7 future legends who played for Ukraine before even hitting 20
Zinchenko and Zabarnyi debuted for Ukraine's national team at a young age (collage: RBC-Ukraine)
In the history of Ukraine's national football team, only seven players have debuted as teenagers before 19. Some of them have already become legends, like Andrii Shevchenko. Some have turned into key players and record holders, while others have only played a few matches. How old were they when they first stepped onto the pitch and when they scored their debut goals?
Serhii Rebrov
Rebrov tops this list—he is now the head coach of the national team. In 1992, at the age of just 18 years and 24 days, he made his debut in the starting lineup in a match against the USA. The game ended goalless—0:0.
Rebrov scored his first goal for the national team on August 31, 1996, in a match against Northern Ireland. In total, he netted 15 goals in 75 matches for Ukraine.
Illia Zabarnyi
In October 2020, Zabarnyi from Dynamo Kyiv became one of the youngest debutants. He was 18 years and 36 days old. His debut came in a challenging friendly against France, ending in a heavy 1:7 defeat for Ukraine.
Today, he plays for England's Bournemouth and is the most expensive Ukrainian footballer.
He scored his first goal for the national team in his 26th match, on June 16, 2023, against North Macedonia during the Euro qualifying campaign.
Andrii Shevchenko
The next young debutant was Shevchenko, who took the field against Croatia on March 25, 1995, at the age of 18 years and 176 days. Ukraine lost 0:4, but this match marked the beginning of a player who would later win the Ballon d'Or.
Shevchenko scored his first goal for the national team on April 2, 1997, in a home match at the NSC Olimpiyskiy against Northern Ireland. He became the top scorer in Ukraine's history, with 48 goals in 111 matches. He was also the first player to appear in 100 games for the national team.
Andrii is currently the president of the Ukrainian Association of Football (UAF), a position he was elected to in January 2024.
Heorhii Sudakov
On May 23, 2021, Heorhii Sudakov—a talented midfielder from Shakhtar—was called up to the senior team. At the time, he was 18 years and 264 days old. His debut was in a friendly against Bahrain, which ended 1:1.
He scored his first goal for Ukraine in his 10th appearance, against North Macedonia. Today, Heorhii is one of Shakhtar's leaders.
He was also a key figure for Ukraine's U-21 team, which reached the semifinals of the 2023 U-21 European Championship.
Oleksandr Zinchenko
Zinchenko made his debut for the national team on October 12, 2015, at the age of 18 years and 300 days. It was a Euro 2016 qualifier against Spain, which Ukraine narrowly lost 0:1.
Just seven months later, on May 29, 2016, he scored his first goal in a friendly against Romania (4:3). At that time, he was 19 and 165 days old. He set a new record as the youngest goalscorer for Ukraine, surpassing Andrii Shevchenko's previous record, who had scored at age 21.
Oleksandr plays for London's Arsenal, earning over $100,000 weekly.
Vitalii Lysytskyi
Lysytskyi debuted for the national team on February 14, 2001, at 18 years and 304 days old, in a friendly against Georgia (0:0).
The defender played for Dynamo Kyiv at the time. He later continued his club career with Kryvbas, Dnipro, and other teams but earned only five caps for the national team and never scored.
Today, Vitalii serves as the sporting director of Kolos Kovalivka.
Viktor Tsyhankov
The latest on this list is Tsyhankov, who debuted on November 12, 2016, just one day before his 19th birthday, in a match against Finland. It was a World Cup 2018 qualifier that ended with Ukraine's 1:0 victory.
On March 25, 2019, at the age of 22, he scored his first goal for the national team against Luxembourg in a Euro 2020 qualifier (2:1). Today, Tsyhankov is one of the leaders of the national team and Spain's Girona.
Recently, Ukraine defeated New Zealand in a tournament held in Canada.
