Ukraine U-17 suffers defeat in opening friendly against Croatia
The Ukraine U-17 team (players born in 2008 or later) played the first of two planned friendlies against Croatia as part of their training camp.
The hosts dominated the first half in Rijeka. In the 4th minute, Dražen Jaman capitalized on a cross from the left wing, scoring with a one-touch strike into the top corner past Fedor Tkachenko. Croatia maintained control and extended their lead in the 26th minute as Tino Kusanović broke through on a one-on-one with the Ukrainian goalkeeper, making it 2:0.
Pavlo Lyusin had a chance to reduce Ukraine's deficit early in the second half, but his shot went over the bar. In the 62nd minute, Oleksandr Sereda created a promising attack, but the Croatian goalkeeper made an impressive save. Ukraine eventually succeeded in the 74th minute when Oleksandr Tkachenko scored with a solo effort. The match ended in a 2:1 loss for Ukraine.
The second friendly against Croatia is scheduled for November 14 at 12:00 Kyiv time.
Friendly Match. U-17 National Teams
Croatia (U-17) - Ukraine (U-17) - 2:1 (2:0)
Goals: Jaman (4), Kusanović (26) — O. Tkachenko (74)
Croatia (U-17): First half – Grahovac, Jakirović, Kumar, Paisar, Vojvodić, Jaman, Kusanović, Radoš, Horvat, Murika, Ivanda; Second half – Nemec, Matić, Kostelac, Čupić, Čulina, Radnić, Mišura, Lerga, Petrović, Križić, Tišljarić, Kovač, Pintarić.
Ukraine (U-17): F. Tkachenko, Onishchuk (Piskun 60), Zudin (Yurchenko 60), Lyusin (Koshchiy 81), Shyshkevych (Mustafaiev 46), Zubriy (Muradyan 46), Kostyuk (Mylokost 81), Petrovskyi (O. Tkachenko 46), Zalypka (Kalyuzhnyi 46), Solomon, Dzhurabaiev (Sereda 60).
Ukraine recently secured a spot in Round 2 of the EURO 2025 U-17 qualifiers, finishing second in their group, with the next qualification stage set for the spring of next year.
EURO 2025 (U-17). Round 1. Group 4
October 9, 2024
Belgium — Kazakhstan — 3:1
October 12, 2024
Belgium — Kosovo — 2:1
October 15, 2024
Kazakhstan - Kosovo - 4:4
Standings
|
|
Team |
M |
W |
D |
L |
GD |
P |
|
1 |
Belgium |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
7—3 |
9 |
|
2 |
Ukraine |
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
8—4 |
6 |
|
3 |
Kosovo |
3 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
7—10 |
1 |
|
4 |
Kazakhstan |
3 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
5—10 |
1 |
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.