Team Ukraine U17 Plays Its Second Match of the Final Euro 2025 Qualifying Segment: What Are the Chances of Advancing
Oleksandr Sytnyk's squad won't be heading to Albania.
Ukraine's U17 national football team lost to Italy, eliminated early from Junior Euro 2025 qualifying. The match took place March 22 in Lučko, Croatia.
In the European Championship's second qualifying round, teams compete for a spot in the tournament's final stage. The 28 teams that advanced from the first qualifying round were split into seven groups of four. Only each group's winner advances to the tournament's final stage.
Ukraine was placed in Group 1 alongside Italy, Slovakia, and Croatia, the group's host nation. The 'yellow-and-blues'' first match, against the Croatians, ended in a 1:2 loss. Italy, meanwhile, in a parallel match, beat Slovakia, 1:0.
Ukraine U17 — Italy U17: Match Result
- Italy defender Leonardo Bovio scored the match's first goal, though into his own net: attempting to break up a Ukrainian attack, he misplayed the ball defensively. This let Oleksandr Sytnyk's squad take the lead in the 28th minute of the match.
- After that, the score remained unchanged until the final minute of regulation time, when Italian defender Jean Mambuku restored parity, and a minute later, Destiny Elimoghale put Team Italy ahead. In the end, the Italians won, 2:1.
As a result, Ukraine lost its chance to advance to the final stage of Junior Euro 2025. The national team currently remains in provisional fourth place in the standings, and in the final round, will compete for the right to stay in League A for the next qualifying cycle.
Ukraine's final opponent in the tournament will be Team Slovakia. The match begins March 25 at 16:30 Kyiv time.
2025 European U17 Championship Qualifying, Round 2: Standings
Team | Matches | Goal Difference | Points |
Italy | 2 | 3:1 | 6 |
Croatia | 1 | 2:1 | 3 |
Slovakia | 1 | 0:1 | 0 |
Ukraine | 2 | 2:4 | 0 |
2025 European U17 Championship: Tournament Essentials
- The European U17 Championship is an annual tournament held under the auspices of UEFA and is the largest youth national-team event in Europe.
- The 2025 European Championship final tournament will take place May 19 – June 1 in Albania.
- At Euro 2024, Ukraine advanced to the championship's final stage, but finished its campaign at the group stage, placing third in its group.
- The final stage of the 2025 Junior European Championship will also serve as qualifying for the 2025 U17 World Championship, to be held in Qatar.