Reminder, this tournament was considered a preparation stage for the Euro 2026 (U-17) qualification. All of Ukraine's opponents were one year older. In their debut match, Alexander Sitnik's team narrowly lost to Qatar U-18 (1:2). The second opponent was Poland U-18, and the game ended in a draw (2:2).

In the final match, Ukraine faced the UAE U-18 team. The score was opened at the 17th minute. Our opponents quickly counterattacked, and Seif da Costa scored off a deflection from a Ukrainian defender. Eleven minutes later, he struck again with a powerful shot from 25 meters to double his team's lead.

Immediately after halftime, Ukraine had scoring opportunities, but the Emirati defender cleared the ball from the goal line with his hand. The referee should have awarded a penalty and sent off the "handballer," but he missed it entirely. Ukraine had two more decent chances, but they couldn't capitalize on them. Unfortunately, in the final minutes of the match, our half-back Eugene Voloshko was injured. To add insult to injury, the UAE team scored again against Ukraine's goalkeeper at the 4th minute of stoppage time.

Thus, a 0-3 loss for Ukraine, marking the end of their tournament in Croatia.

International Tournament of Youth Teams in Croatia

Ukraine (U-17) — UAE (U-18) — 0:3 (0:2) 

Goals: da Costa (17, 28), (90+4).

Ukraine U-17: Pozhar, Yablonsky (Smotrichnyy, 66), Shupik, Rudzey (Serdyuk, 46), Sorochynskyi (Plaminskyi, 46), Safonov (Kozhushko, 46), Shukałowych (c) (Voloshko, 46), Koschey (Buravtsov, 46), Gololobov (Gordiyev, 46), Komand (Panchyshyn, 87), Yashchenko (Levitskyi, 66). 

Yellow cards: Abdulla (67), Salem (79).

03.09.2025. Qatar (U-18) — Ukraine (U-17) — 2:1

06.09.2025. Ukraine (U-17) — Poland (U-18) — 2:2

09.09.2025. Ukraine (U-17) — UAE (U-18) — 0:3

Reminder, on December 5th in Nyon, Switzerland, the draw for the first round of Euro 2026 (U-17) qualification took place. As a result of this draw, Ukraine's youth team found themselves in Group 1, where they will face Italy, Montenegro, and Estonia. The host of the mini-tournament will be Estonia.

Schedule for Ukraine U-17 Youth Team Matches in Euro 2026 (U-17) Qualification First Round

01.10.2025. Montenegro — Ukraine 

04.10.2025. Ukraine — Estonia

07.10.2025. Ukraine — Italy  

Results of the Draw for Euro 2026 (U-17) Qualification First Round

Group 1: Italy, Ukraine, Montenegro, Estonia.

Group 2: Czech Republic, Hungary, North Macedonia, Gibraltar.

Group 3: England, Sweden, Lithuania, Scotland.

Group 4: Spain, Denmark, Latvia, Andorra.

Group 5: Belgium, Norway, Belarus, Moldova.

Group 6: Austria, Ireland, Kosovo, Faroe Islands.

Group 7: Serbia, Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Malta.

Group 8: Croatia, Netherlands, Albania, Kazakhstan.

Group 9: France, Israel, Romania, Azerbaijan.

Group 10: Switzerland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, San Marino.

Group 11: Northern Ireland, Finland, Cyprus, Armenia.

Group 12: Portugal, Slovenia, Wales, Liechtenstein.

Group 13: Poland, Germany, Luxembourg.

Group 14: Greece, Iceland, Georgia.

54 teams were divided into 12 groups of four participants and two groups of three participants. The host of the final tournament, Estonia's team, will also participate in the qualification.

Based on the results of the first round of qualification, 14 group winners and 14 teams finishing second will advance to the second round of League A. The remaining 26 teams will compete in the second round of League B.

Teams that make it to the second round of qualification in League A will compete for seven spots at Euro 2026 (U-17) finals next spring. Estonia, as the host of the tournament, received an automatic berth. It should be noted that this qualifying round is also a qualifier for the CS-2026 (U-17) in Qatar.

Furthermore, teams from both leagues of the second qualification round will compete to move up and down between leagues before the first round of Euro 2028 (U-19) qualification.