International Team:
The Ukrainian soccer team represents the men’s and women’s teams in Ukraine. The men’s team home pitch is called the Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Kyiv. Here are photos taken of the stadium below.
The Women’s national team plays at Arena Lviv. Here are photos of the stadium below.
Men’s Line-up(Euro 2024)
Ukrainian Men’s National Team Website
Goal Keepers: George Bushchan, Dmytro Riznyk, and Anatoliy Trubin
Defenders: Mykola Matvienko, Oleksandr Svatok, Oleksandr Karavayev, Vitaly Mykolenko, Oleksandr Tymchyk, Valery Bondar, Illia Zabarnyi, Yukhym Konoplya, Vladyslav Dubinchak, and Maksym Talovierov
Midfielders: Taras Stepaneko, Serhiy Sydorchuk, Olkesandr Zincheko, Ruslan Malinovskyi, Victor Tsygankov, Alexander Zubkov, George Sudakov, Oleksandr Pikhalyonok, Mykhailo Mudryk, and Yehor Nazarina
Attackers: Artem Dovbyk, Roman Yaremchuk, and Danylo Sikan
Women’s Line-up(World Cup 2023)
Ukrainian Women’s National Team Website
Goal Keepers: Daryna Bondarchuk, Kateryna Boklach, Iryna Sania, Alla Herasymchuk, Kateryna Samson
Defenders: Iryna Podolska, Anna Petryk, Olha Basanka, Lyubov Shmatko, Daryna Apanashenko, Kateryna Korsun, and Darya Kravets
Midfielders: Iryna Kochnyeva, Nadiia Khavanska, Tetyana Romanenko, Iryna Kotish, Yuliia Khrystiuk, Olha Boychenko, Tetyana Kitayeva, Nicole Kozlova, Yuliia Shevchuk, Nadiia Kunina, Natiya Pantsulaya, Khrystyna Perevizyk, Viktoriya Hiryn, and Tamila Khimich
Attackers: Yana Malakhova, Veronika Andrukhiv, Yana Kalinina, Olha Ovdiychuk, Roksolana Kravchuk, Inna Hlushchenko
History: If you look at the official Fifa record books, you will find that the Ukrainian national team has only existed for 20 years. Over their two decades, they have made one world cup appearance in 2006 where they made it all the way to the quarter finals and also had automatic qualification for Euro 2012 as they were co-hosts. This unimpressive performance hides a beautiful footballing legacy that Ukraine left behind when they were part of the Soviet Union. Ukraine itself existed as an independent state since 1992, but football in Ukraine goes much further back. In 1878, the first ever football club was made in Ukraine. The Odessa British Athletic Club it was called, at first was not popular by the local population. In the western Ukraine it became very popular, where it’s growth was aided by the Sokol movement, and it was in Lviv, where the first documented match on the territory of Ukraine took place. In that game, the first ever goal was scored by Wlodzimierz Chomicki giving the Lviv side the lead and ultimately the win over Krakow. Football’s popularity continued to spread in the early 1900’s. By 1911, city wide championships were held in Kyiv and Odessa. Gymnastics-sports club, later renamed Pohon, was found in Lviv in 1904 and became one of the best teams in the Polish league from 1918-1939. Unfortunately, in 1914, countries prepared for war halting the growth and popularity of soccer for years to come. After the end of World War 1, boarders were redrawn all over Europe. This included Ukraine.
Present day Ukraine:
Ukraine post World War 1:
Most of the western part of Ukraine was now controlled by Poland, the south western part was controlled by Czechoslovakia and Romania. Though Ukraine was now divided, football still grew in popularity. Pohon won the Polish league on four occasions. Fast forward to 1922, the rest of Ukraine was absorbed by Russia. This part of Ukraine became known as the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist republic. Kharkiv emerged as the dominant force in Ukrainian football. Teams from Kharkiv won 8 of the 11 national tournaments from 1921-1936. Football still continued to grow and grow around this region but ultimately stopped in 1941 after Germany began bombing Kyiv. From there Soviet Russia took over and it became extremely difficult to distinguish between myth and truth revolving aroung the game of football. Despite the actual events that unfolded, the game became ingrained in the Ukrainian collective consciousness, symbolizing both courageous resistance and exceptional football skills. In the post second world war decades, Ukraine would establish its presence as a formidable force in European football.
Men’s Kits(Euro 2024):
Women’s Home Kit(World Cup 2023):
Player You May Know:
Mykhaylo Mudryk is one of the more well known players on the men’s international team. As of the 2023-2024, he plays for Chelsea, which is one of the most well known soccer teams around the globe. Viewers are drawn to his rapid movements up and down the pitch, making him a nightmare for any defenders standing in his way. With 12 matches already past in this 2023-2024 season, Mudryk has scored 2 goals and 0 assists for Chelsea and in 7 matches for Ukraine has scored 1 goal and 2 assists. His rise to fame came when he began posting instagram videos and tiktoks of himself that would go viral. He bounced around from local football teams in Ukraine while catching a lot of attention from the youth national team. He scored 5 goals in 11 games between 2018-2019 when playing for the Ukrainian U-19 side. Around this time he found his local team Shaktar where he stayed at from 2020-2023. At first, he was not given much playing time as he still needed time to develop more as a player. All the social media flash could only get him so far in an actual football game. During this time he focused less on his flair and more on his passing touch and ability. The especially showed in the 2022-2023 season where he finished several games with multiple assists. He finished the 2022-2023 Shakhtar season with 10 goals and 8 assists in 18 appearances. Following that season, he became one of the most sought after players in European football. Eventually he signed with Chelsea for around 100 million euros which is a little less than 100 million US dollars when converted from Euro to dollar. Here is multiple clips of some of the magic Mudryk produced internationally and locally.