On Thursday, March 26, the Ukrainian national football team, which learned its opponents in the Nations League group, held a nominally home semi-final of the World Cup qualifying play-off against the Swedish team at the Ciutat de Valencia stadium in Valencia, Spain, and, unfortunately, is again not going to the world championship.
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2026 World Cup Qualification Play-offs. Half-finals
Ukraine — Sweden — 1:3
Ukraine: Trubin, Tymchyk, Zabarny, Bondar, Mykolenko, Kalyuzhny (Ocheretko, 60), Yarmolyuk (Shaparenko, 85), Sudakov (Ponomarenko, 77), Tsygankov, Zubkov (Hutsulyak, 60), Vanat (Yaremchuk, 60).
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Goals : Ponomarenko (90) — Deokeresh (6, 51, 73, from penalty).
Of those who Serhiy Rebrov could not count on in the confrontation with the wards of Englishman Graham Potter, one could safely form another team. Mudryk is suspended, Malinovsky and Konoplya are disqualified, Matvienko, Batagov, Zinchenko, Mykhavko, Dovbyk are injured. And if we add Lunin, Brazhko, Yarmolenko, who were not called up to the national team…
To be fair, the Swedes also had their share of personnel problems. Suffice it to say that the Scandinavians could not count on three (!) main goalkeepers. And Potter had to entrust the final line to 36-year-old Nordfeldt from AIK, who did not play for the Swedish national team in 2023.
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The beginning of the match (and later it became clear that the whole match) turned out to be the worst for our team. Zabarny and company missed Nygren in their penalty area, and he, as if on a platter, put the ball at the foot of the leader of the Swedish attacks, Djokeres from Arsenal – 0:1.
Before the break, all attempts by Ukrainian players to equalize the score, unfortunately, resulted in a sad “0” in the shots on goal count, and the Scandinavians had a chance to double their lead.
The second half began and it became clear that the horrors at Trubin's goal were not over. Our goalkeeper saved Karlström's shot at point-blank range, Gudmundsson's “shot” landed near the post, but Djokeres, after passing to his goalkeeper (!) did not forgive Ukraine – 0:2.
Two goals for the “killer” Deokeresh were not enough, and he, having caught a mistake by Tymchyk and Zabarny, earned a penalty, which he confidently converted – 0:3.
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The only bright moment for our team in this match was the goal of the team's debutant, Dynamo forward Ponomarenko – 1:3. Otherwise, it was a meaningless game, “directed” by the coaching staff.
Rebrov did his job — Rebrov can leave. Unfortunately, the Ukrainian national team failed to make it to the World Cup for the sixth time in a row due to play-off matches. In 1997, the “yellow-blue” team was stopped by Croatia (0:2, 1:1), in 2001 — Germany (1:1, 1:4), in 2009 — Greece (0:0, 0:1), in 2013 — France (2:0, 0:3), in 2021 — Wales (0:1) and now — Sweden.
Now, on Tuesday, March 31, the Ukrainian national team will play a friendly match in Valencia against the loser of the other semi-final, the Albanian team.
As for the Swedes, in the decisive match for a place in the world championship in the USA, Canada and Mexico, Graham Potter's team will play on their home field against the Polish team, which beat the Albanians 2:1 (Lewandowski, 63, Zielinski, 73 – Hoxha, 42).
The other semi-final matches of the 2026 World Cup qualification play-offs brought the following results:
Italy – Northern Ireland – 2:0 (Tonali, 56, Keane, 80).
Denmark – North Macedonia – 4:0 (Damsgaard, 49, Isaksen, 58, 59, Nergor, 76).
Turkey – Romania – 1:0 (Kadioglu, 53).
Czech Republic – Ireland – 2:2 (Shik, 27, from the penalty spot, Krejci, 86 – Perrott, 19, from the penalty spot, Kovarzh, 23, own goal). Penalty shootout – 4:3.
Wales – Bosnia and Herzegovina – 1:1 (James, 51 – Dzeko, 86). Penalty shootout – 2:4.
Slovakia – Kosovo – 3:4 (Valent, 6, Garaslin, 45, Strelets, 90+4 – Hodja, 21, Asllani, 47, Muslija, 60, Khairizi, 72).
In the finals for the 2026 World Cup on March 31, in addition to Sweden and Poland, the following will play:
Bosnia and Herzegovina – Italy,
Czech Republic — Denmark
Kosovo — Turkey
We remind you that two more passes to the world championship will be played in the intercontinental play-off in two cities of Mexico. In the semifinals on the night of March 27, New Caledonia – Jamaica and Bolivia – Suriname will play. The winner of the first pair on the night of April 1 will compete in the final against DR Congo, the winner of the second – against Iraq.
So far, 42 of the 48 national teams that have guaranteed themselves direct tickets to the 2026 World Cup are known:
Europe — England, France, Croatia, Portugal, Norway, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Scotland and Belgium.
Africa – Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Cape Verde, South Africa, Ivory Coast, Senegal.
Asia — Australia, Iran, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Jordan, Japan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia.
North America — Canada, USA, Mexico (all hosts of the tournament), Curacao, Panama, Haiti.
Oceania — New Zealand.
South America — Argentina, Ecuador, Colombia, Uruguay, Brazil, Paraguay.
We would like to add that the matches of the final tournament of the 2026 World Cup from June 11 to July 19 will be hosted by 11 US cities (Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle), three Mexican cities (Guadalajara, Mexico City, Monterrey) and two Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver). The World Cup final, which will feature 48 teams for the first time, will be held in New York on July 19, 2026.
Previously, “FACTS” reported where and when to watch the live broadcast of the Euro 2027 qualifying match Ukraine U21 — Lithuania U21 for free.
Photo uaf.ua
Video — MEGOGO