Our prediction for this World Cup 2026 match:
Ukraine will be aiming to record their first win of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers when they host Kazakhstan at NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium. Andrii Shevchenko’s troops kicked off their WC qualifying campaign with a 1-1 draw with France, with the team sharing the spoils with Finland in their second group game. Even though talented defender Vitali Mykolenko is banned for the match, home win should be considered as Ukraine are desperate to register their first win of the process.
Junior Moraes is pushing for a start after finding the net in the draw with Kazakhstan. The Kazaks, on the other hand, suffered a 2-0 loss to France in the opening match of their World Cup qualifying campaign, and seeing that they are not regarded as good travellers, we are tempted to put our money on Andrii Shevchenko’s men. You should bear in mind that Ukraine are eyeing their fifth consecutive win over Kazakhstan in competitive matches.
Highlighted Player (Andriy Yarmolenko):
Arguably the most exciting Ukrainian player at the moment, Andriy Yarmolenko is the 26-year-old forward, who can play wide as a winger and fill in numerous positions in attack. Over the past few years there has been a gathering feeling that the player has outgrown the Ukrainian League and that with the player surpassing the 200-game mark for Dynamo Kyiv Yarmolenko should be heading west to Europe’s brighter stage.
Wanted and scouted by Spanish giants Barcelona, Yarmolenko attracted interest from many other clubs, predominantly from the Premier League, and was even close to joining Everton in summer 2016, but the Goodison outfit’s offer came too late to the Ukrainian club.
Talented forward is a free-scoring machine who has already scored more than 115 goals for the club he spent his entire career with. The two-footed winger is equally adept through the middle and is a versatile force that would be a good addition to any self-respecting European side.
Yarmolenko made hi Ukraine debut in 2009 and has so far been capped 63 times, during which he scored 26 goals for the national set-up.
Highlighted Team (Kazakhstan):
Kazakhstan national team played their first international match on June 1, 1992 against Turkmenistan, with the team beating the Emeralds 1-0. The former Soviet republic have been competing on the international stage since 1991, when the country declared independence.
Kazakhstan have yet to book their place at major tournaments, but they have not been serving as a cannon fodder for top European national teams. The Kazakhs were part of Asian Football Confederation before joining UEFA in 2002. However, they could not enter UEFA Euro 2004 qualification as the draw had been made earlier. Kazakhstan national football team recorded their biggest win over Pakistan in June, 1997 and they suffered their biggest defeat in 2005, with the team losing to Turkey 6-0.
Kazakhstan wear sky-blue shirts and sky-blue shorts when playing at home, while their away colour is yellow. Astana Arena is considered Kazakhstan national football team’s home ground and the capacity of the stadium is 30.244. The venue was opened in July, 2009.