It was a setback that prevented the Zbirna from qualifying for the finals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and one in which the Rouge et Bleu No.6 was both a starter and captain.
UKRAINE 1-3 SWEDEN (0-1)
European Qualifiers - Play-offs - Semi-final
Estadi Ciutat de València (Valencia, Spain)
Goals: Ponomarenko (90') for Ukraine, Gyökeres (6', 51', 73' pen.) for Sweden.
UKRAINE: Trubin - Tymchyk, Zabarnyi (c), Bondar, Mykolenko - Yarmoliuk (Shaparenko, 85'), Kaliuzhnyi (Hutsuliak, 60'), Sudakov (Ponomarenko, 77') - Tsygankov, Vanat (Yaremchuk, 60'), Zubkov (Ocheretko, 60'). Coach: Serhiy Rebrov.
SWEDEN: Nordfeldt - Lagerbielke, Hien (Starfelt, 37'), Lindelöf (c), Gudmundsson (Svensson, 77') - Johansson, Ayari (Bergvall, 77'), Karlström, Nygren - Elanga (Svanberg, 90'+1), Gyökeres. Coach: Graham Potter.