Ukraine is taking on France at the Tarczynski Arena to open their 2026 World Cup Qualifiers campaign in a clash that will see five PSG players battling for their respective countries. For this game, Illia Zabarnyi and Ukraine will have to face France led by Ousmane Dembélé, Désiré Doué, Bradley Barcola, Lucas Chevalier and Lucas Hernandez.
Didier Deschamps' side is favourite to win this game, however, Ukraine remains a solid team, able to take down one of the best European team.
Here is our preview of Ukraine vs France for Matchday 1 of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers.
Ukraine vs France : Preview, Prediction & Lineups
When is kick off? Friday 5th September, 2025
Where is it played? Tarczynski Arena
What time is kick-off? 7:45 pm (UK) and 2:45 pm (USA)
How to watch Ukraine vs France on TV? The game will be broadcasted live on Amazon Prime Pay-Per-View (PPV) in the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, the match will also be available on Fox Sports 2, Fox Sports app and FuboTV in the United States of America.
Ukraine Team News:
The most notable absentee for Ukraine ahead of their clash against France is Andryi Lunin. The Real Madrid goalkeeper has been ruled out for this game through injury and Anatoliy Trubin will start between the posts. Additionally, Viktor Tsyhankov and Oleksandr Tymchyk will also miss the game due to knocks.
Ukraine Predicted line-up: Anatoliy Trubin; Valeryi Bondar, Illia Zabarnyi, Mykola Matvienko; Vladyslav Dubinchak, Ivan Kalyuzhni, Olexandr Zinchenko, Georgiy Sudakov, Mykola Shaparenko; Roman Yaremchuk, Artem Dovbyk.
France Team News:
As for Didier Deschamps' side, William Saliba and Rayan Cherki are not selected for the clash following injuries sustained last weekend. Therefore, Bayern Munich centre-back Dayot Upamecano should partner Ibrahima Konaté, in the heart of France's backline. Additionally, it would be surprising to see Ousmane Dembélé starting this game following his injury scare sustained against Nantes last week.
France Predicted line-up: Mike Maignan; Jules Koundé, Ibrahima Konaté, Dayot Upamecano, Theo Hernandez; Aurélien Tchouaméni, Adrien Rabiot, Désiré Doué, Michael Olise, Bradley Barcola; Kylian Mbappé.
Predicition: Ukraine 1-3 France
The team led by former PSG star Kylian Mbappé should comfortably defeat Ukraine and open their World Cup Qualifiers campaign in the best possible way. Despite the absence of Arsenal's William Saliba, the 2022 World Cup finalists have the ressources to clinch an important win over Illia Zabarnyi and his teammates tonight.