Ukraine national under-21 football team
Sports team
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The Ukraine national under-21 football team is also known as Youth [football] team of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Молодіжна збірна України) is one of junior national football teams of Ukraine for participation in under-21 international competitions. The team is managed by the Ukrainian Association of Football staff, committee of national teams. The team participates in qualifications to the Olympic competitions and the continental (UEFA) U-21 competitions.
| Nickname | Молодіжка (Young men) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Ukrainian Association of Football | ||
| Head coach | |||
| Captain | Maksym Melnychenko | ||
| Most caps | Arseniy Batahov (39) | ||
| Top scorer | Pylyp Budkivskyi (18) | ||
| Home stadium | Valeriy Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium | ||
| |||
| First international | |||
Ternopil,[2] Ukraine; 28 October 1992 | |||
| Biggest win | |||
Kyiv, Ukraine; 13 October 1998 | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
Paris, France; 26 March 1999 Note: Records for competitive matches only. | |||
| Olympic Games | |||
| Appearances | 1 (first in 2024) | ||
| Best result | Group stage (2024) | ||
| UEFA U-21 Championship | |||
| Appearances | 4 (first in 2006) | ||
| Best result | Runners-up (2006) | ||
Their first game the team played was on 28 October 1992. Its first competition the team entered in 1994 the qualification round for the 1996 European Under-21 Championship. The team has qualified for a tournament twice. The under-21s not only qualified for the 2006 European Under-21 Championship, but also reached the final, where they lost to Netherlands on 4 June 2006 by 3–0. The under-21s also qualified to the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship that was held in Denmark.
History
Its first game under national flag the team played on 28 October 1992 by hosting Belarus national under-21 football team in a friendly game in Ternopil (Ternopil City Stadium).[1] The game ended in scoreless tie and was attended by 4,000 people.[1] The initial squad consisted of following players Sergei Aleksandrov, Dmytro Parfenov, Serhiy Fedorov, Oleksandr Koval, Vladyslav Vashchuk, Vitaliy Kosovskyi, Ihor Luchkevych, Serhiy Onopko, Vladimir Lebed, Hennadiy Moroz, Vitaliy Pushkutsa, Kostyantyn Pinchuk, Oleg Solovyov, Ruslan Romanchuk, Oleksandr Karabuta.[1] Later two out of the squad Lebed and Aleksandrov continued to play for Russian national teams.
In August 1993, the Ukraine youth squad took part in its first tournament where it contested few teams outside of Europe. Its first competitive tournament became the Youth Euro 1996 where it was eliminated in qualification group. Its first game Ukraine U-21 played at home against its opponents from Lithuania on 6 September 1994.
It took Ukraine another 10 years to finally qualify to the tournament final when in 2006 it almost won the tournament losing in the final game to Netherlands which earned its first title instead.
Tournaments
Summer Olympics record
As U-23 team
- Rules
- 1996–present: u-23 national teams (with three 'no age limit' players allowed, after an agreement between FIFA and OIC)
- Note
- No tournament held in 1932
- 1900 to 1912 as Part of
Russian Empire,1922 to 1988 as Part of
Soviet Union,1992 as member Unified Team at the 1992 Summer Olympics
| Olympic Games record | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Host | Round | Pos. | Pld. | W | D | L | GF | GA | |
| 1900 | see Note | |||||||||
| 1904 | ||||||||||
| 1908 | ||||||||||
| 1912 | ||||||||||
| 1920 | ||||||||||
| 1924 | ||||||||||
| 1928 | ||||||||||
| 1936 | ||||||||||
| 1948 | ||||||||||
| 1952 | ||||||||||
| 1956 | ||||||||||
| 1960 | ||||||||||
| 1964 | ||||||||||
| 1968 | ||||||||||
| 1972 | ||||||||||
| 1976 | ||||||||||
| 1980 | ||||||||||
| 1984 | ||||||||||
| 1988 | ||||||||||
| 1992 | ||||||||||
| 1996 | did not qualify | |||||||||
| 2000 | ||||||||||
| 2004 | ||||||||||
| 2008 | ||||||||||
| 2012 | ||||||||||
| 2016 | ||||||||||
| 2020 | ||||||||||
| 2024 | Group stage | 9th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 2028 | To be determined | |||||||||
| 2032 | ||||||||||
| Total:1/30 | Group stage | 9th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | ||
- *Denotes draws including knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.
