Ukraine national under-21 football team

The Ukraine national under-21 football team is also known as Youth [football] team of Ukraine (Молодіжна збірна України) is one of junior national football teams of Ukraine for participation in under-21 international competitions. The team is managed by the Ukrainian Association of Football staff, committee of national teams. The team participates in qualifications to the Olympic competitions and the continental (UEFA) U-21 competitions.

Their first game the team played was on 28 October 1992. Its first competition the team entered in 1994 the qualification round for the 1996 European Under-21 Championship. The team has qualified for a tournament twice. The under-21s not only qualified for the 2006 European Under-21 Championship, but also reached the final, where they lost to on 4 June 2006 by 3–0. The under-21s also qualified to the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship that was held in Denmark.

History
Its first game under national flag the team played on 28 October 1992 by hosting Belarus national under-21 football team in a friendly game in Ternopil (Ternopil City Stadium). The game ended in scoreless tie and was attended by 4,000 people. The initial squad consisted of following players Sergei Aleksandrov, Dmytro Parfenov, Serhiy Fedorov, Oleksandr Koval, Vladyslav Vashchuk, Vitaliy Kosovskyi, Ihor Luchkevych, Serhiy Onopko, Vladimir Lebed, Hennadiy Moroz, Vitaliy Pushkutsa, Kostyantyn Pinchuk, Oleg Solovyov, Ruslan Romanchuk, Oleksandr Karabuta. Later two out of the squad Lebed and Aleksandrov continued to play for Russian national teams.

In August 1993, the Ukraine youth squad took part in its first tournament where it contested few teams outside of Europe. Its first competitive tournament became the Youth Euro 1996 where it was eliminated in qualification group. Its first game Ukraine U-21 played at home against its opponents from Lithuania on 6 September 1994.

It took Ukraine another 10 years to finally qualify to the tournament final when in 2006 it almost won the tournament losing in the final game to Netherlands which earned its first title instead.

Summer Olympics record
As U-23 team
 * Rules:
 * 1996–present: u-23 national teams (with three 'no age limit' players allowed, after an agreement between FIFA and OIC)
 * Note:
 * No tournament held in 1932
 * *Denotes draws including knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.
 * **Since 1968, Spain has sent its under-23 national team.

UEFA U-21 Championship
Since 1984, it is an official U-21 European championship. Since 1992, the tournament doubles as qualifying competition for the Olympic Games every four years.
 * 1994: Did not enter.
 * 1996: Did not qualify. Finished 2nd of 6 in qualification group.
 * 1998: Did not qualify. Finished 2nd of 5 in qualification group.
 * 2000: Did not qualify. Finished 3rd of 5 in qualification group.
 * 2002: Did not qualify. Finished 1st of 5 in qualification group. Lost qualification play-off to Switzerland.
 * 2004: Did not qualify. Finished 3rd of 6 in qualification group.
 * 2006: Runner-up. Finished 2nd of 7 in qualification group. Won qualification play-off over Belgium.
 * 2007: Did not qualify. Finished 2nd of 3 in qualification group.
 * 2009: Did not qualify. Finished 2nd of 5 in qualification group.
 * 2011: Group Stage. Finished 1st of 5 in qualification group. Won qualification play-off over Netherlands
 * 2013: Did not qualify. Finished 3rd of 6 in qualification group.
 * 2015: Did not qualify. Finished 2nd of 5 in qualification group. Lost qualification play-off to Germany.
 * 2017: Did not qualify. Finished 4th of 6 in qualification group.
 * 2019: Did not qualify. Finished 3rd of 6 in qualification group.
 * 2021: Did not qualify. Finished 3rd of 6 in qualification group.
 * 2023: Qualified. Finished 2nd of 6 in qualification group. Won qualification play-off over Slovakia.

UEFA U-21 European Championship record
{{legend|aqua|Summer Olympics years}}

Lobanovsky tournament (2006– )

 * Winners (2): 2009, 2019
 * Runners-up (4): 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017

Commonwealth of Independent States Cup (2012–2014)

 * Winner (1): 2014
 * Runner-up (1): 2013

Coaching staff
Currently approved:

Players
Players born in 2002 or later are eligible for the 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification. Names in bold denote players who have been capped for the senior team. Names in italics denote players who not available for calling up anymore, because of the age limits.

Current squad

 * The following players were called up for the friendly match and the 2025 Euro U21 qualification matches against and  on 22 and 26 March 2024, respectively.


 * Caps and goals correct as of 26 March 2024, after the match vs.

Recent call-ups
The following players have been called up for the team within the last 12 months.


 * Notes
 * INJ = Player withdrew from the squad because of injury.
 * WD = Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.
 * RES = Reserves squad – replaces a member of the squad in case of injury/unavailability.

Head-to-head record
The following table shows Ukraine Under-21s all-time international record, correct as of 29 March 2021.


 * Serbia and Montenegro +1=1-1 2-4 (Yugoslavia)
 * Kyrgyzstan national +1=0-0 4-0
 * Norway u-23 +0=0-1 0-2
 * England C +0=0-1 0-2

Home venues record
Since the game Ukraine v Belarus (28 October 1992), Ukraine youth team have played their home games at 19 different stadiums.


 * Last updated: 2 June 2016. Statistics include official FIFA-recognised matches only.