Today at the museum-cultural complex of beer history "Lviv Brewery," a Christmas meeting took place with online participation of representatives of the Ukraine team and football experts along with the press and fans. The special guest was the coach of the blue-and-yellow, Serhiy Rebrov.

The event to support the brand "Lviv" began with a viewing of the draw for the 2026 World Cup qualification. It took place in Zurich, Switzerland, and during it, the Ukraine team learned about its opponents in the qualifying round for the tournament.

Photo by Yevhen Kravets

The draw was commented on live by former football players and now well-known football experts Yuriy Virt and Maxim Feshchuk, as well as goalkeeper Dmytro Boyko. In the online format, guests were joined by players of the Ukraine team Georgiy Sudakov and Dmitro Ryzhnik.

"In the first pot are real top teams — Spain, Germany, France. Of course, we wouldn't want to meet them. But Austria, Belgium, Croatia or Switzerland would be within our reach. Although this is all theory; in practice, everything can turn out differently. In the third pot are teams that we should beat — Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Ireland. On the other hand, at Euro 2024 everyone was happy with a good group for us, but it wasn't as easy, and we were eliminated from that tournament. Our task is to qualify for the World Cup, so we need to come out and beat any opponent. The main thing is to prepare well and show our best game, which will naturally result in success," — Yuriy Virt said before the draw.

Photo by Yevhen Kravets

"I don't have preferences regarding opponents. All teams start with zero points and are in equal conditions. As for players I wouldn't want to face on the field, I can't say exactly. There are many top teams and top performers leading their sides now. But we need to play against any opponent and win them," — emphasized Ukraine's goalkeeper Dmitro Ryzhnik.

"Whoever our opponents will be doesn't matter. In general, I didn't even think about it. Whoever ends up in our group, we still have to come out and beat them," — added half-back of the national team Georgiy Sudakov.

Photo by Yevhen Kravets

Denys Boyko was more specific: "I wouldn't want to see Scotland and Slovenia from the third pot in our group. I would gladly see Ukraine play against Georgia again."

Meanwhile, in Zurich, the draw began, according to which the Ukraine team ended up in Group D, where they will face France — Croatia (quarter-finalists of Nations League 2024/2025) and Iceland as well as Azerbaijan.

Photo by Yevhen Kravets

"I think that Iceland and Azerbaijan are almost an ideal scenario. There are some logistics issues, as we will have to fly a bit. Overall, these opponents we need to overcome with respect for them. Of course, France and Croatia belong to the top teams. Especially France, although they currently face certain problems in terms of results. We need to fight for our place under the sun and hope that at the beginning of the competition (September 2025) Ukraine will have the opportunity to host opponents on home grounds. Then our chances increase significantly," — noted Yuriy Virt.

Photo by Yevhen Kravets

"I believe that to some extent we were lucky. Since the teams from both third and fourth pots, Iceland and Azerbaijan, in my opinion, are not the strongest opponents. In this regard, I see a positive aspect. The question remains — France or Croatia. But overall, it's a good draw for us," — emphasized Maxim Feshchuk.

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"We should have qualified for the World Cup from first place, and then France or Croatia from second place would divide into four groups and qualify through a playoff. Very good draw," — Denis Boyko said to applause from the audience. "Even with teams from the first pot like France-Croatia, considering our squad... With this player pool in our team, we can take the top spot. This is objectively possible."

Photo by Yevhen Kravets

At this point, a special guest joined the meeting in an online format — head coach of Ukraine's team Serhiy Rebrov.

"We have what we have. The opponents are tough but I think that we can compete with all of them. Yes, from the first pot will be France or Croatia, but we'll prepare and play," — emphasized the coach of blue-and-yellow.

Further, experts summed up the football year-2024, focusing particularly on Ukraine's team performance and progress of its players.

"The Ukraine team failed Euro 2024, but paradoxically, this is a compliment to them. I'll explain. They raised our expectations for European excellence so high that now we're saying their performance was a failure. This is a compliment first and foremost to the players of the national team, whom we already expect to win at Euro. Now we'll think whether they will fail the World Cup if they don't win it... As for Nations League — before its start I thought Ukraine would take the top spot in our group. Again, raised expectations. But the Nations League is not yet over for our team. We'll play through and then evaluate," — said Maxim Feshchuk.

Photo by Yevhen Kravets

"In my opinion, Ivan Kaliuzhnyi added the most. He entered the national team partly due to injuries of several players, but how he played against Czech Republic... Immediately everyone started saying we have a top-level player who already has invitations from 'Shakhtar' and other clubs. He raised his profile significantly, and now there's much attention towards him from media representatives. In the last half-year, Kaliuzhnyi added brightness to both the national team and his own club in the Ukrainian championship," — noted Yuriy Virt.

Photo by Yevhen Kravets

After this, fans invited by the brand "Lviv" were able to receive signed jerseys from national team players and commemorative souvenirs from the brand.

Finally, guests were introduced to the results of fan voting for the best players of Ukraine's team in three nominations as well as the best win of blue-and-yellow in 2024:

"Debut of the year" — Ivan Kaliuzhnyi;

"Progress of the year" — Volodymyr Braichko;

"Player of the year" — Illia Zabarnyi;

"Win of the year" — Ukraine - Iceland 2-1 (March 26, 2024).