On Wednesday, September 16, 2026, four matches of the Round of 16 of the national Cup were played on the football fields of Ukraine. The matchday was marked by a dramatic penalty shootout between two Premier League sides, record goal-scoring in one of the fixtures, and comfortable wins by elite-division teams over opponents from lower leagues. At the end of the four matches, Cherkasy's LNZ, Rivne's Veres, Kharkiv and Lviv's Karpaty advanced to the quarter-finals of the tournament.

Penalty Show: LNZ Takes Revenge on Bukovyna

The central event of the matchday was the match between two Premier League representatives — Chernivtsi's Bukovyna and Cherkasy's LNZ. Neither team was able to break the opponent's resistance during regular time, and the fate of the ticket to the quarter-finals was decided in a penalty shootout. For the Cherkasy side, this was a true revenge: in the semi-finals of the previous Ukrainian Cup campaign, it was Bukovyna that came out on top in the same format.

In the penalty shootout, LNZ converted all three of its attempts — Didyk, Yashari and Kuzyk scored. The home side, on the other hand, failed to score a single penalty: Dakhnovskyi, Kozhushko and Hrusha all missed. Thus, Vitaliy Ponomaryov's team won 3:0 on penalties and advanced to the next round of the tournament. Bukovyna's head coach Serhiy Shyshchenko noted after the match that his team had played an excellent game, but simply had no luck in the penalty shootout.

The Most Goal-Filled Match of the Day: Kolos — Karpaty

The most entertaining fixture of September 16 was the meeting between Kovalivka's Kolos and Lviv's Karpaty. The teams scored five goals, with the Lviv side winning 3:2. For the winners, Babohlo (32nd minute), Chachua (47) and Vantukh (68) scored. For Kolos, the goals were put on the board by Salabay (8) and Ndukwu (45+2). The Lviv club thus secured its place in the quarter-finals of the Ukrainian Cup.

Veres and Kharkiv Without Problems

Rivne's Veres narrowly beat Kulykiv-Belka away. The only goal of the match was scored by Kharatin, who netted in the stoppage time of the first half. The match ended 1:0 in favour of the Rivne side, and the team will continue its fight in the cup competition.

Another UPL representative — Kharkiv — beat Ivano-Frankivsk's Prykarpattia-Blaho (1st League) 2:0. The Kharkiv side's victory was sealed by goals from Zaberghi in the 42nd minute and Gadzhiev early in the second half. The team confidently advanced to the next round of the tournament without conceding a single goal.

Who Advanced to the Quarter-Finals and What Comes Next

At the end of the four matches on September 16, 2026, the following teams advanced to the quarter-finals of the Ukrainian Cup: LNZ (Cherkasy), Veres (Rivne), Kharkiv and Karpaty (Lviv). The next rounds of the tournament promise no less intriguing confrontations, and the Ukrainian Cup once again demonstrated that there are no weak teams in this competition — even in matches involving Premier League representatives, the outcome may be decided only in a penalty shootout.

It is worth noting separately that, against the backdrop of these events, sweeping changes are planned in the UPL from the next season, which could affect the overall landscape of Ukrainian football and, consequently, the line-up of participants in cup competitions in the near future.