Ukraine take on the visitors Georgia in the round 3 match of UEFA Nations League group stage. The match will be played on Friday, October 11th at Stadion Poznan (Poznań).
Ukraine, under Rebrov, managed to qualify for the World Cup. Although not directly, having fallen short to England and Italy in last year's qualifiers, they showed resilience by securing 2-1 comeback victories against both Bosnia and Iceland in March. Their performance at the Euros in Germany drew mixed reviews: on the one hand, they finished the group stage with four points for the first time in the tournament's history. However, they ended up last in the group due to tiebreakers, missing out on the playoffs. In September, defeats to both Albania and the Czech Republic left the team on the verge of failure, with Serhiy Rebrov potentially one step away from dismissal. To make matters worse, injuries have piled up, and Ukraine could field a decent team from the players who are sidelined: Lunin — Mykolenko, Kryvtsov, Zinchenko — Stepanenko, Brazhko — Yarmolenko, Pikhalyonok, Malinovskyi, Tsyhankov — Sikan.
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Georgia is experiencing the best year in its history. The "Crusaders" managed to achieve in 2024 what they couldn’t a couple of years ago: using the additional playoff route in the spring, Kvaratskhelia and company qualified for their first-ever European Championship. They held their own at the tournament: despite an unfair loss to Turkey in the opener, they drew with the Czech Republic and defeated an unmotivated Portugal. As a result, the debutants made it to the playoffs, even scoring first against Spain before suffering a 0-4 defeat to the eventual champions. However, this didn't deter Willy Sagnol’s side, as they went on to thrash the Czechs 4-1 at home and win in Albania in September. This has allowed a team that had never played at the Division B level to head to Poland as the undisputed group leaders—incidentally, facing the group's bottom team.
There have been six matches between these teams, with the "Yellow-Blues" winning four and losing two. Furthermore, in the qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2008, Ukraine took four points out of six from the "Crusaders." On paper, the "Yellow-Blues" remain clear favorites. However, in reality, it seems likely that Kvaratskhelia and company won’t lose to such an opponent this time either.
Prediction for the match: Georgia not to lose (X2).
