Ukraine U21

Ukrainian SSR (1924–1990)

The national team was formed in the early 1990s and was recognized internationally soon thereafter. Ukraine, under the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, previously had a national team in 1924–1935 just like the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. The national team included the players Andriy Ponomarenko, Ivan Privalov, Volodymyr Fomin, H. Syrota, Mykola Fomin, Anatoliy Lisnyi, Oleksandr Shatokha (goalkeeper), Dmytro Kyryllov, Dmytro Starusev, Serhiy Kopeiko, Petro Parovyshnykov (first team); Valentyn Prokofyev, Fedir Tyutchev, H. Yakubovskyi, Ivan Vladymyrskyi, Serafim Moskvin (goalkeeper), Kazymyr Piontkovskyi, Mykhailo Pashuta, Vasiliy Yepishin, Adam Bem, K. Us, Volodymyr Prasolov (second team).

The earliest record of games played by Ukraine can be traced back to August 1928. A championship among the national teams of the Soviet republics as well as the Moscow city team took place in Moscow; at the All-Soviet tournament, Ukraine reached the final where it lost to Moscow 1–0, after defeating Belarus and Transcaucasus.

In 1929, Ukraine beat Lower Austria in an exhibition match in Kharkiv 4–1, and played in another Soviet tournament. Ukraine lost to Transcaucasus 3–0.

Official formation

Before 1991, Ukrainian players were represented by the Soviet Union national team. After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, Russia took its place in the qualifying tournament for the 1994 World Cup. The Ukraine national team did not enter the tournament as it was not yet admitted to FIFA. Meanwhile, some of the best Ukrainian players of the 1990s (including Andrei Kanchelskis, Viktor Onopko, Sergei Yuran, Yuriy Nikiforov, Ilya Tsymbalar and Oleg Salenko) chose to play for Russia. At the time, Vyacheslav Koloskov, a top official from the former Soviet Union and later Russia, served as a vice-president of UEFA from 1980–1996 representing the Soviet Union and later the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

The Soviet Union's five-year UEFA coefficient (earned in part by Ukrainian players), was transferred to the Russian national team. As a result, a crisis was created for both the national team and the domestic league.

Controversy developed because the Ukrainian football league lacked adequate funding for their teams due to the economic crisis affecting all CIS countries. There also was a reverse influx of players; Viktor Leonenko agreed on transfer from Dynamo Moscow to Dynamo Kyiv. The Russian club did not want to release him, but Leonenko did not want to continue to play in Moscow.

In the following years, the Ukrainian team improved, including talents like Andriy Shevchenko, Serhiy Rebrov, and Oleksandr Shovkovskyi.

First official games (Prokopenko)

In 1992, Ukraine was accepted as a full member to FIFA and UEFA at which time Ukraine selected its first manager by members of a coaching council which consisted of Anatoliy Puzach (manager of Dynamo Kyiv), Yevhen Kucherevskyi (FC Dnipro), Yevhen Lemeshko (Torpedo Zaporizhzhia), Yukhym Shkolnykov (Bukovyna Chernivtsi) and Viktor Prokopenko (Chornomorets Odesa). Later, they were joined by Valeriy Yaremchenko (Shakhtar Donetsk). The circle was narrowed to three specialists and Prokopenko eventually became the manager.

Ukraine played their first match on 29 April 1992 against Hungary in Uzhhorod at the Avanhard Stadium, losing 3–1 with the sole Ukrainian goal scored by Ivan Hetsko. With the creation of a "phantom" (transitional) CIS team in place of the Soviet Union playing against England in Moscow in preparation for the UEFA Euro 1992. That year the Ukrainian team lost some notable players to the Soviet Union team. Following several losses to Hungary and a draw to the United States, Prokopenko resigned and the last season game was led by his assistants Mykola Pavlov and Leonid Tkachenko.

Euro 1996 qualification (Bazylevych)

Ukraine appointed head coach, Oleh Bazylevych, who made his debut with the national team in the spring of 1993 in Odesa during a friendly game against Israel, resulting in a 1–1 draw. Less than one month later, Ukraine finally won in Vilnius against Lithuania. During that summer they lost 3–1 to Croatia; Ukraine was later seeded in Group 4 of the UEFA Euro 1996 qualification.

Ukraine was defeated by Israel in March 1994, and drew Bulgaria and the United Arab Emirates. On 7 September 1994, the national team started its first official qualification campaign with a home loss 2–0 to Lithuania. Following the defeat and a weak performances in preceding friendlies, Bazylevych was fired and the tour to South Korea was led by the Bazylevych assistants Pavlov and Muntyan. Soon thereafter the Federation signed a contract with Valeriy Lobanovsky. On 24 September, the Football Federation of Ukraine appointed Yozhef Sabo as an acting manager until the end of the year after Lobanovsky signed a contract with Kuwait.

Under Sabo's management, the team's next home game against Slovenia ended goalless and they eventually beat Estonia 3–0, gaining their first win in an official competitive game. At the beginning of the year the Football Federation confirmed Anatoliy Konkov as the new head coach on 5 January 1995.

Under coach Konkov, the team started with away losses of 4–0 to Croatia and 3–0 to Italy. Following the losses, there was a three-game winning streak including a home victory against Croatia. A subsequent loss to Slovenia had the team finishing in fourth place in its first qualification campaign behind Lithuania.