Today, the national team of Ukraine in Dusserdolf, Germany, will meet with the national team of Slovakia in the second round of the group stage of Euro 2024, which will be somewhat decisive. UNN decided to tell about the history of the confrontations between the two national teams, their previous performances at the European Championships and who is the favorite of bookmakers.
Stadium, referee team, broadcast
Today, at 16: 00, the national team of Ukraine will play its match against Slovakia in the second round of the Euro 2024 group stage in Dusseldorf, Germany, at the stadium of the local "Fortuna"-"Merkur Spire Arena".
The match can be viewed on local public TV channels, except for OTT services. On the internet, the match will be shown exclusively by the MEGOGO media service.
39 - year-old Englishman Michael Oliver was appointed Chief Referee of Slovakia-Ukraine. Oliver will judge the match of the national team of Ukraine for the first time in his career, but the referee is already familiar with Ukrainian football.
Michael Oliver's statistics with Ukrainian teams:
- season-2012/13. Ukraine U-21 - Slovenia U-21 (2:0). Euro 2013 (U-21)Qualification;
- Season - 2014/15. Steaua-Dynamo (0:2). Europa League group stage;
- 2019/20 season. Shakhtar vs Basel (4: 1). Europa League 1/4 final;
- season-2020/21. “Barcelona " - "Dynamo" (2: 1). Champions League group stage;
- season-2020/21. Dynamo - Villarreal (0:2). Europa League 1/8 final;
- season-2022/23. Shakhtar - RB Leipzig (0:4). Champions League group stage.
Euro start
Our national team started at Euro 2024 on Monday, June 17, unfortunately, with a crushing defeat to the Romanian national team, despite the fact that bookmakers preferred Rebrov's wards. Our national team lost to the Romanians with a score of 3:0.
Україна розгромно поступилася Румунії у першому матчі на Євро-202417.06.24, 18:19
Coach of the national team Sergey Rebrov commented on the crushing defeat of our national team in the match against Romania, noting that the result was unexpected for everyone. He stressed that the national team will prepare more seriously and carefully for the next game.
“Для всіх це було неочікувано”: Ребров про розгромну поразку від Румунії17.06.24, 19:08
The coach of the national team said that he even had to "leave the locker room" after the match with the Romanians.
But in a parallel match, the Slovak national team sensationally defeated the Belgian national team, which Bookmakers predicted a confident victory. The Slovaks managed to score in the opening match. In the 7th minute of the match, Slavia Prague forward Ivan Schrantz opened the scoring in the match, which turned out to be the final one. 1: 0 in favor of Slovakia.
We can say that the Slovaks were somewhat lucky. According to statistics, Belgium had to score at least two goals (1.97 expected goals), while Slovakia had only 0.58 xG.
Also worth mentioning are the moments of Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku, who missed two hundred percent chances.
However, Belgium still scored their own two goals, which could have guaranteed them victory, but in both cases they were canceled. In the first case, Lukaku scored a goal after a corner kick, but the referee canceled it due to offside.
In the 86th minute of the match, substitute Lua Openda found Lukaku in the penalty area, who shot into the left corner of the goal. But this goal was also canceled due to a hand play on the part of the striker.
History of confrontations
For the first time, the national teams of Ukraine and Slovakia met in a friendly match in November back in 2002. Then the Slovaks were the first to open the scoring, scoring a goal in the 64th minute. Slovak midfielder Miroslav Kargan did it from the penalty spot.
Thanks to the efforts of Alexander Melashchenko, Ukraine managed to equalize the score in the 84th minute, setting the score on the scoreboard - 1:1.
The next match was played by the national teams 2 years later. In April 2004, at the Dynamo Stadium named after Valery Lobanovsky, the national teams again drew - 1:1. forward Oleg Venglinsky scored a goal for Ukraine, who opened the scoring in the 13th minute. In the 65th minute, thanks to a goal by Stanislav Varg, the Slovaks managed to equalize the score.
The national teams had to wait a long 5 years for the next match. In 2009, the national teams met at the Cup Tournament of the Cyprus Football Association. This time, our national team celebrated the victory with a score of 3:2. goals were scored by Sergey Valyaev, Evgeny Seleznev and Artem Milevsky. Robert Wittek and Marek Gamshik scored for the Slovaks.
By the way, Ukraine won this tournament, beating the Serbian national team in the final with a score of 1:0. Sergey Nazarenko scored a goal.
The next time Ukraine and Slovakia played in 2014 as part of the selection for Euro 2016. then Mikhail Fomenko's team lost minimally (0:1) to the Slovaks in Kiev at the NSC Olimpiyskiy. Robert Mack scored the only goal in the 17th minute.
It is worth noting that Ukraine could have equalized the score at the end of the match. After a corner kick and a fuss in the Slovaks ' penalty area, the ball bounced to Ukrainian goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov, who shot at the goal in the fall. However, the referee did not count the goal due to the alleged violation of the rules on the part of our goalkeeper.
"I didn't break the rules, especially since it was judged by the Scots. I didn't play goalkeeper, I played wrestling. I haven't seen the moment yet, I need to see it, but everyone says I didn't break it. I heard a whistle and thought that someone had hit me in the hand from behind. And then he asked, and I was told that I was breaking up. It's strange," Pyatov said at the time.
The following year, Ukraine again met Slovakia away in the selection process for Euro 2016. in that match, zeros were recorded on the scoreboard.
It should be noted that in that euro selection draw, Ukraine took third place, passing ahead of the Slovaks and Spaniards, who won the group.
