Selection of Euro-2024. The national team of Ukraine drew with Italy and will continue its way to the playoffs

20.11.2023 23:44

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

Today, November 20, the national team of Ukraine played a decisive match against the Italian team as part of the Euro-2024 qualification.

The match in Leverkusen at the "BayArena" stadium was supposed to determine the winner of the second place in Group C and a direct ticket to the European Championship. Given the head-to-head advantage, Italy was satisfied with a draw, while Ukraine only needed a win. Serhiy Rebrov decided to leave Talovyerov, Nazarina and Karavaev out of the application for the game.

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

From the first minutes, the game was bright and dynamic. In the 5th minute, Tsygankov hit the target from a distance, and shortly after, Chiesa forgave the Ukrainians after a pass by Zangiolo in the penalty area. Then the blue and yellow made some good attacks, but without finishing. Next, the goalkeepers of both teams came to the rescue - after strikes by Sudakov and Barella, respectively.

In the middle of the first half, the Italians took the initiative and created several scoring chances. First, Di Lorenzo after another corner of the "Squad Azzurri" scored next to the post, then Trubin parried a shot by Frattesi, who broke out on his own, and Raspadori almost blocked Chiesa's pass.

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

The second half appeared to be nervy, with Italy continuing to control the game at the start. Only in the 65th minute did the blue-yellow team have a chance - after Konoply's throw-in, the ball reached Mudryk, but he did not beat Donnarumma. At the end of the match, Serhiy Rebrov's wards desperately tried to break through the tight defense of the opponents, but they failed to score the goal they needed.

Thus, the national team of Ukraine took third place in group C and, unfortunately, did not qualify for the final tournament of Euro-2024 directly, but will have a chance to get a ticket through the playoffs of the League of Nations, the matches of which will be held in the spring of next year. The draw will take place on November 23, with Wales or Poland (on the way to League A), Israel and Bosnia and Herzegovina (on the way to League B) among the potential opponents in the play-off semi-finals (March 21). The blue-yellow team will play this match away, and the venue of the final in case of success (March 26) will be determined by a draw.

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

As of now, 20 participants of the final stage of Euro-2024 are known. In addition to the host, the German team, they were the national teams of Albania, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, England, France, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, and Turkey.

Euro-2024. Qualifying tournament. Group C

10 round

Ukraine - Italy - 0: 0

Ukraine: Trubin, Konoplia (Tymchyk, 86), Svatok (Malinovsky, 90+1), Zabarny, Mykolenko, Stepanenko (k) (Pikhalyonok, 80), Tsygankov (Zubkov, 80), Sudakov, Zinchenko (Sikan, 86), Mudryk, Dovbyk

Substitutions: Bushchan, Riznyk, Bondar, Sydorchuk, Yaremchuk, Dubinchak, Matvienko.

Trainer: Sergey Rebrov.

Italy: Donnarumma (c), Di Lorenzo, Acerbi, Buongiorno, Dimarco, Frattesi, Jorginho (Cristante, 71), Barella, Zagniolo (Politano, 71, Darmian, 90+1), Raspadori (Scamacca, 46), Chiesa (Keane , 81).

Substitutions: Provedel, Vicario, Gatti, Biragi, Bonaventura, El Shaarawy, Mancini.

Trainer: Luciano Spalletti.

Referee: Jesus Gil Mansano (Spain).

Booked: Hemp (79) — Buongiorno (7).

November 20. Leverkusen. "BayArena" stadium.

North Macedonia - England - 1:1 (1:0)

Standings