In France, at the Plaine des Sports sports complex in the Aquitaine town of Saint-Paul-lès-Dax, Ukraine's Olympic football team is preparing for the 2024 Summer Olympics tournament.

As part of their preparation, our team will play two friendly matches. The first match against Egypt’s Olympic team, led by Rostan Rotan, will take place on July 14 at one of Plaine des Sports fields. The second game, against Paraguay's Olympic team, is scheduled for July 18 in the Aquitaine town of Ajat, at the Alan Lansman stadium. Both matches have been rescheduled to start at 6:00 PM local time (7:00 PM Kyiv time).

Photos by Anatoliy Repin

Ukraine's Olympic Team Roster

Goalkeepers: Yakiv Kinairekin ("Dnipro-1" Dnipropetrovsk), Kirill Fesyun ("Shakhtar" Donetsk), Georgiy Yermakov ("Oleksandria" Oleksandria).

Defenders: Maxim Talovyev (LASK, Austria), Arseniy Batagov ("Zorya" Luhansk), Illia Krups'kyi, Yevhen Pavlyuk (both - "Vorskla" Poltava), Oleksandr Martin'yuk ("Oleksandria" Oleksandria), Oleksii Sych ("Rukh" Lviv), Volodymyr Saluyk ("Chornomorets" Odesa).

Midfielders: Maxim Khlyan ("Lechia", Poland), Valentin Rubchytskyi ("Dnipro-1" Dnipropetrovsk), Artem Shulyanskyi ("Oleksandria" Oleksandria), Maxim Bragaru, Mykola Mikhaylenko (both - "Dynamo" Kyiv), Vladyslav Velentyn ("Kolos" Kovalyovka), Oleh Fedor ("Rukh" Lviv), Dmytro Kris'kyi, Kiryl Sigeiev, Oleh Ocheretnyk (all - "Shakhtar" Donetsk).

Forwards: Igor Krasnopir ("Rukh" Lviv), Danylo Sykan ("Shakhtar" Donetsk).

Photos by Anatoliy Repin

As a reminder, on March 20, Ukraine learned its opponents for the football tournament at the 2024 Olympics. Drawn in the fourth pot, they were matched against Argentina, Morocco and the third team from Asia, which turned out to be Iraq. The blue-and-yellow will play their group matches on July 24th, 27th and 30th.

2024 Olympics Men's Football Tournament

Group A: France, USA, Guinea, New Zealand.

Group B: Argentina, Morocco, Iraq, Ukraine.

Group C: Uzbekistan, Spain, Egypt, Dominican Republic.

Group D: Japan, Paraguay, Mali, Israel.

Schedule for Group B

July 24, 2024

Argentina — Morocco (16:00, Saint-Étienne)

Iraq — Ukraine (20:00, Lyon)

July 27, 2024

Argentina — Iraq (16:00, Lyon)

Ukraine — Morocco (18:00, Saint-Étienne)

July 30, 2024

Ukraine — Argentina (18:00, Lyon)

Morocco — Iraq (18:00, Nice)

Match start times are in Kyiv time.

The two best teams from Group B will advance to face the top two teams from Group A.

The format of the Olympic tournament is traditional: competition in four groups with four teams each, followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals, a match for third place and a final (September 9, Paris, "Parc des Princes").

As a reminder, last summer, our team achieved an historic success by securing the right to participate in the Olympic football tournament after defeating France (3-1) in the quarter-final of Euro 2023 (U-21) and advancing to the semi-finals. Along with Ukraine, Spain and Israel earned their spots at the 2024 Summer Games through the youth Euro 2023.

Participants of the men's football tournament at the 2024 Olympic Games will compete from July 24 to August 9 in seven cities across France: Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Bordeaux, Saint-Étienne, Nice and Nantes. According to the rules, teams can include up to 18 players born after January 1, 2001. However, each team may also add three older players.

In total, 16 teams will participate in the tournament: France as host, three from Europe (Ukraine, Spain, Israel), three from Africa (Morocco, Egypt, Mali), three from Asia (Japan, Uzbekistan, Iraq), two from South America (Paraguay, Argentina), two from CONCACAF (USA, Dominican Republic), one from Oceania (New Zealand) and the winner of the intercontinental playoff (Guinea).