Ümit National Football Team Secured Play-offs with a 2-2 Draw with Ukraine

Ümit National Football Team secured its place in the play-offs by drawing 2-2 with its guest Ukraine in its seventh match of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualifiers Group H.

The crescent-star team started the match well, which was held at the DVTK Stadium in Miskolc, Hungary, due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, and took the lead 1-0 with Emirhan İlkhan's goal in the 12th minute. The Nationals went into the halftime leading 2-0 with Ali Habeşoğlu's goal in the 33rd minute.

Ukraine scored a goal from Danylo Krevsun in the 47th minute of the match and reduced the difference to 1. Unable to maintain its lead in the face of its opponent's pressure, Türkiye made the score 2-2 with Maksym Melnychenko's goal in the 82nd minute. The national team, who took risks in the remaining part of the game, did not score a goal in the attacks of Ukraine, and left the field with a 2-2 draw.

With this result, Türkiye experienced its 3rd draw in its 7th match in Group H. With three wins, the Star and Crescent team increased its points to 12, ensuring that they finished second in the group and went to the play-offs.

Ümit National Team, which competed in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship for the first and last time in its history in 2000, is struggling to repeat this success after 27 years under the management of coach Egemen Korkmaz.

The Nationals will complete their group matches with the match against Hungary in Istanbul on Tuesday, October 6.

Croatia, which collected 16 points despite missing one match, had the right to go directly to the European Championship as the group leader.

In the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifiers, the nine group winners and the second best team in the groups will directly qualify for the finals. The remaining eight second teams will play play-off matches in November to qualify for the finals.