Today, on May 20, the Ukrainian U-17 national team (players born in 2007 or later) will play their first match at the European Championship. The game against Serbia starts at 6 PM.

In the group stage of the tournament, blue and yellow will play against Serbia, Czech Republic, and Cyprus. The forum involving 16 teams will take place from May 20 to June 5 on Cyprus — at six stadiums in Nicosia, Larnaca, Paralimni, and Limassol.

The Ukrainian team began their direct preparation for the championship on the island on May 12.

"Unfortunately, there are losses, — noted head coach of the Ukrainian U-17 national team Yuriy Moroz. — But this does not concern foreign players. Due to injury, Kiev Dynamo's half-back Volodymyr Ozimay could not arrive, on whom we were heavily relying. However, I believe that today's squad is optimal for the current national team.

I won't specify, but I can confidently say that after studying opponents, I concluded that each of the teams in our group has the potential to surprise us. Who will be the best will show the matches themselves. Each opponent has roughly equal chances for success. The Ukrainian team must be ready to showcase their best qualities in every game; only then we can achieve top results.

The final stage of Euro differs from qualification or elite round, here psychological resilience is very important, there should be a good functional state, and I'm not even talking about the team's desire and mood. In such tournaments, every game is decisive. It would mean a lot to me if the boys embraced our ideas and brought some joy to the Ukrainian people in these difficult times."

We remind you that in October 2023, Ukrainian boys born in 2007 under the leadership of then still Volodymyr Yezersky successfully completed the first stage of selection (Finland - 2:2, Liechtenstein - 7:0, Germany - 0:1), despite a lack of time for quality preparation. And already at the beginning of March, under Yuriy Moroz's guidance, they passed the elite round qualification in one breath (Greece - 2:0, Switzerland - 3:0, Slovakia - 3:0).

In addition, our team held a short-term training camp in April during which they played two friendlies with Cypriot counterparts of the same age (2:0, 1:2) away.

Composition of the Ukrainian U-17 national team

Goalkeepers: Nazar Makarenko («Dnipro-1» Dnipropetrovsk), Oleksandr Petrenko («Bayern», Germany).

Defenders: Oleksiy Rybak, Dem’ian Tretiak (both — «Dynamo» Kyiv), Mykita Shelyket, Yegor Dankovsky (both — «Shakhtar» Donetsk), Maxim Barshak («Rukh» Lviv), Kyrilo Dityachy («Metalist» Kharkiv), Dmitry Strilchuk («Bayern», Germany).

Half-backs: Pavlo Lysyn, Bohdan Redushko (both — «Dynamo» Kyiv), Nazar Bondar («Rukh» Lviv), Bohdan Olichenko («Bayern», Germany), Oleksandr Soroka («Gent», Belgium), Bohdan Popov («Empoli», Italy), Oleksandr Dragan («Atalanta», Italy), Andriy Vakulyuk («Benfica», Portugal).

Forwards: Ivan Denisov («Rukh» Lviv), Artem Stepanov («Bayern», Germany), Dmytro Bogdanov («Dynamo» D, Germany).

Final tournament of Euro-2024 (U-17)

Group A: Cyprus, Ukraine, Serbia, Czech Republic.

Group B: Denmark, Austria, Croatia, Wales.

Group C: Italy, Sweden, Slovakia, Poland.

Group D: France, Portugal, Spain, England.

Group A

20.05.2024

Serbia — Ukraine (6 PM, Paralimni)

Cyprus — Czech Republic (8:30 PM, Larnaca)

23.05.2024

Ukraine — Czech Republic (6 PM, Paralimni)

Cyprus — Serbia (8:30 PM, Larnaca)

26.05.2024

Ukraine — Cyprus (8:30 PM, Larnaca)

Czech Republic — Serbia (8:30 PM, Larnaca)

Quarter-finals

29.05.2024

1. A1 — B2 (5:30 PM or 8 PM, Larnaca)

2. B1 — A2 (5:30 PM or 8 PM, Larnaca)

30.05.2024

3. C1 — D2 (6 PM or 8:30 PM, Larnaca)

4. D1 — C2 (6 PM or 8:30 PM, Larnaca)

Semifinals

02.06.2024

5. Winner 1 — winner 3 (6 PM or 8:30 PM, Larnaca)

6. Winner 2 — winner 4 (6 PM or 8:30 PM, Larnaca)

Final

05.06.2024

Winner 5 — winner 6 (8:30 PM, Limassol)

Kick-off times are Kyiv time.

We add that for the Ukrainian U-17 team, this will be their 11th final tournament of the European Championship.