Last Friday, the Ukraine U-21 team played its next match in the Euro-2027 (U-21) qualification tournament — away, against Turkey. The match took place in the city of Velika Gorica at the stadium of the same name.
TURKEY (U-21) — UKRAINE (U-21) — 1:0 (0:0)
Goal: İlhan (73)
Ukraine (U-21): Krapivtsov (Pakholyuk, 44), Kornyichuk, Zakharchenko, Kysil, Krupsky (c), Krevsun, Varfolomeev (Pastukh, 83), Tsarenko (Hlushchenko, 46), Matkevych (Slesar, 46), Stepanov (Pyshchur, 56), Synchuk.
Turkey (U-21): Ertas, Karapo, Gyureler, Akcicek, Yilmaz, İlhan (Kalayci, 85), Tiknaz (Aydin, 70), Vural, Canak, Kilicoy (c) (Habeşoglu), Hekimoglu (Bostan, 31).
The first half was evenly contested with both teams actively seeking opportunities up front. The «Blue-Yellows» earned several potentially dangerous set pieces but failed to capitalize fully. The intense game led to two forced substitutions before halftime. The hosts had to remove Hekimoglu from the field halfway through the half, and towards the end of the first half, Ukrainian goalkeeper Krapivtsov had to leave the game due to injury, replaced by Pakholyuk.
After the break, the «Blue-Yellows» continued to look for chances near the opponent’s goal. Krevsun executed a dangerous free kick but missed the target. In the 67th minute, Hlushchenko made a memorable individual run in the opponent’s penalty area: after beating several defenders, our midfielder shot from a sharp angle, but the ball hit the near post.
The dynamic end-to-end game resulted in a conceded goal. After a cross, Pakholyuk punched the ball out of the penalty area, but the first to reach the ball was İlhan, who shot low past the goalkeeper.
In added time, after Pyshchur’s turn and shot, Synchuk had a great opportunity to equalize but failed to redirect the ball into the net. As a result — a second consecutive 0:1 defeat. The «Blue-Yellows» will play their next Euro-2027 (U-21) qualification match on March 27 against the group’s underdog, the Lithuania team.
Euro-2027 (U-21). Qualification Tournament. Group H:
1. Turkey — 8 points (4 matches)
2. Croatia — 7 (3)
3. Ukraine — 4 (4)
4. Hungary — 3 (3)
5. Lithuania — 1 (4).
