Ukraine-Iceland: announcement and forecast of the decisive match of the 2026 World Cup qualification

Today, November 16, at 19:00 Kyiv time, a match between the national teams of Ukraine and Iceland will take place in Warsaw, which will be decisive in qualifying for the World Cup in 2026. The Ukrainian team is satisfied only with a victory, while Iceland can advance even in the event of a draw.

This is reported by “Pryamiy” .

The match will be held at the Legia Stadium in Warsaw, where the Ukrainian national team is the nominal host. The match will be the final one in the qualifying round, and it will determine the team that will continue the fight in the playoffs.

After the game against France, where Ukraine suffered a 0:4 defeat, coach Serhiy Rebrov said that the team was consciously focused on the match against Iceland, which is of crucial importance. He emphasized that the players understand the importance of the match and are preparing for it as concentrated as possible.

“Everyone understands that the next game will be decisive. I am sure that the guys will be as motivated as possible and are already preparing for this game,” he said.

Four goals were scored against Ukraine in Paris, but the team failed to score a single goal. Rebrov explained this by the fact that the team could not catch the ball and attacked with small forces. He emphasized that the priority remained the match against Iceland.

The team is missing several key players due to injuries. Georgy Sudakov left the training camp, and Oleksandr Zinchenko and Artem Dovbyk are also unavailable.

Ukraine’s opponent, the Icelandic national team, is coming into the match in good form. The team confidently beat Azerbaijan and took points in France. The coach of the Azerbaijani national team, Ayhan Abbasov, called the Icelanders a more complete team, and the Icelandic players themselves described the match as a final.

Captain Arnar Haraldsson said it would be a real final. Albert Gudmundsson added that the team was looking for revenge for their defeat to Ukraine in both the current qualifiers and the Euro 2024 play-offs.

Approximate team composition

Ukraine: Trubin, Konoplya, Matvienko, Zabarny, Mykolenko, Kalyuzhny, Yarmolyuk, Zubkov, Tsygankov, Gutsulyak, Vanat.

Iceland: Olafsson, Gretarsson, Ingasson, Paulsson, Johannesson, Haraldsson, A. Gudmundsson, Ellertsson, Thorsteinsson, Gudjonsen, J. Gudmundsson.

Match prediction

The history of the teams’ head-to-head meetings includes six matches. Ukraine has three wins, two draws and one loss, as well as a goal difference of 10:8. The last match ended in a 5:3 victory for Ukraine.

Analysts predict that both teams will fight for victory. Iceland will be satisfied with a draw, while Ukraine has only one acceptable result – a victory.

In the predictions for the match, analysts are leaning towards a 2:1 victory for Ukraine. It is noted that the team can play with two central defenders and be more active in attack.

Bookmakers consider the Ukrainian national team to be the favorite of the upcoming match. Bets on the victory of Serhiy Rebrov’s team are accepted with odds of 1.79 . Draw – 3.60 . Icelanders win – 4.98 .

Let us recall that in the penultimate match of Group D of the 2026 World Cup qualifying, the French national football team hosted the Ukrainian national team in Paris. The result of this match was extremely sad for Serhiy Rebrov’s team: the Ukrainian national team lost with a score of 0:4 .

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