Today, October 3rd, Ukraine's U-20 national team will play their third group stage match at the World Cup in Chile against Paraguay. The game starts at 11 PM Kyiv time and will be broadcast live by "Suspilne Sport."

After the second round of Group B, both Ukraine and Paraguay lead with four points each, but our national team is in first place due to better disciplinary records (five yellow cards compared to nine for Paraguay plus one red card). To advance to the knockout stage, two teams from each group will qualify along with four out of six third-place finishers. A draw today would secure Ukraine's position at the top.

This is Paraguay's first World Cup U-20 appearance in ten years and their tenth overall. Their best result was reaching the quarter-finals back in 2001. Interestingly, that year, Paraguay eliminated Ukraine from the round of sixteen under Anatoliy Kroschenko's leadership.

On a regional level, Paraguay has only won the title once, way back in 1971. They have also finished in the top four fifteen times in South America (five times as runners-up and six times third). In 2025, they secured a place among the top four teams (behind Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia based on additional criteria), with their last similar success dating back to 2013.

The team of 42-year-old Antonio Alcaraz (who once played in Europe for Beira-Mar, Brugge, Wigan, Everton, and Las Palmas) is made up of players from Paraguayan league clubs along with four foreign-based players from England and Argentina. Forward Enzo González plays for Wolverhampton Wanderers in England, defender Axel Bergoño for Lanús in Argentina, defender Maximiliano Díaz for Independiente in Argentina, and midfielder Gabriel Paolitti for Boca Juniors in Argentina.

Ukraine's U-20 National Team Roster

Goalkeepers: 1. Stanislav Vaniyvskyi (Stal Jęśów, Poland), 12. Vladyslav Krapivcov (Girona, Spain), 16. Markian Bakus (Cherkasy Locomotive).

Defenders: 3. Kyrylo Ditychyr, 13. Daniel Vernattus (both — Metalist Kharkiv), 4. Mykola Kyrichok (Karpaty Lviv), 5. Vladyslav Kisiel (Ponferradina, Spain), 6. Maksym Melnychenko (Polissya Zhytomyr), 17. Maksym Derkach (Tukums 2000, Latvia), 20. Oleksiy Gusiev (Kudryvka).

Midfielders: 10. Hennadiy Synchuk (Montreal, Canada), 11. Danilo Krevsun (Borussia Dortmund, Germany), 7. Artur Shah (Karpaty Lviv),   18. Bohdan Budko (AZ Alkmaar, Netherlands), 8. Danyil Vashchenko (Oleksandria), 21. Matviy Panchenko (Metalist Kharkiv 1925), 14. Kristian Shevchenko (Watford, England), 2. Vitaliy Katrych (Ingulets Petrove), 15. Yaroslav Karaman (Polissya Zhytomyr).

Forwards: 9. Matviy Ponomarenko (Dynamo Kyiv), 19. Oleksandr Pyshchur (ETO, Hungary).

Group B

September 27, 2025. South Korea — Ukraine — 1:2

September 28, 2025. Paraguay — Panama — 3:2

September 30, 2025. Panama — Ukraine — 1:1

October 1, 2025. South Korea — Paraguay — 0:0

Tournament Table

October 3, 2025. Panama — South Korea. 11 PM (Valparaiso).

October 3, 2025. Ukraine — Paraguay. 11 PM (Santiago).

Time — Kyiv time (local — -6 hours).