Reminder, this tournament was considered a preparation stage for the Euro 2026 (U-17) qualification. All of Ukraine's opponents were one year older. In their debut match, Alexander Sitnik's team narrowly lost to Qatar U-18 (1:2). The second opponent was Poland U-18, and the game ended in a draw (2:2).

In the final match, Ukraine faced the UAE U-18 team. The score was opened at the 17th minute. Our opponents quickly counterattacked and Seif da Costa scored after a deflection off a Ukrainian defender. Eleven minutes later, he doubled his team's lead with a powerful shot from 25 meters.

Immediately after halftime, Ukraine had chances to score, but the Emirati defender cleared the ball off the line with his hand. The referee should have awarded a penalty and sent off the "handballer," but he missed it entirely. Ukraine had two more decent opportunities but failed to capitalize on them. Unfortunately, our half-back Eugene Voloshko was injured in the final minutes of the match. To make matters worse, the UAE team scored again against Ukraine's goalkeeper at the 4th minute of added time.

Thus, 0-3 — a defeat for Ukraine, which concluded their participation in the tournament in Croatia.

International Youth Tournament in Croatia

Ukraine (U-17) — UAE (U-18) — 0:3 (0:2) 

Goals: da Costa (17, 28), (90+4).

Ukraine U-17: Pozhar, Yablonsky (Smotrichnyy, 66), Shupik, Rudzey (Serdyuk, 46), Sorochynskyi (Plaminskyy, 46), Safonov (Kozhushko, 46), Shukalovich (c) (Voloshko, 46), Koshtey (Buravtsov, 46), Gololobov (Gordiyev, 46), Komand (Panchyshyn, 87), Yashchenko (Levitskyi, 66). 

Yellow cards: Abdulla (67), Salem (79).

03.09.2025. Qatar (U-18) — Ukraine (U-17) — 2:1

06.09.2025. Ukraine (U-17) — Poland (U-18) — 2:2

09.09.2025. Ukraine (U-17) — UAE (U-18) — 0:3

Reminder, on December 5 in Nyon, Switzerland, the draw for the first round of Euro 2026 (U-17) qualification took place. As a result of this draw, Ukraine's youth team ended up in Group 1, where they will face Italy, Montenegro and Estonia. The host of the mini-tournament is Estonia.

Schedule for Ukraine U-17 Youth Team Matches in Euro 2026 Qualification First Round

01.10.2025. Montenegro — Ukraine 

04.10.2025. Ukraine — Estonia

07.10.2025. Ukraine — Italy  

Results of the First Round Draw for Euro 2026 (U-17) Qualification

Group 1: Italy, Ukraine, Montenegro, Estonia.

Group 2: Czech Republic, Hungary, North Macedonia, Gibraltar.

Group 3: England, Sweden, Lithuania, Scotland.

Group 4: Spain, Denmark, Latvia, Andorra.

Group 5: Belgium, Norway, Belarus, Moldova.

Group 6: Austria, Ireland, Kosovo, Faroe Islands.

Group 7: Serbia, Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Malta.

Group 8: Croatia, Netherlands, Albania, Kazakhstan.

Group 9: France, Israel, Romania, Azerbaijan.

Group 10: Switzerland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, San Marino.

Group 11: Northern Ireland, Finland, Cyprus, Armenia.

Group 12: Portugal, Slovenia, Wales, Liechtenstein.

Group 13: Poland, Germany, Luxembourg.

Group 14: Greece, Iceland, Georgia.

54 teams were divided into 12 groups of four participants and two groups of three participants. The host of the final tournament, Estonia's team, will also participate in the qualification.

Based on the results of the first round of qualification, 14 group winners and 14 teams that finish second will advance to the second round of League A. The remaining 26 teams will compete in the second round of League B.

Teams advancing to the second round of qualification in League A will compete for seven spots at Euro 2026 (U-17) finals in spring 2026. Estonia, as the host of the tournament, received an automatic berth. It is worth noting that this qualifying round in League A is also a qualifier for the CS-2026 (U-17) tournament in Qatar.

Moreover, teams from both leagues of the second qualification round will compete to move up and down between leagues before the first round of Euro 2028 (U-19) qualification.