Today, on March 22, the Ukrainian youth team (players born in 2004 or later) will start their elite round of qualification for Euro-2023 (U-19) with a match against Luxembourg.

Coach Serhiy Nagorniak's players gathered on March 19, flew from Budapest to Spain early on the 20th, and had their pre-match training on the 21st. In the Pyrenees, our footballers will face the tournament hosts as well as teams from Luxembourg and Denmark. The matches will take place in Almenara (Francisco de la Hera) and Badajoz (Estadio Municipal Villanovense). The head coach called up 20 players for this gathering.

Photo courtesy of the UAF press service

"Luxembourg made it to the elite round, which says a lot. Denmark has always been a tough opponent, and Spain needs no introduction. Comparing their squad in Euro qualification matches with those in friendly games, one can say that they have five national teams of this age group, such is the selection available to their head coach," said Serhiy Nagorniak ahead of time. "However, our task remains maximal. The odds are against us, but I believe in my team. I am most concerned about the first game against Luxembourg because we don't know how our players will handle the long journey."

"All thoughts of club football are put aside now, ahead lies the elite round and we are preparing for it. The national team is a completely different level, and this is an enormous experience for us. We will do everything in our power to get out of the group."— noted Shakhtar's half-back Oleksandr Yushchenko.

"We set ourselves the highest goal, to win the group, and we will do everything for that. We will analyze all opponents, prepare well, and hope to show our best game."— said Dynamo's half-back Anton Tserenko.

It should be noted that in the elite round, 28 participants will compete for spots at the final stage, which will take place from July 3 to July 16 this year on Malta. Seven group winners will qualify.

In this qualification stage, 27 teams that passed the first stage and Portuguese, who received a direct entry into the elite round as leaders of the corresponding age rating, will participate in March.

Ukraine U-19 Youth Team Roster

Goalkeepers: Yurii-Volodymyr Herteta (Rukh Lviv), Denis Barchenko (Shakhtar Donetsk).

Defenders: Andriy Buliza (Minay), Oleksandr Rosputynko (Shakhtar Donetsk), Artem Benedyk (Dynamo Kyiv), Vitalii Khod, Bohdan Slubik, Andrii Kytela (all — Rukh Lviv), Danylo Udod (Al-Ain, UAE).

Half-backs: Ivan Losenko, Oleksandr Pushkaryov, Oleksandr Yushchenko, Anton Glushchenko (all — Shakhtar Donetsk), Anton Tserenko (Dynamo Kyiv), Kirill Sigeiev (Oleksandria), Dmytro Chernysh (Vorskla Poltava), Ivan Varfolomeev (Slovanska Bohemians, Czech Republic), Volodymyr Khara-barra (Nuremberg, Germany).

Forwards: Igor Horbach (Dynamo Kyiv), Mykita Aleksandrov (Rivas Madrid, Spain).

Euro 2023 (U-19) Elite Round Schedule for Group 3

March 22, 2023

Denmark — Spain (6:00 PM)

Ukraine — Luxembourg (7:00 PM)

March 25, 2023

Ukraine — Denmark (4:00 PM)

Spain — Luxembourg (6:00 PM)

March 28, 2023

Spain — Ukraine (7:00 PM)

Luxembourg — Denmark (7:00 PM)

All match times are in Kyiv time.

Euro 2023 (U-19) Elite Round

Group 1: France, Romania, Norway, Northern Ireland.

Group 2: Germany, Slovenia, Belgium, Italy.

Group 3: Ukraine, Spain, Denmark, Luxembourg.

Group 4: Portugal, Croatia, Czech Republic, Sweden.

Group 5: Ireland, Greece, Estonia, Slovakia.

Group 6: Serbia, Poland, Israel, Latvia.

Group 7: England, Turkey, Iceland, Hungary.

As a reminder, in the Euro 2023 (U-19) qualification round, under Serhiy Nagorniak's leadership, Ukraine's youth team finished their campaign with the maximum result at first place in the group.