EURO 2025 (U-17): Ukraine secures thrilling comeback win in Round 1 against Kosovo

09.10.2024 17:01

Today, the Ukraine U-17 team (players born in 2008 or later) began its campaign in Round 1 of EURO 2025 qualifying.

Under the guidance of Yuriy Moroz, the team is competing in Group 4 alongside Belgium, Kosovo, and Kazakhstan. Today, they faced Kosovo in Genk, Belgium.

The start of the match was not in favor of the Ukrainians. Just in the 4th minute, Rin Ahmeti put his team ahead, and eight minutes later, Lirjon Abdullahu doubled the opponents' advantage.

Despite this early setback, our boys did not lose heart, and in the 16th minute, Yaroslav Mylokost passed to Dmytro Zudin, who forced the opposing goalkeeper to capitulate. Just nine minutes later, the Blue and Yellow team was ahead. First, Zudin assisted Pavlo Lyusin, who equalized the score, and then Zudin himself put Ukraine ahead — 3:2.

In the second half, Yuriy Moroz’s team continued to dominate, and in the 62nd minute, Pavlo Lyusin followed in Dmytro Zudin’s footsteps by scoring a second goal, establishing the final score of the match at 4:2 in favor of Ukraine.

The Ukraine U-17 team will play its next match in the EURO 2025 qualifiers against Kazakhstan on October 12.

EURO 2025 (U-17). Qualifying. Round 1. Group 4

October 9, 2024

Kosovo (U-17) — Ukraine (U-17) — 2:4 (2:3)

Goals: Ahmeti (4), Abdullahu (12) — Zudin (16, 25), Lyusin (24, 62).

Kosovo U-17: Kela, Terlabuki (Hoti, 71), Lugaksia (Vokri, 72), Bayrami, Rashica, Shalya (Tahiri, 85), Krasnici (Graishte, 63), Mustafa, Ahmeti, Uka (Bunjaku, 63), Abdullahu.

Ukraine U-17: Krapivin, Zalypka (Kalyuzhnyi, 83), Onishchuk, Mylokost, Melnyk, Dzhurabaiev, Petrovskyi (Tkachenko, 72), Lyusin (Slyva, 72), Zubriy, Zudin, Andreyko (Shyshkevych, 83).

Booked: Ahmeti (82) — Onishchuk (33), Petrovskyi (39), Zalypka (58).

Belgium vs. Kazakhstan (20:00)

October 12, 2024

Ukraine vs Kazakhstan (Eupen, 15:00)

Belgium vs Kosovo (Genk, 20:00)

October 15, 2024

Ukraine vs Belgium (Genk, 16:00)

Kazakhstan vs Kosovo (Liège, 16:00)

All match times are Kyiv time.

Results of the EURO 2024/2025 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, Turkiye, Bulgaria.

Group 14: Denmark, Austria, Luxembourg.

The top two teams from each group advance to the second round of qualifiers. Following this, 28 teams will compete in seven groups in League A in spring 2025 for seven spots in the final tournament, to be held in Albania in the summer. The host team automatically qualifies, although they will still participate in the qualifiers.

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

It's worth noting that EURO 2024/2025 (U-17) serves as UEFA's qualifying tournament for the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup, featuring 48 teams in Qatar.