Israel aren’t the only country embroiled in war and unable to play matches at home in the League B play-offs – Ukraine, too, will have to play on neutral territory if they win their semi-final in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Domestic football has continued inside Ukraine for the past two seasons – behind closed doors, with matches sometimes interrupted by air raid sirens, forcing teams to head to a bomb shelter – but the national side have played ‘home’ games on neutral territory, since they faced Bulgaria in Odesa in 2021.
In the summer of 2022, they took on both Armenia and the Republic of Ireland in the Polish city of Lodz in the Nations League, before entertaining Scotland in Krakow in September.
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Their next ‘home’ match was against Malta in Trnava in Slovakia, during Euros qualifying in June 2023, before they returned to Poland to face England in Wroclaw. They then faced North Macedonia in the Czech capital of Prague, before heading to Leverkusen in Germany for their final qualifier against Italy, meaning that their four home qualifying fixtures all took place in different countries.
The Polish city of Wroclaw will stage the play-off final if they get there, and they’re expected to – ranked 24th in the world, only the controversial non-award of a penalty, late in their last qualifier against Italy, stopped them from reaching the Euros ahead of the reigning champions.
Bosnia are 70th in the rankings – despite winning their Nations League group, they struggled badly in their Euros qualifying group, finishing fifth, with Savo Milosevic unable to improve things after being appointed in September. The former Yugoslav nation made the 2014 World Cup but have never reached the Euros – star man Edin Dzeko is 38, so this is his last chance.
Ukraine’s last match before war broke out was actually in Bosnia in a qualifier for the 2022 World Cup in November 2021 – they won that game 2-0, and will be determined to do the same this time around.
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