On Tuesday, October 18 in the capital of Romania, Bucharest, the draw for the final stage of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2023 will take place (start at 4 PM Kyiv time). The Ukrainian youth team will also learn their opponents; as a reminder, they qualified for the tournament after winning two home-and-away matches against Romania's national team (2:3, 3:0).

The head coach of Ukraine's youth team, Ruslan Rotan, shared his expectations about the draw with the official website of the Ukrainian Football Association.

— Mr. Rotan, Ukraine is in the fourth pot. Have you analyzed potential opponents? Which ones are desirable?

— The teams we can defeat. What's important is that our footballers want to play against the strongest national teams. This only shows that the boys believe in their strength — they're not afraid of playing anyone. Perhaps, this is the main outcome of the qualifying cycle. And the key here is to play rather than fight.

I already have a minimal dossier on all participants of the youth Euro.

— Which teams, in your opinion, are the least dangerous and can be considered favorites?

— There are many. For the first time ever, all top European teams have made it to this forum. We know France well from the qualifying rounds. I've mentioned several times that this team was leading qualification almost by all statistical indicators. I saw Spain's game when we were preparing for Slovakia. Strong traditional teams in Portugal and Germany. I named only representatives of the first pot, but there are also Italy and England, Belgium and the Netherlands.

— This is the third time ever, after 2006 and 2011, that Ukraine's youth team has made it to Euro. Is this a significant breakthrough for our football?

— Of course, it's nice that after a long break, our footballers will be able to play at such a prestigious forum. I believe we have an excellent youth and they deserve this right. We'll make every effort to honorably play in the final tournament.

— Also, there are Olympic Games 2024 qualifiers being played out...

— Yes, this also adds motivation. At the same time, such a task requires improvement in all aspects of preparation. We're working on that as well.

— Have you managed to get over the emotions after Slovakia?

— We agreed right away in the team: celebrate one day — work further. This especially applies to our footballers who returned to their clubs and continue solving there their tournament tasks.

I see that most of them came back from youth in great shape. We continue monitoring each player, looking at potential newcomers, maintaining a constant connection with them. In short, we don't have much time for celebrations. The work continues.

As we prepare for the final round of Euro, we shouldn't forget that as early as September next year, a new cycle will start for a new youth team, so we face a challenging task. We need to work on perspective simultaneously. Moreover, judging by the current situation, we don't rule out that some of our leaders might move up at any moment. So we have to constantly look towards tomorrow.

UEFA Euro 2023 (U-21)

In total, sixteen teams will participate in the tournament along with two hosts, Georgia and Romania. Teams are divided into four pots according to their UEFA ranking (U-21). The team coached by Ruslan Rotan is in the fourth pot.

Pot Composition

Pot 1: Spain (41,837), Portugal (40,130), Germany (39,668), France (37,887).

Pot 2: Netherlands (36,626), England (35,798), Italy (35,244), Romania (32,414).

Pot 3: Croatia (31,945), Switzerland (31,744), Belgium (31,550), Czech Republic (30,455).

Pot 4: Ukraine (29,362), Norway (27,872), Israel (25,732), Georgia (24,442).

UEFA will distribute the teams that made it to the final tournament through a draw (from Pot 4 to Pot 1) into four groups of four teams each. After the group stage, two strongest teams from each quartet will advance to the quarter-finals.

The final tournament of UEFA Euro 2023 (U-21) will take place from June 21 to July 8.

Matches involving sixteen teams will be held on four stadiums in Romania (two — in Cluj-Napoca and two — in Bucharest) and four in Georgia (in Batumi, Poti and two — in Tbilisi). The opening match will take place in Romania, while the final will be held in Georgia.

The three best teams of Euro 2023 (excluding France and England) will receive tickets for the Olympic Games 2024.