Ukraine suffered a heavy defeat to Northern Ireland in the Nations League, conceding a comical goal

Ukraine suffered its first defeat in the current edition of the Nations League, losing 0–3 to Northern Ireland. The nominally home match of Matchday 3 in Group B2 took place in Trnava, Slovakia, reports UNN.

Details

Northern Ireland opened the scoring as early as the 9th minute. After a series of deflections and touches, the ball eventually ended up in the net behind Dmytro Riznyk.

Ukraine conceded a second goal from Isaac Price. Following a swift counterattack by the opponents, he headed the ball home to extend his team's lead.

A comical third goal and no response from Ukraine

The third goal was particularly unfortunate for the Ukrainian goalkeeper. After Brown's headed knockdown, the ball went between Riznyk's legs and rolled into the net — 0–3.

Ukraine controlled the ball significantly more throughout the match — 73% to 27% — but was unable to turn this advantage into goals. The "blue and yellows" took 11 shots, but only 2 of them were on target.

This was Ukraine's first defeat in the 2026/27 Nations League. In the opening round, the team defeated Hungary 1–0 away, after which it drew 0–0 with Georgia.

After 3 rounds, Northern Ireland leads the group with 7 points. Ukraine has 4 points and remains in second place. Hungary also has 4 points after a narrow victory over Georgia, while Georgia is in last place with 1 point.

Ukraine's national team will play its next match on Monday, October 5, when it will face Hungary in another nominally home fixture.

Ukraine defeated Hungary at the start of the 2026/2027 Nations League25.09.26, 23:52 • 25714 views