Ukrainian Cup Explained

Current:2024–25 Ukrainian Cup
Founded:1992
Number Of Teams:45
Domestic Cup:Ukrainian Super Cup
Current Champions:Shakhtar Donetsk
(14th title)
Most Successful Club:Shakhtar Donetsk
(14 titles)
Qualifier For:UEFA Europa League
Website:Official website

The Ukrainian Cup (Ukrainian: Кубок України) is an association football national knockout cup competition run by the Ukrainian Association of Football. The competition is conducted almost exclusively among professional clubs.[1] Since the 2003–04 season, the Cup winner qualifies to play the Ukrainian Premier League winner for the Ukrainian Super Cup.

Current format and eligibility criteria

For the competition are eligible first teams of all Ukrainian professional clubs. Beside professional clubs, to the competition is also invited both finalists of the Ukrainian Amateur Cup preceding season. If both finalists obtained professional status (admitted to the Second League (tier 3)), then two better performers of the amateur competition are invited. Beside the initial draw, all the draws are conducted the next day after all the matches of the round is played.

The format of this competition consists of two phases: a qualification phase with two rounds followed by the competition proper (four rounds and the final game) when all Premier League (tier 1) clubs enter the competition.[2] The Ukrainian Association of Football organizes the draw in qualification phase by geographic principles, so to accommodate "smaller" clubs (in lower tiers) by reducing their travel time. Often times the very first qualification round involves matches between the amateur teams and either the newly admitted professional clubs or clubs that struggled in prior season. For the next couple of qualification rounds enter clubs of the Second League (tier 3) and First League (tier 2). The final is usually taken place at the Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex, however due reconstruction of the stadium to prepare to the UEFA Euro 2012, the final had been played at other venues temporarily. After that this tradition has ceased.

Past variations of the competition involved a home-away type of elimination, but the Ukrainian Cup has since changed to a single game per round format. In recent years, a conditional replay game was introduced to avoid penalty shootouts. Cup draws may be conducted for two consecutive rounds, but usually occur before each following round. The lower division teams are usually awarded the home-field advantage (or the first leg at home in case of a two-leg round).

History

See main article: article and Cup of the Ukrainian SSR. Ukrainian Cup competitions have been conducted since at least 1936.[3] The first of season in 1936 was officially known as Spring Championship, the decision about which was adopted by the All-Ukrainian football Section.[3] Initially called also as the Spring Championship, sometime during the 1937 season the tournament was renamed by mass media as the Cup of the Ukrainian SSR (Ukrainian: Кубок УРСР, Kubok URSR).[3] The official change was adopted by the Republican Football Conference only in April 1938.[3] To commemorate the event, in 1979 the Soviet Ministry of Communication released an envelope with depiction of the trophy (see the picture).[3] The streamer on top of a picturereads in Russian language "The first Cup of Ukraine in football" (Russian: Первый кубок Украины по футболу, Pervyi kubok Ukrainy po futbolu), while the same thing is written at the picture's footer in Ukrainian language (Ukrainian: Перший кубок України з футболу, Perhyi kubok Ukrayiny z futbolu).

In 1944 as compensation for the canceled republican championship there was conducted next tournament in September.[3] The decision to conduct the tournament was adopted on 6 September 1944 by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine.[3] The tournament was also known as Ukrainian Cup[4] or Ukrainian Bowl (Ukrainian: Келих УРСР, Kelykh URSR).[3] After World War II, subsequent editions of the national Cup were downgraded to a republican cup competition that was limited to lower league clubs and teams participating in the KFK competitions (amateurs). The timeframe of the tournament also shifted from spring time to fall (end of calendar year).[3] Already in 1948 FC Lokomotyv Kharkiv as one of the Soviet Top League clubs from Ukraine chose not to participate in the Ukrainian Cup competition.[3] In 1959 the tournament was cancelled completely and replaced with Football Cup among collective of physical culture (a predecessor to Ukrainian Amateur Cup).

In 1970s the Ukrainian Cup competitions were revived and conducted parallel to Ukrainian Amateur Cup for several seasons. In second half of 1970 the tournament was discontinued once again until 1990.

