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Ukraine national football team
Euro Champ Qualifying | Final
Mar 26, 2024 at 7.45pm UK
NSK Olimpijs'kyj
Iceland national football team

Ukraine
2 - 1
Iceland

Tsygankov (54'), Mudryk (84')
Malinovskyi (42'), Zinchenko (90+2')
FT(HT: 0-1)

Mykhaylo Mudryk's late winner sends Ukraine to Euro 2024

Mykhaylo Mudryk's late winner sends Ukraine to Euro 2024
© Reuters
Chelsea's Mykhaylo Mudryk scores a late winner as Ukraine claim a 2-1 comeback win over Iceland to qualify for Euro 2024.

Ukraine have qualified for Euro 2024 after they came from behind to beat Iceland 2-1 in playoff Path B at Stadion Miejski Wroclaw in Poland on Tuesday night.

Albert Gudmundsson, who scored a hat-trick in Iceland's 4-1 win over Israel last weekend, scored a wonderful opener on the half-hour mark to put the visitors in front at the break.

However, Ukraine valiantly fought back in the second half, with Viktor Tsyhankov's 54th-minute equaliser followed by a dramatic 84th-minute winner from Chelsea winger Mykhaylo Mudryk.

Serhiy Rebrov's men have successful advanced to their fourth consecutive European Championships and will join Belgium, Slovakia and Romania in Group E at this summer's tournament, facing the latter in their first match on June 17.

In front of over 30,000 raucous supporters, Ukraine made a bright start to proceedings but were unable to create any clear-cut chances, with all three of their shots inside the opening 25 minutes fizzing wide.

Iceland's Albert Gudmundsson celebrates scoring their first goal on March 26, 2024© Reuters

Iceland relied on the counter-attack to make their mark in the final third, and they were not too far away from opening the scoring when Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson fired a testing shot towards the far corner, but Real Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lunin was at full stretch to keep the scores level.

However, the visitors eventually made the breakthrough on the half-hour mark in stunning fashion when Gudmundsson weaved his way past a couple of Ukraine defenders into a central position on the edge of the area, before placing a pinpoint finish into the bottom-right corner.

Ukraine responded well, and after Hakon Valdimarsson made a superb save to keep out a powerful effort from Heorhiy Sudakov, the hosts thought that they had restored parity in the 39th minute, but Roman Yaremchuk was ruled offside by VAR after slotting the ball into the back of the net.

Another second-half comeback – just like their 2-1 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina last weekend in which they scored twice in the final five minutes to set up Tuesday's contest with Iceland – was required from Ukraine if they were to progress to Euro 2024.

Rebrov's half-time team talk certainly did the trick, as his Ukraine side came out of the blocks after the break and netted an equaliser just nine minutes after the restart when Tsyhankov cut inside from the right and bent a brilliant left-footed strike from the edge of the box into the far corner.

Iceland's Arnor Traustason in action with Ukraine's Mykhaylo Mudryk on March 26, 2024© Reuters

Both teams made changes for the final half hour, with Arsenal's Oleksandr Zinchenko brought on for Ukraine at the expense of Ruslan Malinovskyi, while Iceland duo Orri Oskarsson and Kolbeinn Finnsson replaced Andri Gudjohnsen and Gudmundur Thorarinsson.

Ukraine looked the most likely to snatch victory in the closing stages; Yaremchuk fired a right-footed shot agonisingly wide from close range before Sudakov had an effort towards the top-right corner saved by Thorsteinsson.

Iceland still posed a threat on the counter-attack, though, and almost regained the lead when Thorsteinsson cut inside and shifted the ball on to his right foot before watching his strike arrowing towards the top corner expertly saved by the fingertips of Lunin.

However, it was Ukraine who had the cutting edge in the final third, and Mudryk was the man to fire his nation to Euro 2024 six minutes from time when he whipped a first-time strike with his right foot from around 20 yards out into the bottom left-corner.

Iceland were unable to respond in the closing stages and Age Hareide's side miss out on qualifying for just their second European Championships after their first appearance in 2016.

As for Ukraine, who have now won 14 of their last 20 Euro qualifiers, they held on to win a playoff match at the third time of asking – having previously fallen at this hurdle in 2000 and 2016 – to secure their spot at this summer's tournament in Germany.

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How you voted: Ukraine vs Iceland

Ukraine
80.0%
Draw
8.8%
Iceland
11.3%
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Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Spain Spain870121
Q Scotland flag Scotland852117
3 Norway Norway832311
4 Georgia Georgia82248
5 Cyprus Cyprus80080

Group B

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Q France France871022
Q Netherlands Netherlands860218
3 Greece Greece841313
4 Ireland Rep. Ireland82066
5 Gibraltar flag Gibraltar80080

Group C

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Q England flag England862020
Q Italy Italy842214
3 Ukraine Ukraine842214
4 Macedonia N. Macedonia82248
5 Malta flag Malta80080

Group D

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Q Turkey Turkey852117
Q Croatia Croatia851216
3 Wales flag Wales833212
4 Armenia Armenia82248
5 Latvia Latvia81073

Group E

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Q Albania national flag Albania843115
Q Czech Republic Czech Republic843115
3 Poland Poland832311
4 Republic of Moldova Moldova824210
5 Faroe Islands Faroe Islands80262

Group F

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Q Belgium Belgium862020
Q Austria Austria861119
3 Sweden Sweden831410
4 Azerbaijan Azerbaijan82157
5 Estonia Estonia80171

Group G

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Q Hungary Hungary853018
Q Serbia Serbia842214
3 Montenegro Montenegro832311
4 Lithuania Lithuania81346
5 Bulgaria Bulgaria80444

Group H

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Q Slovenia Slovenia1071222
3 Finland Finland1060418
4 Kazakhstan Kazakhstan1060418
5 Northern Ireland flag N. Ireland103079
6 San Marino flag San Marino1000100

Group I

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Q Romania Romania1064022
Q Switzerland Switzerland1045117
3 Israel Israel1043315
4 Belarus Belarus1033412
5 Kosovo flag Kosovo1025311
6 Andorra flag Andorra100282

Group J

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Q Portugal Portugal10100030
Q Slovakia Slovakia1071222
3 Luxembourg flag Luxembourg1052317
4 Iceland Iceland1031610
5 Bosnia Bosnia H'vina103079
6 Liechtenstein flag Liechtenstein1000100


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