Ukraine will play against North Macedonia as the favorite
The Ukrainian national team will play its first official match under the leadership of the new head coach, Serhiy Rebrov, today, on June 16. The game will take place as part of the 3rd round of the Euro 2024 qualifiers. The opponent is the North Macedonian team. The match will be held in Skopje at the "Toše Proeski" stadium. The kickoff is scheduled for 20:45 local time. Despite being an away game, bookmakers from Favbet consider the Ukrainian team as the favorite.
They give odds of 2 for Ukraine's victory, estimating the chances of the Ukrainians at around 50%. The odds for North Macedonia are 4.45, and for a draw, they are 3.6. At the same time, bookmakers do not expect a high-scoring game, as they give odds of 2.35 for a total of over 2.5 goals and odds of 1.73 for a total of under 2.5 goals. The most likely goal scorer in the match is considered to be Artem Dovbyk, with odds of 2.8 for him to score against the Macedonians.
The British bookmaker William Hill holds a similar opinion. They offer slightly lower odds of 1.95 for Ukraine's victory, and odds of 2 for both teams to score in this game.
The match against North Macedonia will be the second one for the Ukrainian national team in the Euro 2024 qualification. At the end of March, in the opening match of the qualification campaign, the "blue and yellows" under the temporary leadership of head coach Ruslan Rotan lost to the group favorites, England, at Wembley Stadium in London, with a score of 2-0.
The North Macedonian national team has also played one match in the Euro 2024 qualifiers, defeating Malta 2-1 at home.
Currently, the leader of Group C is the England national team with 6 points after two rounds. They are followed by Italy (3), North Macedonia (3), Ukraine (0), and Malta (0). In order to continue the fight for qualification to Euro 2024, the Ukrainians desperately need to earn points in this match, preferably all three.
The final stage of the UEFA Euro 2024 Championship will feature the two best teams from each group. The remaining three spots for the continental tournament will be determined through playoffs, where 12 teams will compete based on their performance in the UEFA Nations League 2022/23. The draw for the Euro 2024 finals will take place in December 2023, and the tournament itself will be held in Germany from June 14 to July 14, 2024.
Under the guidance of Serhiy Rebrov, the Ukrainian national team has played only one match so far, a friendly game against Germany on June 12. In that game in Bremen, the blue and yellows dramatically lost the lead, conceding two goals late in the game, and the match ended in a 3-3 draw.