Ukraine’s opponents at Euro 2024: we will meet with Belgium for the first time, Yarmolenko has three goals in matches with Romania and Slovakia

Having beaten Iceland in the qualifying playoff final, The Ukrainian national team reached the final part of the European Championship 2024. The blue-yellows will play at the Euro for the fourth time in a row. At the group stage of Euro 2024, which will be held in Germany, The Ukrainian team’s opponents will be teams from Belgium, Slovakia and Romania. The blue-yellows will begin their performances in the tournament with the match against the latter, on June 17. This meeting will be the seventh match in the history of confrontations between the national teams of Ukraine and Romania. We tell you how the blue-yellows played with future opponents before.

It is noteworthy that in its more than 30-year history, 309 matches and fights with national teams of 72 countries, Ukraine has never met the Belgian national team before. But the blue-yellows played a total of 14 matches with the national teams of Slovakia and Romania.

Romania: equal balance, goals from Zinchenko and Yarmolenko

Ukraine met with the Romanian national team six times. All the matches were friendly, but the confrontation is still equal: Ukraine and Romania have three victories each, although the blue-and-yellows have one – in a penalty shootout. At the same time, Romania won the first three matches, Ukraine won the next three. The first match between Romania and Ukraine took place in February 2001, and the last one so far took place in May 2016.

The geography of fights is also extensive. Two matches took place in Cyprus, two in Ukraine (Donetsk and Lviv), one each in Italy and Romania. In six matches, Ukraine scored ten goals and missed 13. The author of Ukraine’s first goal in the confrontation with Romania was Sergei Shishchenko, who distinguished himself in the teams’ second match, which ended in the defeat of the blue-yellows – 1:4.

In total, nine players scored goals against Romania as part of the blue-yellow team. The best scorer of the Ukrainian team in the confrontation was Yevgeny Konoplyanka, who scored two goals. Among the current players of the Ukrainian national team, Zinchenko and Yarmolenko scored against Romania.

Slovakia: defeat in the last head-to-head match

The national team of Ukraine met with the Slovak team even more often – eight times. Four matches were official, four were friendly. Ukraine won three matches, lost in two, and ended in draws in three matches. The first match between Ukraine and Slovakia took place in November 2002, and the last one so far took place in November 2018, which ended in the defeat of the Ukrainian national team (1:4).

In eight matches with the Slovak team, the Ukrainian team scored nine goals and missed ten. Yarmolenko and Konoplyanka scored two goals each for the Slovaks. In total, seven players of the Ukrainian national team scored in the matches between Ukraine and Slovakia as part of the blue-yellow team.

The matches between Ukraine and Slovakia took place in three countries (there was also a game in Cyprus) and six cities. If we talk about official matches, then Slovakia has the advantage so far – two wins, one draw and one defeat in four matches.