The Ukrainian Football Association continues systematic work to update approaches to forming youth teams, ensuring maximum transparency and equal opportunities for all players.

After the historic training camp, which for the first time called up 33 footballers of the U-15 age category, the UAF conducted the next stage—the tournament "Future Team" for players born in 2009.

Photo: Dan Balashov

The competition took place from December 4 to 8 at the indoor training facilities of "Arsenal-Arena" (town Shchastya) and NTB "Dynamo". Six teams participated in the tournament: two youth national teams, as well as representatives of leading clubs—"Shakhtar" (Donetsk), "Dynamo" (Kyiv), "Rukh" (Lviv), and LNZ (Cherkasy).

The teams were divided into two groups, and after the group stage, knockout matches took place in which opponents determined their final standings.

Photo: Dan Balashov

Match Results

Group A

Youth national team A — "Shakhtar" — 1:2

Youth national team A — LNZ — 2:1

"Shakhtar" — LNZ — 0:0

Group B

Youth national team B — "Dynamo" — 1:1

Youth national team B — "Rukh" — 1:0

"Dynamo" — "Rukh" — 1:1

Photo: Dan Balashov

Semifinal for 5th Place

LNZ — "Rukh" — 3:0

Semifinal for 3rd Place

Youth national team A — "Dynamo" — 4:0

Final

Youth national team B — "Shakhtar" — 0:0, p. t. 3:5

Photo: Dan Balashov

The winner of the tournament was "Shakhtar," which in the final match defeated youth national team B on penalties. The tournament became an important part of a large-scale transformation of the UAF's scouting system, as it created equal conditions for evaluating players from clubs across different regions and significantly expanded the field of observation for the coaching staff.