Ukraine came into this game as favourites and lived up to expectations with a hard-fought victory. Thanks to seven goals from Andrii Akimenko, Mykola Stepanets’ side took their first victory in the EHF EURO 2022 qualifiers and a first competitive victory of any kind in almost two years.

GROUP 3
Ukraine vs Faroe Islands 25:21 (15:13)

• In their first game of the campaign, Faroe Islands were close to their first win over Ukraine in their fourth attempt
• the hosts had a 7:3 flying start, and kept the lead throughout the whole match, with Faroe Islands levelling only once at 17:17
• Despite a strong defence, Ukraine could not cast off their Nordic guests, with the match decided only five minutes before the end
• Faroe Islands have two more matches this week, on Friday against Czech Republic before a rematch on Sunday against Ukraine at home

Ukraine end barren spell

A draw and a defeat against Russia in the first rounds were Ukraine’s record in the qualifiers so far but the last victory in an official match dates back to 13 April 2019 – a 27:26 win against Faroe Islands in the EHF EURO 2020 qualifiers in Copenhagen. That win was followed by two losses in qualification and three losses at EHF EURO 2020.