In the first match, Unai Melgosi's wards drew with Slovenia in regular time (1:1) and lost on penalties (5:6). Today, the blue-and-yellow team met Poland in Belek.

Photo by Andriy Yushchak

The Ukrainians immediately took the initiative and tried to score from long-range shots in the first 15 minutes. They managed to open the scoring on the 19th minute. Bohdan Vyunnyk received the ball at the corner of the penalty area, moved into the center, and scored low — 1:0.

After this, the opponent became more active and conducted a couple of decent attacks that ended with dangerous moments, but our goalkeeper Georgiy Yermakov was up to the task. The Ukrainian team responded with a sharp counterattack on the 34th minute. The ball hit the crossbar after Maxim Bragaru's shot.

Photo by Andriy Yushchak

Almost immediately after halftime, Poland's youth team equalized, taking advantage of our defensive mistake. On the 49th minute, Simon Wlodarczyk came out one-on-one with our goalkeeper and didn't miss — 1:1.

The Ukrainians went ahead again on the 67th minute. Bohdan Vyunnyk scored a brace after receiving a beautiful through ball from Oleksandr Yatsyk.

However, they couldn't hold onto their lead. On the 78th minute, Volodymyr Saluk made a mistake and Mariusz Fornalczuk took advantage of it to equalize — 2:2. Moreover, another mistake by Yermakov and Saluk led to Filip Simchak's goal. Thus, 2:3 — defeat for Ukraine's youth team.

Friendly Match

Poland (U-21) — Ukraine (U-21) — 3:2 (0:1)

Goals: Wlodarczyk (49), Fornalczuk (78), Simchak (89) — Vyunnyk (19, 67).

Poland (U-21): Treloczki, Mosur (Polać, 66), Peda, Beyer (Matuśik, 66), Schmid (Pirk, 66), Kaluzhynskyi (Lengovský, 46), Rakoci (Simchak, 60), Kozubal (Kowalczyk, 60), Luberecki, Wlodarczyk (Kozłowski, 60), Pieniężny (Fornalczuk, 61).

Ukraine (U-21): Yermakov, Vovcharenko, Mikhavko (Kozik, 87), Saluk, Krups'kyi, Bragzo, Rubchynskyi (Krushyns'kyi, 61), Yatsyk (Tsanenko, 72), Bragaru, Velenten (Hlany, 46), Vyunnyk.

Yellow cards: Pirk (90+1) — Mikhavko (70), Vovcharenko (73).

Recall that this summer, Ukraine's youth team under the leadership of Unai Melgosi will participate in the Euro-2025 (U-21) final tournament in Slovakia, where they will play against Denmark (June 12), Finland (June 15), and the Netherlands (June 18).

Euro-2025 (U-21). Final Tournament

Group Stage

Group A: Slovakia, Spain, Italy, Romania.

Group B: Czech Republic, England, Germany, Slovenia.

Group C: Portugal, France, Poland, Georgia.

Group D: Finland, Netherlands, Ukraine, Denmark.

12.06.2025

Ukraine— Denmark (Prešov, 19:00)

Finland — Netherlands (Košice, 22:00)

15.06.2025

Finland — Ukraine (Košice, 19:00)

Netherlands — Denmark (Prešov, 22:00)

18.06.2025

Denmark — Finland (Košice, 19:00)

Netherlands — Ukraine (Prešov, 19:00)

Quarter-finals

21.06.2025

26. C1 — D2 (Žilina, 19:00)

25. A1 — B2 (Trnava, 22:00)

22.06.2025

27. B1 — A2 (Dunajská Streda, 19:00 or 22:00)

28. D1 — C2 (Prešov, 19:00 or 22:00)

Semifinals

25.06.2025

29. Winner of 25 — winner of 26 (Bratislava, 19:00 or 22:00)

30. Winner of 27 — winner of 28 (Košice, 19:00 or 22:00)

Final

28.06.2025

Winner of 29 — winner of 30 (Bratislava, 22:00)

Match times are in Kyiv time.