The Ukrainians were aiming to qualify for a first tournament since the Russian invasion of the country two years ago, and they did so by coming from behind to defeat Iceland 2-1 in a game played in the Polish city of Wroclaw. Albert Gudmundsson silenced the crowd in a city with a large Ukrainian refugee population as he fired Iceland into the lead on the half-hour mark.
Iceland, with a population under 400,000, were hoping to return to the finals of a competition in which they reached the quarter-finals in 2016. However, Euro 2020 quarter-finalists Ukraine equalised nine minutes after half-time thanks to a superbly taken goal by Viktor Tsygankov of Spanish side Girona.
Extra time was looming when Ukraine grabbed the winner with six minutes left as Chelsea’s Mykhailo Mudryk swept home a first-time shot from the edge of the area.
“Thank you, guys! Thank you, team! For significant emotions for the entire country. For the important victory and making it to EURO. For proving once again: whenever Ukrainians face difficulties but do not give up and continue to fight, Ukrainians certainly win,” Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, wrote on X.
Having narrowly missed out to Italy in their qualifying group and being forced into the play-offs, Ukraine can now look forward to the European Championship which begins in Germany on June 14. They will go into Group E alongside Belgium, Slovakia and Romania and will have ambitions of progressing to the last 16.
