The Ukrainian youth team (players born in or after 2007) finished third in their group during the qualification for Euro-2024 (U-17) and now has a chance to advance to the elite round of selection. The fate of the blue-and-yellow will be decided in November, when mini-tournaments in other quartets conclude. Among the third-placed teams, five out of thirteen will proceed further, and with one gold point and a goal difference of 2—3, our boys can compete for one of the spots.

After the Euro-2024 (U-17) qualification round, head coach of Ukraine's youth team Volodymyr Yezersky summed up his team’s performance.

"We prepared for the qualifying round of the European Championship in an unusual situation," said Volodymyr Ivanovich. "Due to various reasons, it was difficult to track our players who were playing in Europe. Moreover, we got used to seeing a different first league of youth football (DYL), which resumed after one and a half years."

As for our expectations before the tournament, they have been confirmed. In my opinion, Finland's team showed itself at its best. I'll say more: in terms of team play, they were even better than Germany’s team. We played against them late at night, then confidently beat Liechtenstein. Everything was decided in the game with that same Germany, which was also a crucial match for them. In this match, where we narrowly lost, many of our boys lacked international experience. And the psychological state of our team was not at the level expected by the coaching staff. However, it was a very useful match because we saw how players work under pressure.

There were performers who pleased us, and there were those from whom more was expected. But overall, in this short period that we spent together, I believe that Ukraine's team performed decently despite what is happening in our country. Also, I am grateful to my coaching staff and administrative personnel; everyone worked at maximum capacity.

Now it remains to wait and hope that our third place in the quartet will allow the Ukrainian team to qualify for the elite round. I'm convinced that this team deserves to be there.

EURO-2024 (U-17). Qualification Round. Group 3

October 15, 2023

Finland — Ukraine — 2:2

Germany — Liechtenstein — 6:0

October 18, 2023

Ukraine — Liechtenstein — 7:0

Germany — Finland — 1:1

October 21, 2023

Ukraine — Germany — 0:1

Liechtenstein — Finland — 0:3

Final Standings

Group 1: Denmark, Austria, Georgia*, Lithuania.

Group 2: Sweden, Poland, Latvia, Moldova*.

Group 3: Germany, Ukraine, Finland, Liechtenstein*.

Group 4: Serbia*, Slovenia, Luxembourg, Azerbaijan.

Group 5: Portugal*, Czech Republic, Montenegro, Albania.

Group 6: France, Norway, Romania*, Estonia.

Group 7: Turkey*, Scotland, Belarus, Kazakhstan.

Group 8: Spain, Slovakia, North Macedonia, Malta*.

Group 9: England, Croatia*, Kosovo, Faroe Islands.

Group 10: Ireland*, Switzerland, Iceland, Armenia.

Group 11: Italy*, Greece, Northern Ireland, San Marino.

Group 12: Belgium, Israel*, Wales, Gibraltar.

Group 13: Hungary*, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Andorra.

*— hosts of mini-tournaments.

The winners of the first two places in the qualifying groups and five best third-placed teams based on results against the top two teams will advance to the elite round, where they will face the Netherlands team.

Matches at this stage will take place in eight groups in March 2024. They will determine 15 teams that join Cyprus in the final tournament, which will run from May 20 to June 5.