The Ukrainian U-20 national team ended their World Cup campaign in the round of 16 after losing to Spain with a score of 0:1. However, this tournament can be considered a success for our team, which, despite the difficult situation in the country and certain misfortunes with the squad composition, advanced to the knockout stage from first place in their group, ahead of Paraguay (2:1), South Korea (2:1), and Panama (1:1).

The official website of the Ukrainian Football Association asked head coach Dmitro Mykhaylyenko to sum up the team's performance.

— Mr. Dmitro, how would you summarize the performance of the Ukrainian national team at the World Cup?

— I believe that for their results in Chile, the team deserves a solid grade of four. The first thing we pay attention to is the quality of play, which was quite good. There was also a good result during the group stage. In this part of the tournament, only two teams performed better (Japan and Argentina each scored nine points). Unfortunately, fate decided that in the round of 16 we had to face Spain — one of the best European teams and among the top teams in the world. But again, I thanked my players who not only played but also tried to show meaningful football at this tournament.

— Which match was the most challenging for you?

— Of course, against Spain. It's very difficult to compete with Spanish players considering their individual skill level. However, we wanted to create more difficulties for the opponent near their goal. In my opinion, our boys rushed a bit in this regard and there was noticeable nervousness. We adapted to the pace of play and speed of ball handling around the 15th minute mark and, generally, didn't give the opponent many scoring opportunities except at the end of the match when we took some risks.

— Our team struck 48 shots during this tournament, but only 13 were on target...

— The first three games in the group stage, we hit the target at a normal level. In the last match against Spain, indeed, out of nine attempts, only one was on target, which somewhat skewed the statistics. But four matches are not enough to draw significant conclusions from the statistics. I attribute this performance in the match with Spain to player nervousness.

— All matches were played by Vladyslav Krapivcov, Maxim Melnychenko, and Oleksiy Husev from start to finish. Were these the players you had the least complaints about?

— The matter is not that there were no complaints against them, although they played at a high level. They simply didn't have substitutes available for their positions in the World Cup squad of 18 players. We could have given them some rest, but they were key performers on their respective spots.

— In attack, you relied more on Pyschurow than Ponomarenko. Why?

— The difference was in physical condition. Pyschurow had a bit more playing time during the fall season and we believed he was in better game shape. However, we warned both players that they would be substituting each other due to games every two days and it's not easy to recover. Overall, this is an issue for the national team: not many players have stable playing practice.

— Are there any players who pleasantly surprised you during the tournament?

— I cannot single out one or two footballers. Throughout the entire tournament, a great atmosphere prevailed in the team. Although this somewhat surprised me since not everyone knew each other before. And this cohesion was transferred to the field. Every player gave their maximum effort. The potential of this team was much greater than what we showed after the round we finished with.

— Of course, one man cannot fight alone, but Sinchuk's disqualification caused a stir. Can you explain how it all happened?

— I received information about Sinchuk an hour before the match against Spain. My head was occupied with other matters than resolving this issue. Once back in Ukraine, in a calm environment, we will figure out what exactly happened.

Photo by Andriy Yushchak

Ukraine's Path to the 2025 World Cup (U-20)

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

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

October 3, 2025. Ukraine — Paraguay — 2:1

October 7, 2025. Ukraine — Spain — 0:1

Squad of the Ukrainian U-20 National Team

Goalkeepers: 1. Stanislav Vaniyvskyi («Stal» Zhydachiv, Poland), 12. Vladyslav Krapivcov («Girona», Spain), 16. Markian Bakus (LNZ Chernihiv).

Defenders: 3. Kyrylo Dytchyar, 13. Daniel Vernattus (both — «Metalist» Kharkiv), 4. Mykola Kyrichok («Karpaty» Lviv), 5. Vladyslav Kisil («Ponferradina», Spain), 6. Maxim Melnychenko («Polissya» Zhytomyr), 17. Maxim Derkach («Tukums 2000», Latvia), 20. Oleksiy Husev («Kudryvka»).

Midfielders: 10. Hennadiy Sinchuk («Montreal», Canada), 11. Danylo Krevsun («Borussia» Dortmund, Germany), 7. Artur Shahh («Karpaty» Lviv),  18. Bohdan Budko (AZ, Netherlands), 8. Daniil Vashchenko («Oleksandria»), 21. Matviy Panchenko («Metalist 1925» Kharkiv), 14. Kristian Shevchenko («Watford», England), 2. Vitaliy Katrich («Ingulets» Petrove), 15. Yaroslav Karman («Polissya» Zhytomyr).

Forwards: 9. Matviy Ponomarenko («Dynamo» Kyiv), 19. Oleksandr Pyschurow (ETO, Hungary).