On Friday, 25 September 2026, the Ukraine national football team takes the field for its first official match in the 2026/2027 Nations League. The "blue-and-yellow" side's opponent will be the Hungary national team, and the match will be played in the Hungarian capital at the Puskas Arena. Kick-off will be at 21:45 Kyiv time, and the fate of the ball on the pitch will be overseen by the main referee, England's Gerard Gillett. For the Ukrainian team, this match carries special significance: it will be the debut official test under the guidance of the new head coach, Andrea Moldera.
Debut of the Italian coach in official matches
Andrea Moldera took charge of the Ukraine national team in May 2026, replacing Serhiy Rebrov in the role. Before the official start of the tournament, the Italian specialist had time to play two friendly matches with the team in June. In the first of them, the Ukrainians confidently beat the Poland national team 2:0. The second encounter — against Denmark — was stopped early at a score of 2:1 in favour of the Scandinavians after Christian Eriksen lost consciousness on the field. Thus, ahead of the start of the Nations League, the team had played only one full friendly match, which makes the upcoming game in Budapest a key test for the new coaching staff.
The opponent and the history of the rivalry
The Hungary national team in this tournament is led by Italian coach Marco Rossi, which makes the head-to-head encounter a sort of "Italian derby" on the touchline. At the same time, in their official and friendly history the teams have crossed paths extremely rarely: in previous years they faced each other only twice, and both matches took place back in 1992. In the home game — the first in the history of the Ukrainian national team — the "blue-and-yellow" side lost 1:3 in Uzhhorod, while in the away match in Nyíregyháza they lost 1:2. Thus, the head-to-head record is entirely on the side of the Hungarians, and it is precisely this factor that adds extra motivation for the Ukrainian side in the Budapest match.
Tournament calendar and format
Ukraine is competing in League B, Group 2, where its opponents also include Georgia and Northern Ireland. The teams will play two matches against each other — at home and away. After the opening game in Budapest, the Ukrainians have three more matches scheduled during this international break: on 28 September — an away match against Georgia in Tbilisi, followed by nominally home games against Northern Ireland (2 October) and Hungary (5 October), which will be played in Trnava, Slovakia. The final matches of the group stage will take place in November: on 14 November the "blue-and-yellow" side will play away against Northern Ireland, and on 17 November they will host Georgia in a nominally home match.
The tournament format provides that the group winner will be promoted directly to League A. The team finishing in second place will play play-off matches for a place in the elite league. Third place will allow a team to retain its spot in League B, while fourth place will send a team into the play-offs for the right to remain in the league. In the previous Nations League campaign, the Ukraine national team also competed in League B: the "blue-and-yellow" side finished second in the group, behind the Czech Republic but ahead of Georgia and Albania. In the play-off matches for promotion to the elite league, the Ukrainians lost to Belgium 3:1 and 0:3.
Where to watch the broadcast
A live broadcast of the Hungary – Ukraine match will be shown by the MEGOGO media service: the game can be watched on the MEGOGO Football 1 channel with the appropriate subscription. The match will also be broadcast live on the MEGOGO Sport channel, which is available for free viewing on the T2 broadcast and in cable networks. Before the game, a pre-match studio is scheduled for 20:30: host Vitaliy Kravchenko will be joined by experts — former Ukraine national team players Oleksandr Holovko and Eduard Tikhmeystruk. The match commentators will be Vadym Skichko and Oleksandr Novak.
