Gyokeres hat-trick sends Sweden past Ukraine, close to World Cup | OneFootball

This Thursday, in a match played in Spain, Sweden beat Ukraine 3-1 and advanced to the second round of the European World Cup qualifying playoff for the 2026 World Cup. All three Swedish goals were scored by Viktor Gyokeres. Ponomarenko scored for the Ukrainians.

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The state of the tie

With the win, Sweden will face Poland, which beat Albania 2-1 this Thursday. Ukraine, meanwhile, has been eliminated and will not play in the World Cup.

The second-round match, which will determine the team qualified for the World Cup group stage, will take place next Monday, with the kickoff time yet to be announced. The winner will join Group F, alongside the Netherlands, Japan, and Tunisia.

📋 Match summary

🟡🔵UKRAINE 1 X 3 SWEDEN🔵🟡

🏆 Competition: European World Cup playoff (Path B) – Round 1 🏟️ Venue: Ciudad de Valencia, Valencia (ESP) 📅 Date: March 26, 2026 (Thursday) ⏰ Time: 4:45 p.m. (Brasília time)

Goals

How the match went

In the sixth minute of the first half, Nygren received the ball on the left and crossed into the six-yard box for Gyokeres, who finished into the net. In the second half, also in the sixth minute, the Swedish forward scored again. Viktor drove down the left, entered the box, and struck into the corner to extend the lead.

Sweden's third goal came in the 28th minute. After being brought down by goalkeeper Trubin, Gyokeres struck firmly and converted to complete his hat-trick. Ukraine pulled one back in the 46th minute through Ponomarenko, who took advantage of a mistake by the Swedish defense after a cross from the left.

All results from the day

2:00 p.m. – Turkey 1 x 0 Romania

4:45 p.m. – Denmark 4 x 0 North Macedonia

4:45 p.m. – Italy 2 x 0 Northern Ireland

4:45 p.m. – Poland 2 x 1 Albania

4:45 p.m. – Slovakia 3 x 4 Kosovo

Next match

Sweden x Poland

🏆 Competition: European World Cup playoff (Path B) – Round 2 📅 Date: March 31, 2026 (Tuesday) ⏰ Time: To be confirmed 🏟️ Venue: To be confirmed

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.