However, Ukraine still managed to make it to the group stage of Euro 2016, where our national team, without winning a single match, humiliatingly flew out of the tournament.
In 2017, Ukraine hosted Slovakia in Lviv at Arena Lviv in a friendly match. The wards of Andriy Shevchenko, who now heads the Ukrainian Football Association, managed to win with a score of 2:1. goals were scored by Andriy Yarmolenko and Yevhen Konoplyanka. Lukasz Shtenina, who once played for Metalist Kharkiv, scored the only goal for the Slovaks.
In 2018, Ukraine and Slovakia met in the group stage of the 2018/2019 Nations League. the national team again managed to minimally defeat the Slovaks.
Yarmolenko scored the only goal from the penalty spot in the 80th minute, but the goalkeeper had every chance to take the ball.
The last time Slovakia and Ukraine played was in 2019 in the second leg of the group stage of the league of nations. The result for Ukraine was unsuccessful. Shevchenko's team lost to the Slovaks-4: 1.
Then the only goal for our national team was scored by Evgeny Konoplyanka, who scored in the 47th minute. Albert Rusnak, Juraj Kutska, Adam Zreliak and Robert Mack scored for the Slovaks.
Command representation
Slovakia. according to the updated FIFA ranking, the Slovak national team has moved up 3 steps and is ranked 45th. This year, the national team has already played 5 matches, including a match against the Belgians. In five matches, the Slovaks lost only once-to the Austrian national team (2:0). There was also one draw against Norway-1: 1.
The Slovak national team is headed by Italian specialist Francesco Calzona, who was appointed in August 2022. Since he took charge of the National Team, Slovakia has lost only four of its 19 matches - 10 wins and 5 draws.
In the ranking of the most expensive teams at Euro 2024, Slovakia ranks 21st-the transfer price of the team is 156.4 million euros. The most expensive players of the team are defender of the Dutch "Feyenoord" David Gantzko (35 million euros), defender of the French "PSG" Milan Skrinjar (30 million euros) and midfielder of the Italian "Napoli" Stanislav Lobotka (28 million euros).
However, do not forget about the leaders-veterans of the team, such as goalkeeper Martin Dubravka, Peter Pekarik and Juraj Kutsku, who gave an assist to Schrantz in the match against the Belgians.
Midfielder Marek Gamshik played the most matches for the national team - 126 games. Gamshik is also the top scorer of the National Team - 26 goals.
The Slovak national team holds the record for rising in the FIFA ranking: in February 1994, it managed to rise to 92 positions (from 150th to 58th place).
Euro performances. for the first time in its history, the Slovak national team played at Euro 2016. then the Slovaks managed to make it to the 1/8 finals of the tournament, where the team was eliminated from the German national team with a crushing score of 3:0.
Slovaks in the group caught the national teams of England, Wales and Russia. In the first round, the Slovaks lost to Wales with a score of 1:2. The goal was recorded by Ondrej Duda.
In the second round, Slovakia met with the Russian national team. In that match, the Slovaks celebrated the victory with a score of 2:1, and in the final round they played in a dry draw with the British.
It is worth mentioning that Slovakia was once part of Czechoslovakia, which in 1976 managed to win the European Championship, beating the national team of the Federal Republic of Germany in the final on penalties. Regular time ended with the score - 2:2, but Czechoslovakia managed to win on penalties - 5:3.
Ukraine. The National Team of Ukraine is much higher than Slovakia in the FIFA ranking. In the updated ranking, our national team lost two positions and moved from 22nd place to 24th. in 2023, Sergey Rebrov was appointed coach of the national team, who has since played 15 matches with the team. Rebrov made his debut in a match against Germany, which ended in a 3-3 draw.
In total, under Rebrov's leadership, the national team won 8 times, including victories over Iceland and Bosnia and Herzegovina for the right to compete at Euro 2024.
Ukraine is among the top 10 most expensive national teams in the euro with a total transfer price of 379 million euros. The most expensive players of the national team are: Arsenal midfielder Alexander Zinchenko (38 million euros), Girona striker Artem Dovbik, Chelsea striker Mikhail Mudrik and Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Georgy Sudakov - 35 million euros each.
It should be noted that the current player of the Ukrainian national team Andriy Yarmolenko takes second place in the goalscoring race with 46 goals in the asset. In the first place is Andriy Shevchenko, who has 48 goals. Therefore, at Euro 2024, Yarmolenko has a chance to break the record of the legendary striker.
In addition, the player is in second place in terms of the number of matches played for the national team - 120. in first place - Anatoly tymoshchuk (144 games for the national team).
The national team of Ukraine played three times at the euro. For the first time, Ukraine played in the final stage of the European Championship in 2012. Then Ukraine automatically qualified for the group stage, as the host country together with the Polish national team.
For the second time, Ukraine played at the euro in 2016, where it was eliminated without winning a single match in the group with Germany, Poland and Northern Ireland, taking last place.
The best result was the performance of our national team at Euro 2020, which was postponed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. Then the national team of Ukraine played in a group with the national teams of the Netherlands, Austria and North Macedonia, where it took third place, which allowed it to reach the 1/8 finals.
In 1/8, thanks to the victory over Sweden (2:1), Ukraine reached 1/4, where, unfortunately, it lost to the future finalist - England (4:0).
Who is the favorite
Bookmakers consider the national team of Ukraine to be the favorite of the match. For the victory of the "Blue-Yellow" give a coefficient of 2.15. draw – 3.30. win of the Slovaks – 3.70.