Ukraine’s national football team secured a crucial victory in the sixth round of the Nations League group stage, defeating Albania 2-1 away.
The first encounter between these teams, held in September at the start of the tournament, ended in a 1-2 defeat for Ukraine. In the following matches, Ukraine earned five points: suffering another defeat, drawing twice, and achieving one win.
Heading into the final round, the Ukrainian team was at the bottom of Group B1. Today’s victory gave them the chance to move up to second place, while a loss or draw would have meant relegation to Division C.
The Ukrainians began the game strongly, scoring in the fifth minute. Roman Yaremchuk’s initial shot was blocked, but Oleksandr Zinchenko picked up the rebound and sent the ball into the left corner of the net.
After scoring, Yaremchuk and Zinchenko held up a team shirt with ‘1000’ printed on it, symbolizing that 19 November marked 1,000 days since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Just four minutes later, Ukraine doubled their lead. Georgiy Sudakov passed to Yukhym Konoplya in the penalty area, who then assisted Yaremchuk, allowing him to head the ball into the net.
Albania managed to cut the deficit in the 75th minute when Trubin committed a foul, resulting in a penalty that Nedim Bayrami successfully converted.
In stoppage time (90+1 minute), Ukraine created two dangerous opportunities: Sudakov’s shot was saved by Thomas Strakosha, and Nazarenko’s header was also blocked by the goalkeeper. The final whistle confirmed Ukraine’s 2-1 victory.
This win brought Ukraine’s total to eight points, moving them up to second place in the group. In the parallel match, the Czech Republic secured a 2-1 victory over Georgia.
As a result, Ukraine has advanced to the play-offs, where they will compete for promotion. Their opponent will be determined in the draw on Friday, 22 November.