Meet Oleksii Kashchuk, the Ukrainian who stunned Benfica in the Champions League
Oleksii Kashchuk rewrites history at Qarabag (photo: facebook.com/FKQarabagh)
Oleksii Kashchuk became the main hero of the first round of the 2025/26 Champions League. In the away match of Qarabag against Portuguese Benfica, the Ukrainian came on as a substitute in the 77th minute and, just nine minutes later, scored the winning goal. Learn more about who Oleksii Kashchuk is, who has already attracted the attention of scouts from leading European clubs.
Who is Oleksii Kashchuk
Oleksii Kashchuk was born on June 29, 2000, in Novohrad-Volynskyi (now Zviahel). He is a fellow countryman of the former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valerii Zaluzhnyi.
From an early age, Oleksii showed exceptional talent for football, which led him to the academy of Shakhtar Donetsk. As part of the youth teams of the Miners, he repeatedly became the champion of the Youth Football League of Ukraine and established himself as an effective player.
In senior football, he played on loan for Mariupol and Azerbaijani Sabah. After the expiration of his contract with the Donetsk club, Kashchuk became a free agent.
Despite interest from European clubs, in September 2024, he signed a three-year contract with Azerbaijani Qarabag. This transfer turned out to be extremely successful—the Ukrainian quickly became a key player for the team from the city of Aghdam, demonstrating high scoring ability.
As part of Ukraine's U-20 national team under the leadership of Oleksandr Petrakov, Kashchuk became the winner of the 2019 World Cup, which took place in Poland. It was a triumph that opened the road to big football for many Ukrainian talents.
Oleksii also took part in Ukraine's U-21 national team, which reached the semifinals of Euro 2023, winning bronze medals.
He caught the attention of the coaching staff of the national team of Ukraine, but he has not played a single match for the country's main team yet.
How Kashchuk upset Trubin and Sudakov
On September 16, Oleksii Kashchuk entered Qarabag's history. In the away match of the first round of the Champions League against Portuguese Benfica (for which Ukrainians Heorhii Sudakov and Anatolii Trubin play), he came on as a substitute and in the 86th minute scored the winning goal.
After a prolonged positional attack by Qarabag, the ball ended up with Kashchuk in Benfica's penalty area.
Kashchuk, being under the defender's mark, from close range, made an accurate low shot. The ball flew under the defender's foot and into the corner of the net.
It was this goal that brought Qarabag a historic victory in the main round of the Champions League and emphasized the ability of the Ukrainian winger to quickly adapt to the game and decide the outcome of matches.
We earlier reported that Trubin and Sudakov were left without a coach after a disgraceful start to the Champions League.
