Ukraine vs Sweden Preview & Prediction | 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifying (UEFA)

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This game is being played at the neutral venue of the Ciutat de Valencia, Levante’s home ground, in Valencia in Spain as Ukraine face Sweden in a UEFA playoff semi-final.

Kick-off date/time:

How to watch on TV: UK – Not televised / US – FOX Sports

How to watch online: UK – Amazon Prime / US – Disney+

Key stats

• Ukraine and Sweden have met five times in international football, with Ukraine leading the head‑to‑head three wins to one, with one draw. Their two most recent encounters came at UEFA EURO final tournaments: a 2-1 Ukrainian victory in the 2012 group stage, followed by another 2-1 win after extra time in the round of 16 at EURO 2020.
• Ukraine’s only FIFA World Cup™ appearance to date came in 2006, when they enjoyed an impressive run to the quarter-finals.
• Ukraine are competing in the play-offs for the sixth time in their eight World Cup qualifying campaigns (1998, 2002, 2010, 2014, 2022 and 2026). They have yet to qualify via this route, although they came close in the 2022 cycle, beating Scotland 3-1 in the semi-final before narrowly losing 1-0 to Wales in the play-off final, missing out on a place at Qatar 2022™.
• Ukraine have lost only three of their last 16 World Cup qualifying matches (W6 D7), and they have won three of their most recent four (L1).
• Oleksiy Hutsulyak has scored in three of Ukraine’s last four World Cup qualifying matches.
• Sweden have lined up at 12 editions of the FIFA World Cup™, but they have qualified for only one of the last four instalments: the 2018 tournament in Russia.
• Sweden are featuring in the play-offs for the fourth consecutive World Cup qualifying campaign. They were beaten 4-2 on aggregate by Portugal in the race for Brazil 2014, before defeating Italy 1-0 on aggregate to reach Russia 2018. In the most recent cycle, they overcame Czechia 1-0 after extra time in the semi-finals but then fell 2-0 to Poland in the final.
• Sweden are winless in their last seven World Cup qualifying matches (D2 L5).

Ukraine vs Sweden prediction

Ukraine come into this one on the back of a 2-0 defeat of Iceland in their most recent outing to round off 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification. The Ukrainians, under the management of Serhiy Rebrov, do have some exciting talents, especially playing in Spain, such as Girona duo Viktor Tsygankov and Vladyslav Vanat.

Graham Potter has started his reign in charge of an underperforming Sweden side poorly. Dejan Kulusevski and Alexander Isak remain injured but the Swedes have some really impressive talents throughout their squad. They did, though, finish below both Slovenia and Kosovo without a win in the group stage of qualifying.

Sweden have potential and should have had a major reset, making themselves a lot better for the playoffs, but Ukraine appear strong and it may well be quite a fun watch for the neutral.

Ukraine vs Sweden tip: Both teams to score