What the Ukrainian national football team needs to reach the Olympic playoffs.

Today, the final matches of the group tournament in men's football at the 2024 Olympics, where the Ukrainian team also plays, will take place. Ruslan Rotan and his team have chances to advance to the next stage of the competition.

Group B standings

Before the final round, all 4 teams have the same number of points – 3. The placement of the teams is determined by additional criteria: first, the difference in matches, then the number of goals scored, and finally, the number of yellow and red cards.

Argentina is in first place since it has a goal difference of «+1», Morocco and Ukraine are in 2nd and 3rd places, and Iraq is in the last place with a goal difference of «-1». It is worth noting that Moroccans and Ukrainians have the same number of goals scored and conceded, so the number of yellow and red cards becomes the decisive factor: our guys have -12 technical points due to a red card in the previous match and many yellow cards, whereas Morocco has -8.

What Ukraine needs to reach the Olympic playoffs

This positioning means that today Ukrainian national team players need to play at least a productive match because a defeat by Argentina will exclude our team from the Olympics.

A victory with any score guarantees our team a playoff spot, but a draw can lead to Ukraine's advancement to the quarterfinals only under additional conditions.

For this to happen, there must also be a draw in the match between Morocco and Iran, with both teams scoring fewer goals against each other than Argentina against Ukraine, or Morocco must receive 5 more penalty points than Ukraine (1 penalty point for a yellow card, 3 points for an indirect red card, 4 points for a direct red card, 5 points for a yellow and direct red card from one player).

The matches between Ukraine – Argentina and Morocco – Iran will take place at 18:00. The Ukrainian team's match will be broadcast by public resources.

2024 Olympics. Medal standings