--- title: "Ukraine U-19 kicks off Euro 2026: Challenge against Croatia and the road to the World Cup" description: "The Ukraine U-19 national team kicks off Euro 2026 in Wales! πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦βš½ Today, Dmytro Mykhailenko's team will play against Croatia. The tournament will serve as qualification for the 2027 World Cup, and the Ukrainian squad features promising foreign players and an experienced captain. πŸ†πŸ”₯" date: 2026-06-29T11:20:00.000Z lang: en url: https://xab.info/en/posts/ukraine-u-19-kicks-off-euro-2026-challenge-against-croatia tags: [] publisher: "XAB.info" --- # Ukraine U-19 kicks off Euro 2026: Challenge against Croatia and the road to the World Cup ![Ukraine U-19 national team in yellow kits ahead of Euro 2026 qualifiers](https://xab.info/media/2026/06/29/ukraina-u-19-start-euro-2026-horvatiya/ukraina-u-19-start-euro-2026-horvatiya-1.webp) The Ukraine U-19 national team begins its journey to Euro 2026. The tournament, taking place in Wales, will be for the team coached by Dmytro Mykhailenko not just a competition for medals, but a key stage in qualifying for the 2027 World Cup. The Ukrainian team's start is scheduled for today, June 29. In the very first match of the tournament, the "blue and yellows" will face the national team of Croatia. The match will begin at 22:00 Kyiv time and will be a serious test for the young footballers. ### Tough group and high stakes Ukraine has been drawn into Group B, which experts call one of the strongest. The opponents of the Ukrainians will be not only Croatia, but also Serbia, as well as the reigning European champion among players under 17 β€” the Italian national team. The fight for a place in the semi-finals promises to be extremely tense. At stake is not only prestige, but also tickets to the 2027 U-20 World Cup, which will be held in Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. The four semi-finalists of the tournament in Wales will receive direct tickets to the World Cup. Teams that take third place in their groups will get a chance to play in the playoffs for fifth place and the right to participate in intercontinental play-off matches. In the parallel Group A, matches have already started involving Wales, Denmark, Germany, and Spain. The tournament began with loud results: Spain crushed the hosts β€” the Welsh β€” with a score of 7:0, and Germany defeated Denmark in a high-scoring match β€” 4:3. ### Confident qualification and foreign players The Ukrainian national team qualified for the final stage of the championship as confidently as possible, not losing a single match in the qualifiers. In the first round, the Ukrainians crushed Albania, Montenegro, and Slovakia (all matches ended with a score of 3:0). In the elite round, the team defeated Northern Ireland (1:0) and Kazakhstan (3:0), as well as drew with Romania (1:1). The top scorer of the qualifying stage was Oleksandr Kamenskyi, who scored 4 goals. 20 footballers were included in the roster for Euro 2026. Notably, exactly half of them play for foreign clubs. The team includes players born outside Ukraine who previously represented other national teams: - **Konstantinos Plis** β€” born in Athens, previously received an invitation from the Greek national team. - **Serhiy Ignatkov** β€” previously played for the youth national teams of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but received FIFA permission to play for Ukraine. - **Patrick Sikut** β€” a native of London, chose Ukraine on the eve of the tournament, declining an offer from Poland. - **Vitaliy Hliut** β€” born in Ukraine, but has six matches for the US youth national teams to his credit. ### Leaders and prospects Specialists highlight several key players in Dmytro Mykhailenko's team. Among them is the newcomer to Prague's Slavia, Nazar Domchak, who is considered one of the most promising goalkeepers in Europe. Attention is also drawn to the striker of Italian Empoli, Bohdan Popov, who has attracted interest from Serie A clubs, and the striker of Berlin's Union, Dmytro Bohdanov, who made his debut in the German Bundesliga. The most experienced player in the squad is the 18-year-old captain Kyrylo Dightiar. For the utility player, this is already the fourth major international forum after performances at Euro 2024 (U-17 and U-19) and the 2025 World Cup (U-20). The head coach of the team noted that the potential of the current squad allows them to fight for a place in the top four. This corresponds to the traditions of Ukrainian football: in 2009 the team won gold, in 2018 and 2024 it reached the semi-finals. The core of the 2018 team won the youth World Cup a year later. ### Where to watch the matches A live broadcast of the opening match against Croatia and subsequent matches of the Ukrainian team will be available on the "Suspilne Sport" platforms and local "Suspilne" TV channels. Matches can also be watched on the MEGOGO media service in the "Sport" section by subscription, as well as on the free "MEGOGO SPORT" TV channel in the T2 digital network.