Italian specialist Andrea Maldera, who took over as head coach of the Ukraine national football team in May 2026, succeeding Serhiy Rebrov, has finalized the squad for the opening matches of the new Nations League 2026/27 campaign. For the new manager of the "blue and yellows," these games will mark his official debut at the helm of the national team, so the selection of the squad is of a fundamental nature and sets the tone for the entire autumn preparation period.
Maldera's debut and the start in Division B
The national team will begin the new tournament campaign in Division B, where it will compete for promotion to the elite in a group alongside Hungary, Georgia, and Northern Ireland. It is precisely these opponents who will determine the balance of power in the quartet, and the opening results could largely predestine the team's further trajectory in the standings.
Expanded 30-man squad
Given the tight schedule of the autumn window, the coaching staff has put together an expanded squad in order to distribute the workload evenly among the players. In total, Maldera called up 30 players for the Ukraine national team, covering all positions: from goalkeepers Dmytro Ryznyk, Anatoliy Trubin, and Georgiy Yermakov, to defenders Ilya Zbarny, Vitaliy Mykolenko, and Nikolay Matviyenko, midfielders Andriy Yarmolenko, Viktor Tsygankov, and Maksym Khlan, as well as forwards Artem Dovbyk, Roman Yaremchuk, and Vladyslav Vanat.
Four newcomers to the national team
Particular attention is deserved by the appearance of four players for whom the call-up to the national team will be a first in their careers. Joining the "blue and yellows" will be Ilya Krupskyi ("Kharkiv"), Oleksandr Drambaiev (LNZ), Ivan Varfolomeev ("Lincoln," England), and Artem Stepanov ("Utrecht," Netherlands). Their inclusion in the expanded list testifies to Maldera's intention to look more broadly at the squad's depth and to give young performers a chance.
A marathon of four matches
Between September 25 and October 5, the Ukraine national team will face a true marathon of four official matches in a short span of time. Such an intense start to the tournament demands a flexible approach to rotation and recovery from the coaching staff, which explains the decision to name a maximally broad squad. Thus, Maldera's debut cycle will immediately become a test of the squad's depth and the team's resilience under a tight schedule.
