Tuesday marks the start of the Elite Round for the UEFA European Under-17 Championship in Group 4. Among the participants is Ukraine's youth team, which, as a reminder, under Vladimir Yezersky’s leadership secured third place in their qualifying group last year and advanced further through a play-off among third-placed teams.

According to the draw results for the Elite Round, blue-and-yellow have been placed in Group 4 where they will face Greece, Switzerland, and Slovakia. The matches of this quartet will take place from March 6-12 in the Greek city of Patras on Pampeloponnisiako and Kostas Davourlis Stadium.

"All our opponents participated in the qualifying round, so we have materials about their games. These are well-balanced teams, and it's very difficult to name a favorite. And anyway, I wouldn't want to single anyone out — there are no weak opponents in the Elite Round," — said Yuriy Moroz, recently appointed head coach of the blue-and-yellow team.

As a reminder, the draw for the Elite Round split 32 teams into eight groups. At stake are 15 spots to the final stage, which will take place from May 20 to June 5, 2024, in Cyprus. Eight group winners and seven runners-up with the best results from the Elite Round qualifiers will advance to the finals. The host country also joins them.

Composition of Ukraine's Under-17 Youth Team

Goalkeepers: Oleksandr Kharchenko ("Rukh" Lviv), Nazariy Makarenko ("Dnipro-1" Dnipropetrovsk), Illia Voloshin ("Real", Spain).

Defenders: Kyrylo Dyhtyar ("Metalist" Kharkiv), Oleksiy Rybak, Dem’yan Tretiak (both — "Dynamo" Kyiv), Yevhenii Riabokon (Slovacko, Czech Republic), Mykita Shelyket, Yegor Dankovskyy (both — "Shakhtar" Donetsk), Dmytro Styrchuk ("Bayern", Germany).

Midfielders: Nazariy Bondar ("Rukh" Lviv), Oleksandr Dragan ("Atalanta", Italy), Yevhenii Harmash ("Shakhtar" Donetsk), Bogdan Olichenko ("Bayern", Germany), Volodymyr Ozimay, Pavlo Lysin, Bohdan Redushko (all — "Dynamo" Kyiv), Ali Khalilov ("Dnipro-1" Dnipropetrovsk).

Forwards: Dmytro Bogdanov ("Dynamo" D, Germany), Ivan Denysov ("Rukh" Lviv), Artem Stepanov (Bayern, Germany).

Schedule for the Elite Round of UEFA European Under-17 Championship in Group 4

06.03.2024

Slovakia — Switzerland (14:00)

Greece — Ukraine (15:00)

09.03.2024

Switzerland — Ukraine (14:00)

Greece — Slovakia (15:00)

12.03.2024

Switzerland — Greece (15:00)

Ukraine — Slovakia (15:00)

Match times are in Kyiv time.

UEFA European Under-17 Championship. Elite Round Qualifiers

Group 1: England, France, Hungary, Northern Ireland.

Group 2: Wales, Bulgaria, Sweden, Romania.

Group 3: Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, Italy.

Group 4: Greece, Switzerland, Slovakia, Ukraine.

Group 5: Portugal, Germany, Croatia, Ireland.

Group 6: Turkey, Serbia, Georgia, Denmark.

Group 7: Spain, Austria, Slovenia, Norway.

Group 8: Poland, Czech Republic, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina.