13 February saw the start of the youth national team U-18 training camp in Italy. The blue and yellow will play two matches against local underlings there. Before the start of this work, our team's head coach Mykhailo Mikhaylenko answered questions from the official site of the UAFA.

— Mr. Mykhailo, what goals do you and the team have for this upcoming camp?

— We are going with Oleksandr Sytnyk, so our task is to observe and test players against one of the best teams in the world at this age category. We want to gain experience that we cannot get by playing in Ukraine. Besides, we will try to play on equal terms with the Italians and win.

— Have you called up the strongest players so far?

— Yes, I think this is the strongest group of 2008-born players. But I want to emphasize that everything changes quickly in this age category, and footballers progress quite fast. So, it's not excluded that new names may appear on the next camp.

— For the first time, Vitaliy Glut from «Chicago Fire» has been called up to the squad, who already played for the U.S. youth national teams. What do you think about this?

— I will say that we are in contact with Vitaliy and his father. The player is motivated to play for the Ukrainian national team, he was born in our country, speaks the native language, and eagerly awaits his debut in the national team.

— To what extent has this squad been formed before official matches?

— We have an expanded list with many players, and a lot depends on how they will look in their clubs in March. So the situation can change, and as I already said, new faces may appear in the team within a month.

Ukrainian U-18 national team squad

GK: Kyrylo Hadashevych («Wolfsburg», Germany), Fedir Tkachenko («Betis», Spain).

D: Yehor Kostyuk, Nikita Kaluzhnyi, Yaroslav Myloko, Oleksandr Balakai (all — «Shakhtar» Donetsk), Danylo Ogorodnik («Dynamo» Kyiv), Arsen Zalipka («Ruh» Lviv), Volodymyr Haliiy («Poliissia» Zhytomyr), Yehor Sherstyuk («Metallist» Kharkiv), Mykhailo Melnyk («Napoli», Italy).

DM: Artem Zubryi («Shakhtar» Donetsk), Pavlo Lysyn, Arseniy Fedorenko (both — «Dynamo» Kyiv), Muhamed Djuraev («Ruh» Lviv), Illia Kutiya («Haiduk», Croatia), Mykhaylo Tsimbalyk («Vyscha», Poland).

FW: Ivan Andreyko («Dynamo» Kyiv), Matviy Bodnar («Kryvbas» Kryvyi Rih), Dmitro Zudin («Haiduk», Croatia), Vitaliy Glut («Chicago Fire», USA), Kirill Sydoruk («Stuttgart», Germany).

Schedule of the Ukrainian U-18 national team matches in Italy

17.02. Italy — Ukraine. 15:30

19.02. Italy — Ukraine. 12:00

Match start times are Kyiv time.

Reminder: In the first round of Euro-2027 (U-19) qualification, the blue and yellow will play in Group A3 together with Czech Republic, Finland, and Estonia. The tournament in our group from 25 to 31 March will be hosted by Finland.

UEFA Euro-2027 (U-19). First round of qualification

Liga A

Group A1: Belgium, Slovenia, Sweden, Cyprus.

Group A2: Italy, Ireland, Poland, Scotland. 

Group A3: Czech Republic, Finland, Ukraine, Estonia.

Group A4: Germany, Austria, Israel, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Group A5: England, Croatia, Spain, Bulgaria.

Group A6: Portugal, Serbia, Greece, Kazakhstan. 

Group A7: France, Switzerland, Hungary, Wales.

Liga B

Group B1: Denmark, Romania, Andorra, Liechtenstein.

Group B2: Turkey, Kosovo, Armenia, Gibraltar.

Group B3: Slovakia, Belarus, Latvia, San Marino.

Group B4: Norway, Albania, Luxembourg, Malta.

Group B5: Netherlands, Faroe Islands, North Macedonia, Moldova.

Group B6: Northern Ireland, Lithuania, Azerbaijan.

Group B7: Iceland, Montenegro, Georgia.

Qualification for the second round

After the first round is completed, teams advance as follows:

• Teams that occupy 1st, 2nd and 3rd places in Liga A remain in Liga A for the second round;
• Teams that occupy 4th place in Liga A move to Liga B for the second round;
• Winners of groups in Liga B advance to Liga A for the second round;
• Teams that occupy 2nd, 3rd and 4th places in Liga B remain in Liga B for the second round.

Teams that played against each other in the first round will not meet again in the second round.