Ukraine national football team
The Ukrainian national football team is the representative team of Ukraine in official competitions. It is organised by the Football Federation of Ukraine, which is a member of UEFA. The Ukrainian national team was born in 1992 after the independence of Ukraine following the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
Prior to that year, Ukraine was one of the participating members of the Soviet Union national team, which was often composed of great players of Ukrainian origin. However, after the foundation of the Ukrainian national team, many of the great stars of the Soviet national team, such as Andrei Kanchelskis, Viktor Onopko and Oleg Salenko, continued to play for the Russian team, the official successor of the former USSR.
Ukraine is one of the most important teams of the former Soviet Union. One of the best players in the world at the time, Andriy Shevchenko, was part of this team, whose goals helped them qualify for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, their only World Cup appearance to date.