Last Friday, October 3, the Ukrainian U-20 national team played its third match at the WC-2025 (U-20) in the final round of the group stage of the tournament — against Paraguay.
WC-2025 (U-20). Group Stage. Group «B». Round 3
UKRAINE (U-20) — PARAGUAY (U-20) — 2:1 (0:0)
Goals: Derkach (46), Ponomarenko (80) — Minio (69)
Ukraine (U-20): Krapivtsov, Husev, Melnychenko (C), Kysil, Katrych, Shevchenko (Karaman, 90), Vaschenko (Budko, 77), Krevensun (Pancheko, 63), Dihtyar (Derkach, 46), Shakh, Pyshchur (Ponomarenko, 63).
Paraguay (U-20): Insfran, Caceres (Duart, 89), Balbuena, Maidana, Quintana (C), Baruja, Jimenez (Gomez, 63), Alfonso (Fernandez, 46), Caballero, Minio, Vilyalba (Aguayo, 63).
In the first half, both teams played cautiously, focusing heavily on defense. Most of the dangerous moments occurred from set pieces. In particular, in the last minute of the half, Husev initially headed the ball from a corner kick, and then Paraguay’s defenders blocked Kysil’s attempts twice from the edge of the goal area.
During the break, the Ukraine coaching staff made one substitution, and just 30 seconds after the game resumed, fresh Derkach found the net. In the 69th minute, Paraguay launched a swift counterattack and equalized. The decisive moment came in the 80th minute: Derkach dribbled past two opponents on the left flank and passed to Ponomarenko. Matviy took charge of the play and, without entering the penalty area, struck low into the corner of the net — 2:1!
In a parallel match in Group «B», South Korea defeated Panama — 2:1. As a result, the final standings in the group were as follows:
1. Ukraine − 7 points
2. Paraguay — 4
3. South Korea — 4
4. Panama — 1.
Thus, the Ukrainian U-20 national team advanced to the round of 16 of the WC-2025 (U-20), where it will play against one of the four teams that finish third in their respective groups.