- **Since 1968, Spain has sent its under-23 national team.
UEFA U-21 Championship
Since 1984, it is an official U-21 European championship. Since 1992, the tournament doubles as qualifying competition for the Olympic Games every four years.[3]
- 1994: Did not enter.
- 1996: Did not qualify. Finished 2nd of 6 in qualification group.
- 1998: Did not qualify. Finished 2nd of 5 in qualification group.
- 2000: Did not qualify. Finished 3rd of 5 in qualification group.
- 2002: Did not qualify. Finished 1st of 5 in qualification group. Lost qualification play-off to Switzerland.
- 2004: Did not qualify. Finished 3rd of 6 in qualification group.
- 2006: Runner-up. Finished 2nd of 7 in qualification group. Won qualification play-off over Belgium.
- 2007: Did not qualify. Finished 2nd of 3 in qualification group.
- 2009: Did not qualify. Finished 2nd of 5 in qualification group.
- 2011: Group Stage. Finished 1st of 5 in qualification group. Won qualification play-off over Netherlands
- 2013: Did not qualify. Finished 3rd of 6 in qualification group.
- 2015: Did not qualify. Finished 2nd of 5 in qualification group. Lost qualification play-off to Germany.
- 2017: Did not qualify. Finished 4th of 6 in qualification group.
- 2019: Did not qualify. Finished 3rd of 6 in qualification group.
- 2021: Did not qualify. Finished 3rd of 6 in qualification group.
- 2023: Qualified. Finished 2nd of 6 in qualification group. Won qualification play-off over Slovakia.
- 2025: Qualified. Finished 2nd of 6 in qualification group.
UEFA U-21 European Championship record
| UEFA European Under-21 Championship | UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualification | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | |
| 1960–1992 | Part of |
Part of | |||||||||||||
| Did not enter | Did not enter | ||||||||||||||
| Did not qualify | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 24 | 12 | |||||||||
| 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 4 | ||||||||||
| 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 16 | 12 | ||||||||||
| 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 16 | 17 | ||||||||||
| 8 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 5 | ||||||||||
| Runner-up | 2nd | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 14 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 27 | 11 | ||
| Did not qualify | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | |||||||||
| 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 7 | ||||||||||
| Group stage | 8th | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 16 | 8 | ||
| Did not qualify | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 21 | 10 | |||||||||
| 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 20 | 13 | ||||||||||
| 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 12 | ||||||||||
| 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 18 | 12 | ||||||||||
| 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 17 | 11 | ||||||||||
| Semi-Finals | 3rd | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 8 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 25 | 14 | ||
| Group stage | 9th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 20 | 7 | ||
| Qualification in progress | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 7 | |||||||||
| 2029 | To be determined | To be determined | |||||||||||||
| Total:4/16 | Runner-up | 2nd | 16 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 18 | 24 | 136 | 73 | 24 | 39 | 241 | 141 | |
Important friendlies
Lobanovsky tournament (2006– )
- Winners (2): 2009, 2019
- Runners-up (4): 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017
Commonwealth of Independent States Cup (2012–2014)
Head coaches
- As of 17 November 2025
| Manager[4] | Nation | Ukraine career | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | GF | GA | Win % | Qualifying cycle | Final tour |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Volodymyr Muntian | 1992–1994 | 15 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 25 | 12 | 53.33 | 1996 | ||
