In the opening round of qualification, Serhiy Rebrov's charges lost to France in Wroclaw (0:2). In this match, Artem Bondarenko and Nazar Voloshyn made their debuts for the national team and shared their impressions with the press service of the UAF after the game.

Artem Bondarenko (defender): "We expected that this would be such a match, where France would create opportunities. But we also had half-chances which we unfortunately did not capitalize on. There were both positive and negative aspects. But nothing bad happened, we need to overcome the next opponents. Everything is in our hands. We move forward. 

My debut? Fantastic emotions! I am very happy that I managed to fulfill my childhood dream! It was difficult to come on as a substitute in such a match. There wasn't much nervousness, but before I came on the second goal had been conceded and some of the intrigue disappeared. It would have been better if I had come on with the score at 0:1."

Nazar Voloshyn (defender): "I was nervous, but not too much. I came on for five minutes, but to be honest it was difficult to come on as a substitute in such a match. I hadn't warmed up yet while everyone else was already in the flow of play. A tough game for our team, but there were moments when we controlled the ball and had good opportunities to score.

Our team made many runs both offensively and defensively, we tried to play compactly. We need to analyze the game, look at it closely. There were a lot of good moments."

Squad for Ukraine

Goalkeepers: Georgii Bushchan ("Polissya" Zhytomyr), Anatoliy Trubin ("Benfica" Lisbon, Portugal), Dmytro Ryznyk ("Shakhtar" Donetsk).

Defenders: Ilya Zabarnyi ("Paris Saint-Germain" Paris, France), Oleksandr Svatok ("Austin", USA), Valeri Bondar, Mykhailo Matviienko, Yurym Konoplyan (all — "Shakhtar" Donetsk), Taras Mikhaylochenko, Vladyslav Dubynchak (both — "Dynamo" Kyiv), Bogdan Mikhailichenko ("Polissya" Zhytomyr).

Midfielders: Oleksandr Zinchenko ("Nottingham Forest", England), Yegor Yarmoluk ("Brentford", England), Ivan Kaluzhnyi ("Metalist 1925" Kharkiv), Mykhailo Shaparenko, Nazar Voloshyn (both — "Dynamo" Kyiv), Oleksii Ocheretin, Artem Bondarenko (both — "Shakhtar" Donetsk), Oleksiy Hutsulyak, Oleksandr Nazarenko (both — "Polissya" Zhytomyr), Georgii Sudakov ("Benfica" Lisbon, Portugal), Oleksandr Zubkov ("Trabzonspor" Trabzon, Turkey).

Forwards: Artem Dovbyk ("Roma" Rome, Italy), Vladyslav Vannat ("Girona", Spain).

Reserve List

Yevhen Cheberko ("Columbus Crew", USA), Oleksandr Pichalenko, Volodymyr Bражко (both — "Dynamo" Kyiv).