There are less than three months to go until the World Cup. Ukraine will face Sweden in the play-off semi-final in Spain, which will be held on neutral ground in Valencia. The winner will face the winner of the Poland v Albania tie, which will decide who goes to the World Cup this summer.
Ukraine national football team
It has been 20 years since Ukraine last appeared at the World Cup, and three defeats in play-offs during that time create the risk of a certain psychological burden ahead of this match. However, Serhiy Rebrov’s side are travelling to Spain in good form – three wins in their last four qualifiers (with one draw) have secured them second place in Group D. The only team to beat Ukraine in this campaign was France, who have qualified for the 2022 World Cup finals, and due to the ongoing conflict at home, the Ukrainians have become accustomed to playing on neutral ground – of their last six such official matches, they have lost just one (four wins, one draw).
In eight of Ukraine’s last 11 matches, over 2.5 goals were scored. The “Blue and Yellows” kept a clean sheet in just one of their last 13 matches.
Yukhim Konoplya has committed the most fouls for Ukraine in the qualifiers (10), which has led to two yellow cards.
Oleksandr Zinchenko will not play for Ukraine due to a knee injury.
The Sweden national football team
Sweden’s qualifying campaign was a disaster – for the first time in history, they failed to win a single match (2 draws, 4 defeats) and only reached this play-off stage thanks to their results in the UEFA Nations League, where they did not lose any of their six matches (5 wins, 1 draw). The Swedes’ most recent triumph – a 6-0 thrashing of Azerbaijan in November 2024 – remains their most recent success in an official match. Graham Potter, who has been in charge for two matches (a 1-4 defeat to Switzerland and a 1-1 draw with Slovenia), faces a serious test, particularly given that Sweden have a poor record in World Cup play-offs — in this century, they have been eliminated twice out of three attempts (1 win).
Anthony Elanga has scored five goals for the Swedish national team, four of which were the first or last of the match.
Ukraine v Sweden: head-to-head record
The two sides have met five times – Ukraine have won four of those matches (1 draw), and Sweden have never scored more than one goal in any of those encounters.
Sweden have not scored the first goal in any of their last five matches.
Six of Sweden’s last seven official away matches have ended with over 2.5 goals.
Ukraine v Sweden: where to watch
Kick-off is at 21:45 Kyiv time. Live coverage is available on the MEGOGO digital service.
Prediction for the Ukraine v Sweden match
Both teams to score is an option worth considering, given the defensive struggles of both sides.
