U-16: Ukraine faces opening loss to hosts in Japan tournament

19.06.2024 12:10

The Ukraine U-16 team (players born in 2008 or later) has begun their participation in the Dream Cup 2024 tournament, hosted by Japan.

The competition will run until June 23 in Fukuoka at the J-Village Stadium. The blue-yellows, who are preparing for the EURO-2025 (U-17) qualifiers, will face peers from Japan, Senegal, and Venezuela in the tournament.

Photo by UAF press service

Today, Yuri Moroz’s side opened their campaign with a match against the hosts, which they lost 0:6. The next match for our boys will be on June 21 against Senegal.

Dream Cup 2024 U-16 Tournament

19.06.2024

Japan (U-16) — Ukraine (U-16) — 6:0 (2:0)

Goals: Kasai (9), Kanda (45), Yoshida (69), Okuda (83), Fujii (88), Asada (90).

Japan (U-16): Nishikawa, Usui (Doiguchi, 66), Yokoi (Shinozaki, 66), Fujii, Kodama (Tanaka, 83), Kobayashi (Nishioka, 72), Kanda, Takemoto (Yamanaka, 66), Fukuoka (Noguchi, 46), Kasai (Asada, 66), Yoshida (Okuda, 72).

Ukraine (U-16): Khadasevych, Zalypka, Khlivniuk (Lysytskyi, 62), Mylokost (Koval, 66), Solomon, Andreyko (Zakharkiv, 62), Romanyuk (Sereda, 46), Ivaskiv (Khasanov, 46), Slyva, Kroitar, Kucheryavyi (Gevorkyan, 74).

Yellow cards: Khlivniuk (37), Zalypka (87), Gevorkyan (90+3).

Senegal — Venezuela — 1:2

21.06.2024

Ukraine — Senegal (06:00)

Japan — Venezuela (09:00)

23.06.2024

Venezuela — Ukraine (06:00)

Japan — Senegal (09:00)

Match times are in Kyiv time.

The tournament follows a single-round format. If a match ends in a draw after two 45-minute halves, a penalty shootout will determine the winner. Teams earn three points for a win in regular time, two points for a win on penalties, one point for a loss on penalties, and zero points for a loss in regular time.

Photo by UAF press service

On May 3rd, the draw for the first qualifying round of Euro 2025 (U-17) took place in Nyon. As a result, the Ukrainian youth team (currently U-16, players born in 2008), led by Yuriy Moroz, found itself in Group 4 along with Belgium, Kosovo, and Kazakhstan. The mini-tournament in our group will take place in Belgium, with matches scheduled for October 9th, 12th, and 15th.

Results of the Euro 2025 (U-17) Qualifying Round Draw

Group 1: England, Sweden, Latvia, Malta.

Group 2: Poland, Slovenia, Georgia, Armenia.

Group 3: Netherlands, Croatia, Albania, Faroe Islands.

Group 4: Belgium, Ukraine, Kosovo, Kazakhstan.

Group 5: Portugal, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Finland, Liechtenstein.

Group 6: Hungary, Greece, Romania, Azerbaijan.

Group 7: Germany, Czechia, Belarus, Andorra.

Group 8: Ireland, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Lithuania.

Group 9: Italy, Norway, Wales, San Marino.

Group 10: Switzerland, Israel, Montenegro, Moldova.

Group 11: France, Slovakia, Cyprus, Gibraltar.

Group 12: Spain, Iceland, North Macedonia, Estonia.

Group 13: Serbia, Turkey, Bulgaria.

Group 14: Denmark, Austria, Luxembourg.

The top two teams from each group advance to the second round of qualifying. After that, 28 participants will compete in seven League A groups in the spring of 2025 for seven spots in the final tournament, which will take place in Albania in the summer. The host team received an automatic berth, although it will participate in qualifying.

The remaining teams in the second round will compete in League B for places in League A of the first qualifying stage of Euro 2027 (U-19).

It's worth noting that Euro 2025 (U-17) will serve as UEFA's qualification for the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup, which will feature 48 teams in Qatar.

In April, the Ukrainian U-16 national team won the UEFA Development Tournament in Estonia.