

Portugal — Slovenia — 3:2

10.09.2023

Final

Portugal — Spain (21.30)