Ukraine and Sweden will be bidding to move one step closer to the 2026 World Cup on Thursday night.
The two nations meet in the semi-finals of the World Cup playoffs, the game being played at Estadi Ciutat de Valencia due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Whoever prevails from this tie will square off against either Poland or Albania in the UEFA Path B final on Tuesday night.
A group featuring Netherlands, Japan and Tunisia is awaiting whichever nation progresses.
How the bookies see it: No obvious favourite
The bookmakers are struggling to split these two nations, with the game effectively being played at a neutral venue rather than Ukraine being provided with any home advantage.
Sweden are viewed as the marginal 6/4 favourites with Bet365, who have priced Ukraine at 2/1 and the draw at 21/10.
In terms of qualification, Sweden are priced at 3/4 and Ukraine at Evens.
Head to head: A rare international showdown
Just five previous matches have taken place between these nations, all being played between 2008 and 2021.
Ukraine have impressively emerged victorious on four of the five occasions, with Sweden's only success coming in a friendly in Kharkiv back in 2011.
The last two encounters have taken place at European Championships staged in 2012 and 2021 respectively.
In Kyiv and Glasgow respectively, Ukraine recorded 2-1 victories. Artem Dovbyk scored a 120th-minute extra-time winner in the latter round-of-16 tie.
Player to watch: Gyokeres to make long-awaited impression?
With both Oleksandr Zinchenko and Dovbyk missing through injury, Ukraine are more reliant on Roman Yaremchuk, the top goalscorer in the squad with 17 strikes from 65 appearances.
Although he has only racked up one goal and one assist from eight appearances on loan at Lyon, the 30-year-old has built up his match fitness since February 15, and he should be able to make an impression on this stage.
Unlike in November, Graham Potter is able to call upon Viktor Gyokeres down the centre of his attack. The Arsenal forward will be making just his fifth Sweden appearance in nearly 18 months.
Gyokeres has contributed 16 goals and two assists from his 42 outings for Arsenal in 2025-26.
Probable lineups:
With Ukraine captain Mykola Matvienko also a big miss, Oleksandr Svatok could take his place in the centre of the defence.
Yaremchuk is in like to take the place of Vladyslav Vanat down the centre of the attack. The rest of the team could stay the same from the 2-0 win over Iceland in their final World Cup qualifier, barring the banned Ruslan Malinovskyi and Yukhym Konoplya.
Jacob Widell Zetterstrom, Emil Krafth and Ken Sema are all missing from the Sweden squad that earned a 1-1 draw with Slovenia.
Therefore, at least three changes will be made. Isak Hein and Gabriel Gudmundsson may be included at right-back and left-midfield respectively, but Potter has the options to change formation.
After his recent return from injury, Tottenham Hotspur playmaker Lucas Bergvall may start on the substitutes' bench.
Ukraine: Trubin; Tymchyk, Zabarnyi, Svatok, Mykolenko; Shaparenko, Kalyuzhnyi, Yarmolyuk; Tsygankov, Yaremchuk, Zubkov
Sweden: Nordfeldt; Hein, Starfelt, Lindelof, Svensson; Lundgren, Zeneli, Svanberg, Gudmundsson; Bardghji, Gyokeres
Anything else catch the eye?
Ukraine recorded five wins, one draw and four defeats in 2025. Three of the four losses came against either France or Belgium.
Serhiy Rebrov's side have also delivered three victories from four games, scoring nine goals in wins over Iceland (twice) and Azerbaijan.
Prior to their 2-0 triumph over Iceland last time out, Ukraine had not kept a clean sheet since October 2024, a run spanning 12 games.
Sweden are currently on a six-match streak without success, failing to beat Switzerland, Slovenia or Kosovo during their World Cup qualifying campaign.
Furthermore, just two goals have been scored in their last five games. However, it should be noted that Gyokeres was not available for the double-header in November.
In June 2025, they beat both Hungary and Algeria in international friendlies, their most recent victories on the international stage.
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