Ukraine v Sweden: preview and line-ups for the 2026 World Cup qualifier
At the last European Championship, Ukraine failed to qualify for the play-offs despite picking up four points.
A year ago, the team convincingly beat Belgium in the first leg of the Nations League play-offs, but suffered a heavy defeat in the return leg. The team also failed to put up a fight against France in the qualifiers, but picked up ten points in the other four games, notably thanks to two wins over Iceland.
After several unsuccessful qualifying campaigns, Sweden reminded everyone of its capabilities in the Nations League, where it picked up sixteen points in a group featuring Slovakia, Estonia and Azerbaijan. It was this performance that allowed the team to reach the current play-offs.
At the same time, last year the Swedes failed to qualify, despite a change of manager, and finished the season with just two points from matches against Switzerland, Kosovo and Slovenia.
The nominal home side score an average of 1.7 goals per match but concede two. The Scandinavians also saw their statistics deteriorate last autumn – they now average 1.5 goals scored and concede around 1.7 per game.
In total, the teams have met six times, with Ukraine losing just once, winning twice in normal time and once in extra time.
The nominal visitors are considered slight favourites. At the same time, a tense battle is expected, and the match prediction is “both teams to score” at odds of 1.80.
Ukraine have won three of their last four matches. In 60% of Ukraine’s matches, both teams have scored, and the average number of goals per match is 3.7.
Sweden have lost four of their last five matches. In 50% of their games, both teams have also scored, and the average goal tally stands at 3.2 goals per match.
Ukraine are expected to line up in a 1-4-5-1 formation. Possible line-up: Trubin – Mykolenko, Svatok, Zabarnyi, Tymchyk – Zubkov, Kalyuzhny, Yarmolyuk, Sudakov, Tsygankov – Vanat.
Konoplya and Malinovskyi will miss the match due to yellow cards. Mykolenko, Zinchenko and Dovbyk are injured, whilst Lunin has not been called up to the squad.
Sweden are expected to line up in a 1-4-4-2 formation. Possible line-up: Nordfeldt – Svensson, Lindelöf, Starfelt, Gudmundsson – Ayari, Svanberg, Zeneli, Lundgren – Lindberg, Gökers.
Several goalkeepers are unavailable for the Swedish national team, including Videll Zetterström. Kraft and Sema will also miss out, whilst Isak has not yet regained full fitness.
As a reminder, the International Football Federation has unveiled the official poster for the 2026 World Cup. The presentation took place with 100 days to go until the start of the tournament.
