On the day of the opening match of the Nations League 2026/27 group stage, the head coach of the Ukraine national team, Andrea Maldera, finalized the squad for the match against Hungary. According to the press service of the Ukrainian Association of Football, as reported by Sport RBC.UA, the Italian coach approved the final protocol and cut the extra players from the extended list.

The Italian Settles on the Squad

For the current training camp, Maldera called up an extended list of 30 players, but the tournament regulations allow only 23 players to be included in the official match protocol. As a result, the coaching staff had to reduce the list by seven positions. It was already known that the suspended Ivan Varfolomiev would miss the match, as he will not be able to take the field while serving his punishment.

Who Was Left Out of the List

In addition to Varfolomiev, two experienced players were left out of the final list — forward Roman Yaremchuk and midfielder Nikolai Shaparenko. Both players are among the key figures of the national team, so their absence from the protocol for the first round of the Nations League became a notable squad decision by the coach.

Debuts in the Starting Lineup

Instead of the experienced players, Maldera opted for squad renewal: several debutants made it into the final list. Among them are goalkeeper Georgii Yermakov, defenders Aleksandr Drambaev and Ilya Krupskyi, forward Ihor Krasnopir, and winger Maksym Khlan. For some of them, the match against Hungary will be their first in the Ukraine national team jersey.

Contradictory Data

There are minor discrepancies in the figures across publications from different outlets. For instance, the headline of a 24tv.ua article mentions "three newcomers" in the squad, while the text of Sport RBC.UA lists five debutants by name (Yermakov, Drambaev, Krupskyi, Krasnopir, Khlan). The difference is likely due to the fact that some of the players had already been called up to the national team previously. In addition, the source ua-football.com emphasizes that seven players were left out of the list, which mathematically matches the difference between the 30 called up and the 23 in the protocol; however, only three are named in the open materials — Varfolomiev, Yaremchuk, and Shaparenko.

Match Details

The first-round group stage match of the Nations League between the Hungary and Ukraine national teams will kick off at 21:45 Kyiv time. The match will be held at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest, where, as a reminder, we previously shared seven interesting facts about this arena. A live broadcast of the match will be available on the MEGOGO media service.