Ukraine’s national football team lost to Iceland in the FIFA World Cup qualification game on Tuesday.
Andriy Shevchenko’s team allowed two goals, both in the second half of the game. Interestingly, the home team could not even get the ball early in the game, so Ukrainian fans were clearly cheerful – all the more, they were quite optimistic after the recent victory over Turks. The Yellow Blues had their moments and opportunities, but in the end they failed to score.
Early in the second half, the Icelanders broke the ice. Gylfi Sigurdsson scored after Ukrainians lost the ball in their own penalty box, and then scored once again – when his team finally gained enough space for counter-attacks. Shevchenko’s squad spent rest of the second half attacking but could not break the opponent’s defenses. The 2-0 loss sent the Ukrainian team to fourth place in the group, while Icelanders claimed second place, with 16 points – just like leaders of the group, Croatians.
Group I
- Croatia – 16 points
- Iceland – 16
- Turkey – 14
- Ukraine – 14
- Finland – 7
- Kosovo – 1
Ukraine still can fight up to the top, and there’s a decent chance for it to qualify for the next year’s World Cup.
