Dmytro Mihaylenko, the new head coach of the Ukraine U-21 national team, has announced his first squad in this role for the key matches of the UEFA Euro 2027 qualification campaign. The "blue-and-yellow" call-up list includes 24 players, as reported by Sport RBC.UA, citing the official website of the Ukrainian Association of Football. The squad was selected taking into account the team's position in the group and its upcoming opponents.

Forced losses: leaders called up to the senior team

Compared with previous matches, the U-21 squad has undergone some forced changes. Some of the team's leaders — defender Ilya Krupskyi, midfielder Ivan Varfolomiiiev, and forward Artem Stepanov — are not included in this U-21 call-up, as they have been summoned to the senior Ukraine national team under Andrea Maldera. As a result, Mihaylenko had to restructure the squad without losing depth in certain lines.

Squad by position

The goalkeeping line is represented by Nazar Domchak (Slavia, Czechia), Denys Marchenko (Karpaty) and Vladyslav Krapivtsov (Girona, Spain). In defence are Danilo Malov (Lechia, Poland), Mykola Oharkov (Kudrivka), Volodymyr Vilyvald (Kryvbas), Kyrylo Dytiah (Metalist), Bohdan Sliubyk (LNZ), Denys Hryshkevych (Polissya) and Oleksiy Husev (Chornomorets). The midfield is the largest group: Oleksandr Soroka (Gent, Belgium), Maksym Melnychenko (Chornomorets), Oleh Fedor (Polissya), Artur Shah (Lechia, Poland), Ramik Gadzhiev (Kharkiv), Danylo Vashchenko (Epitsentr), Anton Hlushchenko (Zorya), Anton Tsarenko (Blau-Weiss Linz, Austria), Hennadii Synchuk (Montreal, Canada), Danylo Krevsun (Zalaegerszeg, Hungary), Oleksiy Talpa (Maccabi Netanya, Israel) and Luka Lemishko (Zemplin, Slovakia). In attack there are just two players — Dmytro Bohdanov (Energie, Germany) and Oleksandr Pyshchur (Girona, Spain).

Group standings and what is at stake

Ukraine sit third in their group with 8 points. With two rounds left, the "blue-and-yellow" are 5 points behind Croatia, and 3 points behind second-placed Turkey, a position that earns a place in the play-offs. This is why the upcoming matches are considered decisive for the team's prospects in the qualifiers.

Logistics: nominally home matches in Hungary

The key matches against Turkey and Croatia will be nominally home games for the Ukrainians. Both fixtures will be played in Miskolc, Hungary, at the DVTK stadium and will kick off at 19:00 Kyiv time. In addition, on 5 October Ukraine U-21 will play a friendly against Albania — the match will take place in Eger, Hungary, at the Tibor Szentmártoni City Stadium, with kick-off at 16:30.

Qualification and final tournament format

A total of 16 teams will compete in the final phase of Euro 2027 U-21. In addition to the co-hosts — Albania and Serbia — 14 more teams will qualify through the qualifiers: nine group winners, the best runner-up, and four play-off winners, with the play-offs involving eight runner-up teams. Thus, it is critically important for Ukraine to collect the maximum number of points in the two remaining rounds to preserve their chances of reaching the final stage through one of these routes.