The Ukrainian national team will participate in a friendly tournament in Canada

The Ukrainian national football team will take part in the "Canadian Shield" four-nation friendly tournament in Canada this summer. In addition to Canada, the tournament will also feature the national teams of New Zealand and Côte d'Ivoire. This is reported by the Ukrainian Football Association, according to UNN.

In June 2025, the Ukrainian national team will play official matches in Canada for the first time in history. Serhiy Rebrov's players will take part in the "Canadian Shield" four-nation tournament, which will be hosted by Toronto. In addition to the hosts and our team, the national teams of New Zealand and Côte d'Ivoire will play in the competition 

The Association emphasized that this is not just another match, but an event that is of great importance both for Ukrainian football and for the entire Ukrainian diaspora overseas. It will also help strengthen important international ties of our country in times of war.

The Ukrainian national team will play two matches at BMO Field, which will host matches of the final stage of the World Cup in 2026.

It is planned that Ukraine will play against Canada on June 7, and against New Zealand three days later,

The matches will be held according to FIFA regulations. The press service of the Canadian Football Association clarified that Ukraine will play against Canada at 15:30 local time, and against New Zealand at 17:00.

In June this year, four men's national football teams will face off at the "Canadian Shield" - a new international four-nation tournament to be held in Canada and dedicated to the global game. The new tournament will also prepare the teams for the biggest tournament in the world, which will be held in North America next summer, six matches of which will be held in Toronto 

UAF President Andriy Shevchenko thanked the Canadian Football Association for the invitation.

I am confident that the upcoming matches will be an important sporting and social event for both our nations. The Ukrainian community in Canada has always supported our national team around the world, and now it is our turn to visit them. Canada is a strong partner of Ukraine, and we are pleased to accept this invitation. In addition to the matches, we are also planning social and charitable initiatives 

The association also spoke about the tournament regulations, in particular, three points are awarded for a win in a match, one point for a draw, and two points for a win in a penalty shootout. A winner will be determined in all matches, and after 90 minutes (plus added time), a penalty shootout will be awarded.

Addition

The Ukrainian national team has met the Canadian national team only once. It happened in October 2010 at the Valeriy Lobanovskyi Stadium in Kyiv. Then, Yuriy Kalitvintsev's players managed to snatch a draw (2:2), losing during the match. The goals were scored by Artem Milevskyi and the traitor Anatoliy Tymoshchuk.

Ukraine has never met the New Zealand national team before.

Recall

Ukraine will play against Belgium in the play-offs for promotion to League A of the 2024/2025 Nations League. The first match will be played at home on March 20, and the return match will be played away on March 23, 2025.

The first match, in which Ukraine will be the nominal host, will be held in the Spanish city of Murcia at the "Estadio Enrique Roca de Murcia" arena.