After the loss in the opening match against Armenia (1:2) and victory in the second round over Lithuania (4:1), Oleksandr Kosenko's charges were set to face the Czechs for a quarter-final spot, and drew the match.

However, the yellow-and-blue did not intend to settle for that. At 15 minutes, Chernyavsky outwitted his opponent on the left flank and shot from an acute angle into the far corner of the goal. Within a minute, Sukhov passed to Zhuk, who doubled our lead with one touch.

After halftime, Ukrainians continued to press their opponents, and at 23 minutes, Abakshin intercepted the ball and directed it into the empty Czech goal. At 28 minutes, Mikityk scored from a corner kick onto Abakshin, who completed his double with a shot under the crossbar. Only then did the Czechs gain some composure and narrowed the gap through Pavel Drозд's two goals.

However, at 36 minutes, Swedish made a run towards the goalkeeper's opponents, outpaced Jezulka, and sent the ball into the net. The Czechs responded with a precise shot from Zaruba. Thus, the final score was 5:3 in favor of the Ukrainian team, which secured second place in Group V and advanced to the quarter-finals of Euro-2026, where it will face France on January 31.

Euro-2026 with handball. Group stage. Group V. Round 3

28.01.2026

Czech Republic — Ukraine — 3:5 (0:2)

Goals: P. Drозд (30), Knobloch (36), Zaruba (39) — Chernyavsky (15), Zhuk (16), Abakshin (23, 28), Swedish (36).

Czech Republic: Jezulka — Zaruba, P. Drозд, Zaidler, D. Drозд; Kudelka, Zapotoczny, F. Mikityk, Golý, Knobloch, Vnuk, J. Mikityk, Ruyla.

Ukraine: Sukhov — Mikityk, Pedysh, Abakshin, Korson; Swedish, Zhuk, Chernyavsky, Farenyuk, Shoturma, Pryходьko, Perevyeyev, Belymov, Savenko.

Warned: Vnuk (32) — Abakshin (2), Chernyavsky (26), Pryходько (33).

January 28. Riga. «Riga Arena».

Armenia — Lithuania — 3:3 (2:0)

Goals: Nevedrov (3), Reimaris (19, own goal), Sanosyan (30) — Baranauskas (25, 35), Vasylus (37).

Final table

Quarter-finals

1. January 31, 2026. France — Ukraine. 17:00 (Riga)

2. January 31, 2026. Armenia — Croatia. 20:00 (Kaunas)

3. February 1, 2026. Portugal — Belgium. 17:00 (Ljubljana)

4. February 1, 2026. Spain — Italy. 20:30 (Ljubljana)

Semi-finals

February 4, 2026. Winner 1 — Winner 3. 18:00/21:30 (Ljubljana)

February 4, 2026. Winner 2 — Winner 4. 18:00/21:30 (Ljubljana)

Third place match

February 7, 2026. 17:00 (Ljubljana)

Final

February 7, 2026. 20:30 (Ljubljana)

Match start times — Kyiv time.