The match between Japan (U-23) — Ukraine (U-23) will take place at Kitakyushu Stadium and start at 19:15 local time (12:15 Kyiv time). Live broadcast — on the YouTube channel of the UAF.

“Now we are starting our preparation for the Olympics. And it is important to prepare as well as possible for them. Therefore, a game against Japan's team is very beneficial. Our opponent — is a very strong team. We watched their matches.

We have just qualified for the Olympics and we do not yet have experience playing there. For our country this is very important, but it is even more important to prepare well for the Games and perform well,” — noted at a press conference before the match head coach of Ukraine's Olympic team Ruslan Rotan, who has 19 players under his command on the eve of the game.

Photo courtesy of UAF

Meanwhile, Japan, which is preparing for the 2024 Asian Cup (which will also serve as qualification for the Olympics), played a friendly match against Mali's national team on Friday. The African side secured an impressive victory — 3:1 (Sanagare, 34, Tunkara, 53, Traore, 90 — Hirakawa, 2).

Roster of Ukraine's Olympic team

Goalkeepers: Kirill Fesyun ("Kolos" Kovalevka), Georgiy Yermakov ("Oleksandria").

Defenders: Anton Bol («Zorya» Luhansk), Mariyan Farina («Metalist 1925» Kharkiv), Roman Dydik («Rukh» Lviv), Maxim Dyachuk («Dynamo» Kyiv), Oleksandr Martinyuk («Oleksandria»), Yegor Mazenko («Shlyonsk», Poland). 

Half-backs: Eldar Kuliyev ("Zira", Azerbaijan), Ivan Zhelezko ("Lechia", Poland), Artem Kulakovskyy, Kiryl Sigyeiev, Denis Shostak, Artem Shulyansky (all — «Oleksandria»), Oleksiy Nazarenko («Polesia» Zhytomyr), Oleksiy Syts, Oleh Fedor (both — «Rukh» Lviv), Oleksiy Kasyuk («Shakhtar» Donetsk).

Striker: Mykola Kharyarevych («Swansea City», Wales).

Recall that on March 20, Ukraine learned its opponents in the football tournament at the Olympics-2024. Drawn in the fourth pot, it received Argentina, Morocco and third team from Asia as group V rivals. The blue-and-yellow will play their matches on July 24th, 27th and 30th.

2024 Olympics. Men's football tournament

Group A: France, USA, winner of the intercontinental play-off, New Zealand.

Group V: Argentina, Morocco, AFC-3, Ukraine.

Group C: AFC-2, Spain, Egypt, Dominican Republic.

Group D: AFC-1, Paraguay, Mali, Israel.

Schedule for Group V

24.07.2024

Argentina — Morocco (16:00, Saint-Etienne)

AFC-3 — Ukraine (20:00, Lyon)

27.07.2024

Argentina — AFC-3 (16:00, Lyon)

Ukraine — Morocco (18:00, Saint-Etienne)

30.07.2024

Ukraine — Argentina (18:00, Lyon)

Morocco — AFC-3 (18:00, Nice)

Kick-off times are in Kyiv time. 

The two best teams from Group V will face the representatives of Group A.

The format of the Olympic tournament is traditional: competition in four groups with four teams each, then the top two advance to the knockout stage, followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals, third-place match and final (September 9, Paris, "Parc des Princes").

Recall that last summer, defeating France (3-1) in the quarter-final of Euro-2023 (U-21) and securing a place in the semi-finals, our team achieved an historic success — it won for the country the right to participate in football tournament at the Olympics for the first time. Together with Ukraine, licenses for the 2024 Summer Games in this discipline were earned by teams from Spain and Israel through the Youth Euro-2023.

As of today, 12 participants are already known who will compete in the men's football tournament at the 2024 Olympics over a period from July 24 to August 9 in seven cities of France: Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Bordeaux, Saint-Etienne, Nice and Nantes. In the competition, according to the rules, players born after January 1, 2001 can participate. Additionally, each team may include three players who are older than this age.

In total, 16 national teams will take part in the tournament: France — as hosts, three teams represent Europe (Ukraine, Spain, Israel), three — Africa (Morocco, Egypt, Mali), three — Asia (to be known by May 3), two — South America (Paraguay, Argentina), two — CONCACAF zone (USA, Dominican Republic), one — Oceania (New Zealand), also joining them is the winner of the intercontinental play-off between fourth-placed teams from Africa and Asia.