Good afternoon and welcome to our live coverage of the eighth match of Euro 2024, as Romania face Ukraine in Munich.
With Belgium facing Slovakia at 6pm local time, it will likely be a tussle to see who can finish behind Belgium and qualify automatically.
Romania, ranked 46th in the world, went unbeaten through qualifying, topping their group and finishing ahead of Switzerland, with six wins and four draws.
However, their recent form is inauspicious: they have not won in four matches, their most recent results being goalless draws at home to Bulgaria and Liechtenstein, giving the minnows their first clean sheet in 36 games. Hardly the stuff to inspire confidence in the Tricolorii’s ability to break down sterner opposition.
This is their first time at a major international tournament since the 2016 Euros. Their win ratio in this competition – one in 16 matches – is the lowest of any side to have completed more than one tournament. Memorably, that lone victory came in 2000, as Ioan Ganea slotted home an 89th minute penalty after a sloppy Phil Neville foul to seal a 3-2 triumph and send a star-studded England squad packing.
Ukraine, 22nd in the FIFA rankings, had a far more dramatic passage to this tournament than their neighbours. They did it the hard way after finishing third in their group, behind England and on the same points as Italy. Subsequently, they came through play-off qualifying games against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iceland to make it four consecutive Euro tournaments in a row.
A fair few neutrals will likely be rooting for Ukraine, given the geopolitical situation the country finds itself in.
The squad possesses plenty of firepower and there is a fair bit of Premier League interest too, not least captain Andriy Yarmolenko of Everton and Chelsea’s £62m left winger Mykhailo Mudryk. And of course, their manager is also ex-Tottenham Hotspur striker Serhiy Rebrov.
If the creaking Belgium team underperforms, they will be favourites to cause an upset and top the group. (Domenico Tedesco’s players kick off their campaign against fellow Group E competitors Slovakia this afternoon in Frankfurt.)
Teams news to come shortly for Romania vs Ukraine. Kick off at the Munich Arena is 2pm UK time.