| Viktor Kolotov | 1995 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 17 | 10 | 42.86 | 1996 | ||
| Oleksandr Ishchenko | 1996–1997 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 19 | 6 | 63.64 | 1998 | ||
| Viktor Kolotov | 1998–1999 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 32 | 16 | 50 | 2000 | ||
| Volodymyr Onyschenko | 1999–2001 | 21 | 9 | 3 | 9 | 23 | 31 | 42.86 | 2000, 2002 | ||
| Anatoliy Kroshchenko[5] | 2002 | 10 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 2004 | ||
| Pavlo Yakovenko | 2002–2004 | 20 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 24 | 20 | 40 | 2004, 2006 | ||
| Hennadiy Lytovchenko | 2003–2004 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 50 | |||
| Oleksiy Mykhaylichenko | 2004–2007 | 41 | 21 | 6 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 51.22 | 2006, 2007, 2009 | 2006 | |
| Volodymyr Muntian (caretaker) | 2008 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 0 | |||
| Pavlo Yakovenko | 2008–2012 | 70 | 31 | 25 | 14 | 109 | 66 | 44.29 | 2009, 2011, 2013 | 2011 | |
| Serhiy Kovalets | 2013–2015 | 47 | 26 | 8 | 13 | 94 | 50 | 55.32 | 2013, 2015 | ||
| Oleksandr Holovko | 2015–2018 | 25 | 13 | 7 | 5 | 49 | 34 | 52 | 2017, 2019 | ||
| Ruslan Rotan | 2018–2023 | 47 | 23 | 12 | 12 | 79 | 55 | 48.94 | 2021, 2023 | 2023 | |
| Unai Melgosa | 2023–present | 25 | 12 | 4 | 9 | 41 | 30 | 48 | 2025 | 2025 |
Coaching staff
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Head coach | |
| Assistant coach | |
| Goalkeeping coach | |
| Fitness coach |
Results and fixtures
2025
| 21 March 2025 Friendly | Slovenia | 1–1 | | Belek, Turkey |
| 18:00 | Report |
|
Stadium: Bellis Deluxe Stadium |
| 25 March 2025 Friendly | Poland | 3–2 | | Belek, Turkey |
| Report |
|
Stadium: Bellis Deluxe Stadium |
| 6 June 2025 Friendly | Spain | 0–1 | | Alcorcón, Spain |
| Report |
|
Stadium: Estadio Municipal de Santo Domingo |
| 12 June 2025 U21 UEFA Euro 2025 | Ukraine | 2–3 | | Prešov, Slovakia |
| 19:00 | Report | Stadium: Futbal Tatran Arena Attendance: 5,458 Referee: Goga Kikacheishvili (Georgia) |
| 15 June 2025 U21 UEFA Euro 2025 | Finland | 0–2 | | Košice, Slovakia |
| 19:00 | Report | Stadium: Košická futbalová aréna Attendance: 8,636 Referee: Alessandro Dudic (Switzerland) |
| 18 June 2025 U21 UEFA Euro 2025 | Netherlands | 2–0 | | Prešov, Slovakia |
| 19:00 |
|
Report | Stadium: Futbal Tatran Arena Attendance: 5,216 Referee: Vassilis Fotias (Greece) |
| 5 September 2025 U21 Euro 2027 Qualification | Lithuania | 0–4 | | Druskininkai, Lithuania |
| 18:00 (19:00 UTC+3) | Report | Stadium: LSC Druskininkai Stadium Attendance: 374 Referee: Daniel Higraff (Norway) |
| 10 October 2025 U21 Euro 2027 Qualification | Ukraine | 3–3 | | Murska Sobota, Slovenia |
| 18:00 (19:00 UTC+3) | Report | Stadium: Fazanerija City Stadium Attendance: 352 Referee: Oscar Johnson (Sweden) |
| 14 October 2025 U21 Euro 2027 Qualification | Croatia | 1–0 | | Velika Gorica, Croatia |
| 18:00 |
|
Report | Stadium: Stadion Radnik Attendance: 1,247 Referee: Lothar D'hondt (Belgium) |
| 14 November 2025 U21 Euro 2027 Qualification | Turkey | 1–0 | | Istanbul, Turkey |
| 19:00 |
|
Report | Stadium: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Stadium Attendance: 2,586 Referee: Georgi Ginchev (Bulgaria) |
2026
| 27 March 2026 U21 Euro 2027 Qualification | Ukraine | 1–1 | | Košická Futbalová Aréna, Košice (Slovakia) |
| 18:00 |
|
Report |
|
Attendance: 1,505 Referee: Roman Jitari (Moldova) |
| 31 March 2026 U21 Euro 2027 Qualification | Hungary | 1–2 | | Hidegkuti Nándor Stadion, Budapest |
| 16:30 |
|
Report | Referee: Jakob Semler (Austria) |
| 26 September 2026 U21 Euro 2027 Qualification | Ukraine | v | | TBD |
| 2 October 2026 U21 Euro 2027 Qualification | Ukraine | v | | TBD |
Players
Players born in 2004 or later are eligible for the U21 Euro 2027 Qualification. Names in bold denote players who have been capped for the senior team. Names in italics denote players who not available for calling up anymore, because of the age limits.
