Originally part of the Soviet Union, Ukraine played their first official match in 1992. But for their first few years as a national squad many of the best Ukrainian players decided to play for Russia (since it was the major Soviet Union country) and playing for the Ukraine squad was often considered an afterthought for players that were not good enough to make Russia’s squad.
This theory eventually dissolved over time and Ukraine by the mid-to-late 1990′s had become a team worthy of challenging for a World Cup birth. Three different times Ukraine was within contention of a World Cup birth, but either nearly missed the spot on the bubble or lost a playoff match that would have granted them a spot in the tournament. Finally in 2006, the new country would get their first big break.
In 2006, Ukraine played in their first ever World Cup and they had the fun experience of playing their debut match against Spain. To no surprise Spain embarrassed captain Andriy Shevchenko’s squad 4-0. Many assumed that Ukraine would be finished due to the great goal deficit of that match, but the squad would fight back in their next opening round match with a equally stunning win 4-0 over Saudi Arabia. That would set up Ukraine with a final victory against Tunisia 1-0 and a birth to the next round of the World Cup.
Ukraine would go on to beat Switzerland in penalties (3-0) of a 0-0 match. But then in the quarterfinals the squad would not be able to handle the eventual champs in Italy. Ukraine lost 3-0 to the powerhouse, but showed the world that they can compete on the highest level.
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