Under-21 Group D: Ukraine vs Denmark facts

Ukraine and Denmark meet at the Tatran Arena in Prešov as UEFA European Under-21 Championship Group D kicks off.

Ukraine are making a second successive finals appearance for the first time, reaching the 2023 semi-finals; Denmark missed out on the tournament two years ago but are featuring for the sixth time in eight editions.

Finland and Netherlands are also in Group D.

Previous European U21 Championship meetings

Matches 5
Ukraine wins 1
Denmark wins 3
Draws 1
Ukraine goals 7
Denmark goals 9

Denmark took four points off Ukraine when the teams were last drawn together, in the 2021 qualifying competition. Andreas Skov Olsen's hat-trick earned a 3-2 away win in Lviv despite second-half replies from Nazariy Rusyn and Giorgi Tsitaishvili; Emil Riis Jakobsen scored a 95th-minute equaliser to snatch a 1-1 draw for Denmark in Aalborg, Danylo Sikan having given Ukraine the lead.

The teams were drawn together three times in the 2006 European U21 Championship, Denmark winning 3-2 at home and 1-0 away in qualifying but Ukraine triumphing 2-1 on Matchday 3 of the final tournament in Portugal to reach the semi-finals, Artem Milevskyi scoring a late winner after Ruslan Fomin's opener had been cancelled out by Denmark's Thomas Kahlenberg.

Sikan scored a 94th-minute winner in the teams' last meeting, a 3-2 Ukraine victory in a friendly in Türkiye on 24 March 2023. Maksym Braharu and Oleh Ocheretko had put Ukraine 1-0 and 2-1 up respectively, Mathias Damm Kvistgaarden and Maurits Kjærgaard equalising on each occasion for Denmark.

Anton Tsarenko gave Ukraine the lead in a 2023 UEFA European Under-19 Championship elite round game against Denmark on 25 March 2023, the Danes coming back to win 2-1.

Form guide

Ukraine

Ukraine are making successive finals appearances for the first time.

A team coached by Ruslan Rotan reached the semi-finals at the 2023 tournament, finishing Group B runners-up behind Spain – the teams level on seven points – before beating France 3-1 in the quarter-finals only to lose 5-1 against Spain in the last four.

That was Ukraine's first finals appearance since 2011. Five years earlier they had reached the final on debut, winning their group and beating Serbia and Montenegro 5-4 on penalties after a goalless draw in the semi-finals before a 3-0 defeat in the final against a Netherlands side Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko's team had beaten 2-1 on Matchday 1.

With Spaniard Unai Melgosa having replaced Rotan as head coach, Ukraine were second behind holders England in qualifying Group F for these finals, picking up 24 points after winning eight of their ten games (L2).

Nazar Voloshyn was Ukraine's top scorer in qualifying on four goals.

Denmark

Denmark have qualified for the final tournament for the seventh time – and the fifth in the last six editions.

The Danes missed out on the 2023 finals, finishing second behind Belgium in their qualifying section before losing 5-4 on penalties to Croatia after a 3-3 aggregate draw in the play-offs.

Semi-finalists in 1992 and 2015, Denmark reached the quarter-finals on their last appearance in 2021, losing 6-5 on penalties to eventual champions Germany after a 2-2 draw.

In charge since January 2023, Steffen Højer guided Denmark to first place in Group I in qualifying for these finals (W5 D2 L1), three points clear of both Czechia and Wales.

Mathias Kvistgaarden and Oliver Sørensen were Denmark's top scorers in qualifying on three goals.

Links and trivia

Adam Daghim scored Salzburg's goal in a 1-1 draw against Dynamo Kyiv in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League qualifying play-offs on 27 August 2024. Vladyslav Vanat found the net for the Ukrainian side, whose team also included Volodymyr Brazhko, Taras Mykhavko, Nazar Voloshyn and Maksym Braharu.