Romania – Ukraine: the blue-yellows lost to a team they were ahead of by 24 positions in the FIFA rankings and five times ahead in terms of the cost of the starting lineup

At Euro 2024, the Ukrainian national team played the worst match in its history

Having lost devastatingly to Romania in the opening match of Euro 2024, The Ukrainian national team lost the fourth of its five debut matches at major football forums. But despite the general similarity of results, The match with Romania stands apart and is definitely the worst for the blue-and-yellows. Let’s explain with numbers.

We have analyzed five starting matches of Ukraine at major tournaments using five indicators: the place of opponents in the FIFA rankings, the cost of starting lineups, the most expensive player in the starting lineup, hits and fouls. It turned out depressingly.

Read also: Kosyrin: In the match with Romania, all the players of the Ukrainian national team played below their capabilities, and the guys had no emotions

World Cup 2006: started with 0:4, ended in the quarterfinals

For 18 years, the Ukrainian national team played its debut match at major tournaments. The start turned out to be unpleasant, but on the whole expected: the Spanish national team was seriously superior to the blue-and-yellows in terms of quality and depth of the squad. If you remove the already retired, but still near-prime Shevchenko from the Ukrainian roster, the situation became even worse.

At the same time, Ukraine had two yellow cards and Vashchuk was sent off.

World Cup 2006 Spain Ukraine
Place in the FIFA rankings 5 45
Cost of starting lineup 189.2 million 76.4
Most expensive starting player Xavi 28 million Shevchenko 51 million
Beats 19 5
Fouls 14 eleven

Euro 2012: started with 2:1, ended with elimination after the group round

At the home and debut European Championship, Ukraine started with a match against Sweden. But even the Scandinavians at that time were higher than the blue-yellows in the FIFA rankings and had a more expensive starting lineup. But, like in 2006, Ukraine – thanks to Ibrahimovic.

And the best illustration of how both teams fought is the total number of fouls.

Euro 2012 Sweden Ukraine
Place in the FIFA rankings 17 52
Cost of starting lineup 88.4 million 55.8
Most expensive starting player Ibrahimovic 37 million Yarmolenko 9 million
Beats eleven eleven
Fouls 20 12

Euro 2016: started with 0:2, ended with elimination in the group stage

In France, the blue-yellows lost to Germany, which was seriously superior to the blue-yellows in the quality and cost of the squad. However, in this game, it is unlikely that anyone will throw a stone at the Ukrainian team: it played almost on an equal footing against the star Bundesteam, which, although it was already leaving the proscenium, still remained one of the strongest teams in Europe.

Euro 2016 Germany Ukraine
Place in the FIFA rankings 4 19
Cost of starting lineup 386 million 92.7
Most expensive starting player Muller 75 million Konoplyanka 25 million
Beats 9 3
Fouls 9 9

Euro 2020: started with 2:3, ended in the quarterfinals

Three years ago, Ukraine started the Euro with a match against the strongest team in the group and showed the best game in the tournament. Ukraine was not inferior to the Orange in desire and fight, but the higher class of players of the Dutch national team, whose starters included De Jong, Depay, Wijnaldum, and De Vrij, had an impact.

Euro 2020 Netherlands Ukraine
Place in the FIFA rankings 16 24
Cost of starting lineup 317.5 million 124
Most expensive starting player De Jong 50 million Malinovsky 30 million
Beats 15 7
Fouls 8 8

Euro 2024: started with 0:3,…

The start of the current tournament is out of line. Ukraine played with an opponent who is 20 positions ahead in the FIFA rankings and five times ahead in terms of the cost of the starting lineup. In the end, they lost outright, and the best demonstration of the team’s attitude and desire was one yellow card in the liability, earned by Konoplya already with the score 0:3.

Euro 2020 Romania Ukraine
Place in the FIFA rankings 46 22
Cost of starting lineup 59.9 million 265.5
Most expensive starting player Dragushin 25 million Zinchenko 38 million
Beats 9 13
Fouls 9 8

Source: Sportarena

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