Ukraine's national football team advances to the 2026 World Cup playoffs after defeating Iceland in the final match of the qualification group stage
Kyiv • UNN
Ukraine's national team defeated Iceland 2-0 in the final match of the European qualification group stage for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Goals were scored by Oleksandr Zubkov and Oleksiy Hutsulyak, securing second place for Ukraine in Group D.
The Ukrainian national football team will continue to fight for a place in the 2026 World Cup. In the final match of the group stage of the European qualification, Serhiy Rebrov's team, in a nominally home match held in Warsaw, defeated the Icelandic team, UNN reports.
Details
The "blue and yellows" seized total dominance on the field from the first minutes, but the initial assault, as well as subsequent positional attacks, did not yield dividends - 0:0 after the first half.
For the first 10 minutes of the second half, Rebrov's team gave the initiative to the islanders, after which the game returned to its usual course: the Ukrainians continued to actively look for their chance in attack, while the Icelanders desperately defended.
The culmination of the confrontation came closer to the final whistle: in the 83rd minute, after a corner kick, Ukrainian winger Oleksandr Zubkov "closed" the far post with a header, making it 1:0.
And already in the 3rd minute of added time, midfielder Oleksiy Hutsulyak set the final score - 2:0.
Thus, in the standings of Group D, the Ukrainian national team took 2nd place with 10 points and will now await its first opponent in the play-off round. According to the ranking, the "blue and yellows" will be the nominal hosts. The list of potential opponents will be determined later. The draw will take place on November 20 in Zurich, Switzerland.
Recall
On the eve of the match, bookmakers favored Ukraine, with odds of 1.7 for their victory. For Iceland's victory - 5.2.
The first match between the teams ended with Ukraine's victory with a score of 5:3.