Romania vs Ukraine: Preview, Prediction & Betting Tips

Ukraine's recent performances, including a draw against Germany and finishing level on points with Italy in the qualifiers, highlight their defensive solidity and ability to compete against top teams. Their attacking threat, led by the prolific Artem Dovbyk, could prove decisive in breaking down the Romanian defense.

Romania's four-game winless streak raises concerns about their current form. Their defense, anchored by the experienced Nicușor Bancu, could pose a challenge to the Ukrainian attack. We predict a 2-1 win for Ukraine with Romania's resilience and potential counter-attacking threat making it a hard-fought match.

The Allianz Arena hosts Romania and Ukraine in their opening game of the European Championships. Both sides will be looking for a strong start to the campaign in a group where the second spot seems more than up for grabs.

Date: 17/06/2024

Kick-off time: 14:00

Location: Allianz Arena

Both Romania and Ukraine have had on and off records at the European Championships, with the furthest either have gotten being the Quarter-finals. However, with a group as tight as this, it has to be a three point haul.

Romania first qualified for the European Championships back in 1984 where then and 1996, Romania were eliminated at the Group stage. In 2000 they made the Quater-finals but in 2008 and 2016 Romania were back to the Group stage. After a tournament off in 2020, Romania are back.

In qualifying Romania competed in Group I alongside the likes of Switzerland, Israel, Belarus, Kosovo and Andorra. In ten games, Romania picked up six wins and four draws, finishing unbeaten and top of the group.

Ukraine have only competed in three European Championships starting in 2012 where they were joint hosts with Poland. Both in 2012 and 2016, Ukraine were eliminated at the Group stage with just one win in six games. Most recently in 2020, Ukraine made the Quarter-finals.

In qualifying Ukraine were drawn into Group C against the likes of England, Italy, North Macedonia and Malta. In eight games, Ukraine picked up four wins, two draws and two losses and finished third in the group equal with Italy but on head to head points they were denied a direct spot but they also had a chance through the Nations League Play-offs. Wins over Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iceland gave Ukraine their spot in the final tournament.

Romania and Ukraine have met six times in their histories, with the first meeting coming back in the Cyprus International Tournament in 2001. Both sides have three wins to their names and there has yet to be a draw.

This fixture usually provides goals, with four of these six meetings having both sides on the scoresheet with only two games having less than two goals.

Romania Team News

Edwards Iordanescu has called upon a lot of young talents for his Euros squad along with some familiar faces in Tottenham’s Radu Dragusin, Empoli’s Razvan Marin and Alaves’ Ianis Hagi.

Ukraine Team News

Serhiy Rebrov also has a young team with the likes of Everton’s Vitaliy Mykolenko, Real Madrid’s Andriy Lunin, Arsenal’s Oleksandr Zinchenko and Chelsea’s Mykhailo Mudryk.

In their last five games in all competitions, Romania have one win, three draws and one loss.

In the last game of the Euro qualifiers, Romania hosted Switzerland. Denis Alibec scored the only goal of the game in the 50th minute to give Romania the 1 - 0 win and qualification to the tournament.

In an international friendly Romania hosted Northern Ireland. Jamie Reid gave Northern Ireland the lead early on in the seventh minute. Dennis Man equalised before halftime and despite Romania having 71% of the possession, they couldn’t find the back of the net again and had to settle for the 1 - 1 draw.

The next international friendly saw Romania take on Colombia. Jhon Cordoba opened the scoring for Colombia in the sixth minute and Jhon Arias doubled the lead before halftime. Yaser Asprilla added a third with just ten minutes to go. Hagi and Florin Tanase launched a late comeback attempt but Colombia held on for the 3 - 2 win.

The visit from Bulgaria saw a poor attacking display from both sides. Romania had just one shot with it being on target but not converted and Bulgaria failed to register a single shot in the 0 - 0 draw.

The last time out for Romania was another 0 - 0 draw in an international friendly, this time with Liechtenstein.

In their last five games in all competitions, Ukraine have two wins, one draw and two losses.

The last game of the Euro qualifiers for Ukraine saw them host Italy. Ukraine had just four shots on target, two more than Italy but neither side could convert and settled for a 0 - 0 draw which sent Ukraine to the Play-offs.

The Semifinal of the Play-offs saw Ukraine take on Bosnia and Herzegovina. An own goal from Mykola Matviyenko gave Bosnia and Herzegovina the lead just before the hour mark. However with just five minutes to go Roman Yaremchuk and Artem Dovbyk found the back of the net to give Ukraine the 2 - 1 win.

The Final saw Ukraine face Iceland. Ukraine went behind again with Albert Gudmundsson giving Iceland the lead in the 30th minute. However, in the second half both Viktor Tsyhankov and Mudryk got on the scoresheet to win 2 - 1 and send Ukraine to the Euros.

In an international friendly Ukraine took on Germany. Germany had 27 shots with just five on target whereas Ukraine had six shots with three of them on target. Neither side converted any of these shots and the game finished a 0 - 0 draw.

Another bad start saw Sebastian Walukiewicz, Piotr Zielinski and Taras Romanchuk all score before the half hour mark for Poland. Dovbyk did score before halftime but Ukraine still slumped to a 3 - 1 defeat.

Ukraine also face Moldova in another international friendly on Tuesday.

Romania vs Ukraine will be shown on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the U.K. but the game can also be followed online on BBC Sport or Sky Sports.

• Euro 2024 Betting Tips
• Latest Euro 2024 Predictions
• Football accumulator tips
• Football bet of the day