Today, November 12, the Ukraine U-19 national team (players born in 2007 and younger) started in the Euro-2026 qualifying round. The tournament in the group is held in Albania from November 12 to 18.
Euro-2026 U-19. Qualifying Round. Group 5
Ukraine U-19 — Albania U-19 — 3:0 (1:0)
Goals: Redushko (34), Popov (74), Kamensky (88).
Ukraine: Domchak, Reshetnikov (Cokodinyak, 74), Mylokost, Dightar (C), Malov (Kalyuzhny, 90), Soroka, Tyutyunov (Feschenko, 85), Kamensky, Redushko (Gubenko, 74), Bogdanov, Popov (Boyko, 74).
Albania: Guli, Gechay, Suleymani (Cherkazi, 69), Sina, Avdullari, Shedji (El Malem, 69), Arifi (C) (Maley, 82), Khuchi, Dashi (Vogli, 68), Kulla, Durmishi (Gyala, 78).
The «Blue and Yellows» started the game actively, earning several promising set pieces. It was after a free kick in the 9th minute that the first goal-scoring opportunity arose: Bogdanov headed from the edge of the goal area, but the Albanians were saved by the goalkeeper. Later, Redushko shot dangerously from a distance. Despite the advantage, they couldn’t score a quick goal.
Yet, constant pressure on the opponent’s goal yielded results before the break. In the 34th minute, after a throw-in from the right, Reshetnikov made a targeted pass down the wing, Bogdanov played with his head, and Redushko closed in at the far post — 1:0.
After the break, the Albanians tried to turn the situation around and moved forward more actively, but the attentive play of the Ukrainians near their own goal ified all the opponent’s attempts. Midway through the half, the «Blue and Yellows» doubled their lead — once again, Redushko was at the center of attention. First, Bohdan broke away for a one-on-one with the keeper but couldn’t beat him. Just two minutes later, Redushko earned a free kick on the left wing, which became effective: Malov made a targeted pass, Bogdanov won the position and passed the ball to Popov, who outplayed the goalkeeper from inside the goal area.
And two minutes before the end of regulation time, the Ukrainians launched a swift counterattack — Bogdanov provided a second assist, and Kamensky put the finishing touch on the combination. 3:0 — the «Blue and Yellows» start the qualification with a confident win. In a parallel match of our group, Slovakia defeated Montenegro with the same score (3:0), so there is currently a shared lead in the standings.
The next match for Dmytro Mykhailenko’s team is on November 15 against Montenegro. Kick-off is at 13:00 Kyiv time.