Ukraine beats Albania 2:1, earns chance to advance to Nations League top tier

The Ukraine national football team scored two goals to Albania's one, earning the second-place spot in the Nations League's Group B1.

Ukraine's Oleksandr Zinchenko opened the score on the 5th minute after a shot from outside the box. Five minutes later, Roman Yaremchuk doubled the score.

Despite having eight shots on target compared to Albania's two, the ending was tense following a successfully converted penalty by Nedim Bajrami on the 75th minute.

Ukraine struggled through the tournament, losing the first two games of the group stage to Albania and the Czech Republic. Following a victory over Georgia and two draws with the Czech Republic and Georgia, Ukraine found a chance to avoid finishing last in the group.
Following the victory over Albania and the Czech win over Georgia, Ukraine secured second place with 8 points.

Ukraine now awaits a future draw that will pair it with the third-placed team from one of the tournament's top-tier groups for a chance at promotion.

The UEFA Nations League is a tournament held every two years in between the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championship for national teams to be in shape for major tournaments.

The league is divided into four tiers, with Ukraine currently competing in the second one and having a chance to return to the top one after a four-year gap.