Current squad
The following players were called up for the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group H matches against Lithuania and Hungary on 27 and 31 March 2026; respectively.[8]
Caps and goals correct as of 31 March 2026, after the match against the Hungary.
| No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GK | Vladyslav Krapyvtsov | 25 June 2005 | 3 | 0 | |
| 12 | GK | Ivan Pakholyuk | 27 April 2004 | 1 | 0 | |
| 23 | GK | Illya Popovych | 30 November 2005 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2 | DF | Illya Krupskyi | 2 October 2004 | 16 | 1 | |
| 4 | DF | Vladyslav Kysil | 14 June 2005 | 4 | 0 | |
| 5 | DF | Oleksiy Husiev | 16 March 2005 | 4 | 0 | |
| 13 | DF | Vladyslav Zakharchenko | 16 June 2006 | 4 | 0 | |
| 14 | DF | Volodymyr Vilivald | 23 September 2004 | 0 | 0 | |
| 22 | DF | Serhiy Korniychuk | 25 June 2004 | 5 | 1 | |
| 6 | MF | Ivan Varfolomeyev | 24 March 2004 | 14 | 0 | |
| 7 | MF | Danylo Krevsun | 21 April 2005 | 5 | 2 | |
| 8 | MF | Maksym Melnychenko | 12 February 2005 | 10 | 0 | |
| 15 | MF | Daniil Vashchenko | 2 October 2005 | 1 | 0 | |
| 16 | MF | Yevheniy Pastukh | 19 March 2004 | 5 | 0 | |
| 17 | MF | Oleh Fedor | 23 July 2004 | 9 | 0 | |
| 18 | MF | Anton Hlushchenko | 20 April 2004 | 4 | 0 | |
| 20 | MF | Anton Tsarenko | 17 June 2004 | 9 | 0 | |
| MF | Bogdan Budko | 7 January 2006 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 3 | FW | Bohdan Redushko | 7 January 2007 | 2 | 0 | |
| 9 | FW | Artem Stepanov | 10 August 2007 | 7 | 1 | |
| 10 | FW | Hennadiy Synchuk | 10 July 2006 | 3 | 2 | |
| 11 | FW | Timur Tutierov | 11 June 2005 | 4 | 0 | |
| 19 | FW | Oleksandr Pyshchur | 24 January 2005 | 4 | 1 | |
| 21 | FW | Artem Husol | 5 January 2006 | 5 | 0 | |
Recent call-ups
The following players have been called up for the team within the last 12 months and remain eligible for selection.
| Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club | Latest call-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Nazar Domchak | 6 April 2007 | 2 | 0 | v. | |
| GK | Denys Vakulyk | 8 May 2005 | 0 | 0 | v. | |
| DF | Mykola Oharkov | 18 February 2005 | 3 | 0 | v. | |
| DF | Taras Mykhavko | 30 May 2005 | 8 | 1 | v. | |
| DF | Mykhaylo Protasevych | 20 November 2004 | 1 | 0 | v. | |
| DF | Andriy Kitela | 13 December 2004 | 0 | 0 | v. | |
| DF | Daniel Vernattus | 9 February 2006 | 0 | 0 | v. | |
| DF | Vyacheslav Kulbachuk | 24 August 2004 | 0 | 0 | v. | |
| DF | Mykola Kyrychok | 16 May 2006 | 0 | 0 | v. | |
| MF | Andriy Matkevych | 11 January 2005 | 4 | 1 | v. | |
| MF | Artem Slesar | 12 December 2004 | 4 | 0 | v. | |
| MF | Roman Salenko | 18 May 2005 | 3 | 0 | v. | |
| MF | Ivan Losenko | 24 July 2004 | 2 | 0 | v. | |
| MF | Viktor Tsukanov | 4 February 2006 | 0 | 0 | v. | |
| MF | Ramik Hadzhyiev | 14 August 2005 | 1 | 1 | v. | |
| MF | Artur Shakh | 11 May 2005 | 0 | 0 | v. | |
| FW | Bohdan Popov | 4 April 2007 | 2 | 0 | v. | |
| FW | Matviy Ponomarenko | 11 January 2006 | 1 | 0 | v. | |
| ||||||
Player records
Top goalscorers
- As of 17 November 2025[9]

| Rank | Player | Goals | Caps | Average | Period |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pylyp Budkivskyi | 18 | 23 | 0.78 | 2011–2013 |
| 2 | Danylo Sikan | 9 | 19 | 0.47 | 2019–2023 |
| 3 | Oleksandr Aliyev | 8 | 30 | 0.27 | 2003–2006 |
| Bohdan Viunnyk | 8 | 36 | 0.22 | 2021–2025 | |
| 5 | Nazariy Rusyn | 7 | 11 | 0.64 | 2018–2019 |
| Andriy Totovytskyi | 7 | 12 | 0.58 | 2013 | |
| Serhiy Rebrov | 7 | 17 | 0.41 | 1993–1995 | |
| Artem Byesyedin | 7 | 17 | 0.41 | 2015–2017 | |
| Ruslan Fomin | 7 | 20 | 0.35 | 2005–2008 | |
| Oleksiy Byelik | 7 | 29 | 0.24 | 2000–2003 | |
| Artem Milevskyi | 7 | 31 | 0.23 | 2003–2006 |
Head-to-head record
The following table shows Ukraine Under-21s all-time international record, correct as of 29 March 2021.[10]
| Positive balance (more wins) | |
| Neutral balance (equal W/L ratio) | |
| Negative balance (more losses) |
- Serbia and Montenegro +1=1-1 2-4 (Yugoslavia)
- Kyrgyzstan national +1=0-0 4-0
- Norway u-23 +0=0-1 0-2
- England C +0=0-1 0-2
Home venues record
Since the game Ukraine v Belarus (28 October 1992), Ukraine youth team have played their home games at 19 different stadiums.
| Venue | City | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | GF | GA | Points per game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VVL Dynamo | Kyiv | 43 | 20 | 17 | 6 | 76 | 36 | 1.79 |
| Bannikov | Kyiv | 13 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 24 | 11 | 2.08 |
| Obolon Arena | Kyiv | 12 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 22 | 8 | 1.75 |
| Boreks | Borodianka | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 2 |
| Tsentralnyi | Cherkasy | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 1.8 |
| Shakhtar | Chervonohrad | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 3 |
| Dynamo Training Center | Kyiv, Koncha-Zaspa | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 2.33 |
| CSK ZSU | Kyiv | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 3 |
| Lokomotyv | Donetsk | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Kolos | Boryspil | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Sevastopol | Sevastopol | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Slavutych-Arena | Zaporizhzhia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 1.5 |
| Arena Lviv | Lviv | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1.5 |
| Auto ZAZ | Zaporizhzhia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3 |
| SKA | Odesa | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| Metalist | Kharkiv | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| Ternopilsky | Ternopil | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Ukraina | Lviv | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Illichivets | Mariupol | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Totals | 102 | 55 | 32 | 15 | 196 | 79 | 1.94 | |
- Last updated: 2 June 2016. Statistics include official FIFA-recognised matches only.