Famous Ukrainian forward Sergei Chuychenko, not long ago, commented on the results of the draw for the 2026 World Cup qualifying cycle, which placed Ukraine in a group with the winner of the 2024/25 Nations League quarterfinal France — Croatia, as well as Iceland and Azerbaijan.
“Both the French and the Croats have strong teams. But still, I would prefer Croatia to be in the group with Ukraine. However, I also want to say that in any case, the favorites of our quartet will be either the French or the Croats.
As for the second place, that is within our reach! In this group, we must at least take the second position. In other words, the national team of Ukraine must become second to then fight for a ticket to the World Cup in the playoff matches. I hope that will be the case!
We definitely need to take second place, while the first position, we'll see how it turns out. A lot will depend on how we play against France or Croatia. It will also be important how successfully we play in the first round against the winner of this pair. After the first round match, a lot will be clear. But I repeat, we must take second place in this group!” — said Chuychenko.