Ukraine have qualified for the 2024 European Championship after a 2-1 victory over Iceland in their play-off final.
Chelsea’s Mykhailo Mudryk was the matchwinner for Ukraine, who had gone behind in the 30th minute after a superb individual goal from Genoa forward Albert Gudmundsson.
Valencia’s Roman Yaremchuk thought he had equalised for Ukraine shortly after, only to see his effort ruled out for offside. Ukraine did then level in the 54th minute through Girona’s Viktor Tsygankov, before Mudryk won the match late on as he converted from Heorhiy Sudakov’s cutback.
The game took place in Wroclaw, Poland due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Russia invaded their neighbours in February 2022 and international football has not been played in Ukraine since, with national team games being hosted in Poland, Germany and Czech Republic instead. Russia remain banned from competing at international tournaments by FIFA, world football’s organising body, and UEFA, Europe’s governing body of football.
Ukraine’s win over Iceland means they will face Belgium, Romania and Slovakia in Group E at this summer’s Euros in Germany. Their opening game will be against Romania at the Allianz Arena in Munich on June 17.
Georgia also qualified for the Euros for the first time in their history with a penalty shootout victory over 2004 champions Greece at the Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena in Tbilisi. The game finished goalless after 120 minutes, with Georgia winning 4-2 on penalties after Greece missed their first and fourth attempts.
Georgia players celebrate after securing qualification for this summer’s Euros (Giorgi Arjevanidze/AFP via Getty Images)
Georgia are managed by former Bayern Munich defender Willy Sagnol, who took charge in February 2021. Sagnol’s side won only two of their eight qualification matches but were eligible for a place in the play-offs by virtue of their UEFA Nations League 2022-24 performance, where they won League C Group 4 with five wins from six. They then beat Luxembourg 2-0 in last Thursday’s play-off semi-final to set up Tuesday’s showdown with Greece.
Georgia’s victory means they will be placed in Group F, where they will face Portugal, Turkey and Czech Republic.
(Sergei Gapon/AFP via Getty Images)
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