Romania returns to the grand continental stage after an eight-year absence, thanks to an exceptional qualifying campaign. However, their preparations for this summer’s tournament have not gone as planned, failing to win in any of their four matches in 2024. Their lack of finishing touch in front of goal has hindered their morale-boosting results ahead of EURO. Ukraine had to navigate a tougher playoff path to punch their ticket to the tournament, as they were unable to overcome Italy in a goalless draw on the final matchday of the group stage.

Ukraine has had three warm-up matches in June, and after holding Euro 2024 hosts to a nil-nil draw and suffering a tough 1-3 defeat to Poland, Rebrov’s men boosted their confidence with a 4-0 hammering of Moldova. Both teams are expected to approach this one with caution to avoid a bitter start to their Euro campaign. Romania may have cruised through the qualifiers unharmed, but their pace has dropped sharply since then and they don’t appear to be skilled enough at the back to fend off Ukraine’s powerful attack.

Edward Iordanescu may consider making changes to his team’s attacking trio due to their lack of finishing touch in recent warm-up matches before the Euros.

Everton defender Vitaliy Mykolenko is doubtful for the opening match against Romania due to an injury sustained during training, with Arsenal’s Oleksandr Zinchenko potentially replacing him.

Predicted lineups:

Romania

Goalkeeper: Florin Niță
Defenders: Andrei Rațiu, Radu Drăgușin, Nicușor Bancu, Bogdan Racovițan
Midfielders: Marius Marin, Răzvan Marin, Nicolae Stanciu
Forwards: Valentin Mihăilă, Denis Drăguș, Dennis Man

Ukraine

Goalkeeper: Andriy Lunin
Defenders: Yukhym Konoplya, Ilya Zabarnyi, Vitaliy Mykolenko, Mykola Matvienko
Midfielders: Taras Stepanenko, Georgiy Sudakov, Oleksandr Zinchenko
Forwards: Mykhaylo Mudryk, Artem Dovbyk, Viktor Tsygankov

• Romania – 1 win
• Ukraine – 3 wins
• Draws – —

Over all competition record

Romania must exert effort to score against Ukraine, who are expected to score and maintain their lead, with a 0-1 advantage at full-time.

Winning probability:

Romania – 25%

Draw – 10%

Ukraine – 65%

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