The Ukrainians were aiming to qualify for a first tournament since the Russian invasion and they did so by coming from behind to defeat Iceland 2-1 in a game played in the Polish city of Wroclaw. Albert Gudmundsson silenced the crowd in a city with a large Ukrainian refugee population as he fired Iceland into the lead on the half-hour mark.
Iceland, with a population under 400,000, were hoping to return to the finals of a competition in which they reached the quarter-finals in 2016. However, Euro 2020 quarter-finalists Ukraine equalised nine minutes after half-time thanks to a superbly taken goal by Viktor Tsygankov of Spanish side Girona.
Extra time was looming when Ukraine grabbed the winner with six minutes left as Chelsea's Mykhailo Mudryk swept home a first-time shot from the edge of the area.