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The Ukraine national football team has a new head coach: what is known about him

The Ukraine national football team has a new head coach: what is known about him

18 May 2026, 15:00

The Ukraine national football team has a new head coach: what is known about him — Andrea Maldera

The Italian Andrea Maldera has been appointed as the new head coach of the Ukraine national team. This marks the first time a foreign coach has taken charge of the Ukraine national team. The Italian coach’s appointment was approved by the UAF Executive Committee following a recommendation from the National Teams Committee.

This was announced by the Ukrainian Football Association (UAF).

The contract with Andrea Maldera is for two years with an option to extend.

Maldini has worked for a long time within the structure of the Italian club AC Milan. At various times, he has held positions as a coach for the club’s youth teams, technical coach of the first team and match analyst. Between 2009 and 2015, he was part of the technical staff of AC Milan’s first team, where he worked alongside head coaches such as Leonardo, Massimiliano Allegri, Clarence Seedorf and Filippo Inzaghi.

From 2016 to 2021, Maldere worked on the coaching staff of the Ukraine national team under the leadership of Andriy Shevchenko.

In 2022, Maldini joined Roberto De Zerbi’s coaching staff at the English club Brighton & Hove Albion as first-team coach.

In May 2024, the Italian, along with the head coach and the rest of the assistants, left the English club. Maldera, together with De Zerbi, moved to French side Olympique de Marseille, where he became assistant head coach.

At the end of April, the UAF announced that Serhiy Rebrov had stepped down as head coach of the Ukraine national football team. However, he remains part of the UAF team as vice-president and a member of the Executive Committee. Under Rebrov’s leadership, the Ukrainian national team played 34 matches: they won 16, drew eight and suffered 10 defeats.

As a reminder, the English Football Association previously banned Chelsea’s Ukrainian midfielder Mykhailo Mudryk for four years over an anti-doping violation.

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