Today in Prague, the first match of Ukraine's national team in League A of the Nations League-2024/2025 will take place. The game against Albania starts at 9:45 PM Kyiv time.

90+3 min. Final whistle! Ukraine scored first but failed to hold on and conceded twice from Albania, suffering a home defeat in the start of the new Nations League campaign!

90 min. The referee added 3 minutes of stoppage time to the second half.

88 min. Hodza launched the ball into the Epet Arena stands during a rare Albanian counterattack.

Photo: Dan Balashov

86 min. Maliyovskiy shot wide of the goal after a pass from Pihalonyok for a powerful strike by Ruslan!

85 min. Yarmolenko was offside after receiving a pass from Pihalonyok in an open area, where Andriy was ready to finish the attack with a goal attempt!

83 min. The Albanian team is already starting to actively waste time, approaching what could be their first ever victory against Ukraine.

81 min. Maliyovskiy and Zinchenko come on for Tsygankov and Bragza!

78 min. Ramadani ended up on the ground holding his face after a collision with a Ukrainian player.

77 min. Silviony made another substitution: Bajrami replaced Hodza.

75 min. Pihalonyok, who had just come on the field, took initiative but his long shot went wide of the goal.

73 min. Berisha substitutes Laci in Albania's lineup.

72 min. Substitutions for Ukraine! Yarmolenko, Pihalonyok and Vanat replace Sudakov, Kabayev and Shaparenko!

70 min. Konoplya won a free kick after Mitja fouled him in a one-on-one situation.

Photo: Dan Balashov

68 min. Arsani received a yellow card for a foul on Mykolenko.

66 min. Goal! Albania scores their second goal! The guests launched an attack down the left flank, and no Ukrainian defenders covered the far post where Arsani simply blasted past Trubin!

64 min. Dangerous moment for Ukraine! Bragza tested Strakosha's concentration with a shot from distance after an adventurous long-range attempt by our midfielder!

62 min. Dangerous moment for Albania! Ismaili opened up well during a corner kick and struck directly at Trubin's hands!

60 min. Konoplya fouled his opponent on the flank, resulting in a promising free-kick for Silviony's team.

58 min. Bragza clashed with Aslani in a battle for the ball. The Ukrainian midfielder is holding his knee and needs medical attention.

56 min. Dangerous moment for Ukraine! The hosts launched an energetic attack involving Yaremchuk, Sudakov, and Tsygankov, but Viktor's shot ricocheted only to a corner!

54 min. Goal! Albania scores! Initially Trubin saved the team after a shot from Manna, but as a result of the corner kick, the ball bounced off to Ismaili who sealed the far post.

51 min. Ukraine continues attacking! Albanian defenders blocked two attempts by Yaremchuk and Tsygankov!

Photo: Dan Balashov

49 min. GOAL! UKRAINE! Mykolenko delivered a cross from the left flank, the ball flew past all players in the box and reached Konoplya who blasted it into the net!

47 min. Kabayev passed the ball down the flank and struck from the left - over the goal.

46 min. The second half starts! Albanians restart play from the center of the field.

The Ukrainian national team begins their new Nations League cycle in yellow kit, while Albania's team plays in red colors.

The entire stadium helped our boys sing the National Anthem! A calm home atmosphere for blue and yellows in Prague!

National anthems of Albania and Ukraine are being performed!

Starting lineups of Ukraine and Albania teams have already appeared on the Epet Arena pitch. The spectators on the stands wildly welcome the participants of the football showdown! Today, the team of Serhiy Rebrov will need support from the 12th player!

It seems that summer is not in a hurry to leave Prague! Currently, despite evening hours, it's +27 degrees Celsius and dry weather. Almost ideal conditions for Ukrainians and Albanians to showcase their skills on the football field. 

The Prague Epet Arena has already hosted matches of Ukraine's national team twice. In 2011, our team lost to the hosts in a friendly match with a score of 0-4, but last year blue and yellows overcame North Macedonia on their way to Euro-2024 - 2:0!

The Albanian national team today also cannot rely on several key players against the Ukrainians. First and foremost, this concerns defender Blerim Dzemaili and forward Armando Broja.

This is the seventh meeting between national teams of Ukraine and Albania. In the five previous encounters, Ukrainians consistently dominated their opponents and only once Albanians managed to draw a game. The last match between Ukraine and Albania took place in 2018: in a friendly match, Ukrainians won with a score of 4-1.

In the match against Albania, we will see a 4-1-4-1 from Serhiy Rebrov with Volodymyr Bragza in the defensive midfield and Vladyslav Kabayev on the left flank making his debut for the national team! Also note that today our team cannot count on injured Artem Dovbyk and Mykhailo Mudryk.

Good evening, dear fans! Today Ukraine's national team starts their participation in a new Nations League tournament which will be an important campaign for blue and yellows towards the 2026 World Cup!

Starting lineup of Ukraine: 12. Anatoliy Trubin, 2. Yurim Konoplya, 13. Illia Zabarnyi, 22. Mykola Matviienko (c), 16. Vitaliy Mykolenko, 18. Volodymyr Bragza, 10. Mykola Shaparenko, 14. Georgii Sudakov, 21. Vladyslav Kabayev, 15. Viktor Tsygankov, 9. Roman Yaremchuk.

Substitutes: 1. Georgii Bushchan, 3. Valeriy Bondar, 4. Maxim Talovenko, 5. Serhiy Sidorchuk, 6. Taras Stepanenko, 7. Andriy Yarmolenko, 8. Ruslan Maliyovskiy, 11. Vladyslav Vanat, 17. Oleksandr Zinchenko, 19. Oleksandr Timchik, 20. Oleksandr Pihalonyok, 23. Andriy Lunin.

Starting lineup of Albania: 1. Thomas Strakosha, 3. Mario Mitja, 4. Elshaid Hysaj (c), 5. Marash Kumbulla, 7. Rey Manna, 9. Yasir Arsani, 10. Nedit Bajrami, 14. Kazim Laci, 18. Ardian Ismaili, 20. Yulber Ramadan, 21. Kristjan Aslani.

Substitutes: 2. Ivan Balliu, 6. Ardi Bajrami, 8. Arber Hodza, 11. Mirta Uzuni, 12. Simon Simoni, 13. Enea Michai, 15. Taufan Seferi, 16. Medun Berisha, 17. Andi Hadroj, 19. Sebastian Spahiu, 22. Amir Abrashi, 23. Alan Sherri.

Ukraine's squad for the match against Albania (by numbers)

1. Georgii Bushchan, 2. Yurim Konoplya, 3. Valeriy Bondar, 4. Maxim Talovenko, 5. Serhiy Sidorchuk, 6. Taras Stepanenko, 7. Andriy Yarmolenko, 8. Ruslan Maliyovskiy, 9. Roman Yaremchuk, 10. Mykola Shaparenko, 11. Vladyslav Vanat, 12. Anatoliy Trubin, 13. Illia Zabarnyi, 14. Georgii Sudakov, 15. Viktor Tsygankov, 16. Vitaliy Mykolenko, 17. Oleksandr Zinchenko, 18. Volodymyr Bragza, 19. Oleksandr Timchik, 20. Oleksandr Pihalonyok, 21. Vladyslav Kabayev, 22. Mykola Matviienko, 23. Andriy Lunin.