The is the national
Football team of
Ukraine and is controlled by the
Football Federation Of Ukraine . After the split of the
Soviet Union , they played their first match against
Hungary on
April 29 ,
1992 .
Prior to the split, Ukrainian players represented the
USSR National Football Team . Some of the best Ukrainian players of the beginning of 1990's (including the likes of
Andrei Kanchelskis ,
Viktor Onopko ,
Sergei Yuran and
Oleg Salenko ) chose to play for
Russia as it was named the official successor of the
USSR , while Ukraine did not participate in major international competitions until 1994. As a result of their desertion and retirement of many notable Soviet Ukrainian-nationality players created a crisis for both the national team as well as the
Domestic League . Problems were further compounded when Soviet Union's five-year
UEFA Coefficients , despite being earned in great part by Ukrainian players, were transferred directly to the direct descendent of the
Soviet National Football Team - the
Russian National Football Team .
In the following years, the Ukrainian team improved itself, showcasing talents like
Andriy Shevchenko and
Serhiy Rebrov , among others. However, Ukraine failed to qualify for any major intercontinental tournament prior to
2005 , three times failing at the last qualifying stage, the playoffs, after consecutively finishing 2nd in their qualifying groups. It lost to
Croatia , failing to get to the
1998 FIFA World Cup ,
Slovenia prevented Ukraine from going to
Euro 2000 , and
Germany stopped them prior to the
2002 FIFA World Cup .
After an unsuccessful .
The most important matches of the Ukrainian national team are held in
Kiev ´s
Olimpiysky National Sports Complex , the previous home venue of
Dynamo Kyiv (which presently only uses the stadium for major European matches). However as new infrastructure and stadiums are built (especially in preparation for
Euro 2012 ), other venues have include stadiums in the cities of
Lviv ,
Donetsk and
Odessa .
In
2006 FIFA World Cup , their first major tournament since splitting from the USSR, Ukraine were drawn in Group H along with
Spain ,
Tunisia and
Saudi Arabia .
Ukraine got off to a poor start with a 4:0 defeat against .
In the Second Round, Ukraine beat to end their first World Cup campaign. (the latter would go on to win the
World Cup )
:''See also:
2008 UEFA European Football Championship Qualifying Group B
- 1960 to 1992 - ''Did not enter, was part of USSR ''
- 1996 to 2004 - ''Did not qualify''
- 2008 - Qualification in progress
- 2012 - Qualified as host nation (along with Poland )
For notable players from the USSR era, see
USSR National Football Team .
Player/coach records are accurate as of
September 8 ,
2007 .
The following players have all recently been called up to the Ukraine squad. Players in were in the Ukraine squad for the
2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.
;Goalkeepers
;Defenders
;Midfielders
;Forwards
;Highest position ever
:FIFA: 11 (February 2007)
:Elo: 18 (March 2007)
;Lowest position ever
:FIFA: 132 (September 1993)
:Elo: 67 (March 1995)