The first Cup competition in independent Ukraine had an unlikely winner, similar to the championship of 1992. The main contender, Dynamo Kyiv, settled for a draw in its first game at home against a team that was an amateur club in Soviet times, Skala Stryi. In the following quarter-finals round, the team faced defeat by Torpedo Zaporizhia. Eventually that competition was won by Chornomorets Odesa.

In 2008, the Football Federation of Ukraine signed a contract with the company Datagroup,[5] naming the company as the main sponsor of the tournament for the next four years. Datagroup introduced its new version of the cup trophy,[6] the first winner of which became Shakhtar Donetsk.[7] In 2010, there was an attempt to launch an independent website for the competition, which was active for only a couple of months.

Venues

The Ukrainian Cup finals are played most often at the main countries association football venue, Olympiyskiy National Sports Complex. Since 2008 and establishing of the Ukrainian Premier League, the final games started to be conducted at alternative stadiums among which most often was used the Metalist Oblast Sports Complex and the Dnipro Arena.

Finals

Source:[8] [9]

YearVenueWinnerScoreRunner-up
1992
Final
31 May 1992 19:00 (EEST)
Kyiv – Republican Stadium
Attendance: 12,000
Chornomorets Odesa
1 – 0
(0 – 0)
Metalist Kharkiv
1992–93
Final
30 May 1993 ? (EEST)
Kyiv – Republican Stadium
Attendance: 47,000
Dynamo Kyiv

2 – 1
(1 – 0)
Karpaty Lviv
1993–94
Final
29 May 1994 17:00 (EEST)
Kyiv – Republican Stadium
Attendance: 5,000
Chornomorets Odesa0 – 0
(0 – 0)
Tavriya Simferopol
1994–95
Final
28 May 1995 ? (EEST)
Kyiv – Republican Stadium
Attendance: 42,500
Shakhtar Donetsk
1 – 1
(0 – 1)
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
1995–96
Final
26 May 1996 ? (EEST)
Kyiv – NSC "Olimpiyskiy"
Attendance: 47,000
Dynamo Kyiv
2 – 0
(1 – 0)
Nyva Vinnytsia
1996–97
Final
25 May 1997 ? (EEST)
Kyiv – NSC "Olimpiyskiy"
Attendance: 26,000
Shakhtar Donetsk
1 – 0
(1 – 0)
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
1997–98
Final
31 May 1998 ? (EEST)
Kyiv – NSC "Olimpiyskiy"
Attendance: 43,500
Dynamo Kyiv
2 – 1
(2 – 0)
CSKA Kyiv
1998–99
Final
30 May 1999 ? (EEST)
Kyiv – NSC "Olimpiyskiy"
Attendance: 71,000
Dynamo Kyiv
3 – 0
(2 – 0)
Karpaty Lviv
1999–00
Final
27 May 2000 ? (EEST)
Kyiv – NSC "Olimpiyskiy"
Attendance: 45,500
Dynamo Kyiv
1 – 0
(1 – 0)
Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih
2000–01
Final
27 May 2001 17:00 (EEST)
Kyiv – NSC "Olimpiyskiy"
Attendance: 55,000
Shakhtar Donetsk
2 – 1
(0 – 1; 1 – 1)
CSKA Kyiv
2001–02
Final
26 May 2002 19:00 (EEST)
Kyiv – NSC "Olimpiyskiy"
Attendance: 81,000
Shakhtar Donetsk
3 – 2
(1 – 1; 2 – 2)
Dynamo Kyiv
2002–03
Final
25 May 2003 17:00 (EEST)
Kyiv – NSC "Olimpiyskiy"
Attendance: 71,000
Dynamo Kyiv
2 – 1
(0 – 1)
Shakhtar Donetsk
2003–04
Final
30 May 2004 17:00 (EEST)
Kyiv – NSC "Olimpiyskiy"
Attendance: 60,000
Shakhtar Donetsk
2 – 0
(1 – 0)
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
2004–05
Final
29 May 2005 17:00 (EEST)
Kyiv – NSC "Olimpiyskiy"
Attendance: 68,000
Dynamo Kyiv
1 – 0
(1 – 0)
Shakhtar Donetsk
2005–06
Final
2 May 2006 17:00 (EEST)
Kyiv – NSC "Olimpiyskiy"
Attendance: 25,000
Dynamo Kyiv
1 – 0
(0 – 0)
Metalurh Zaporizhya
2006–07
Final
28 May 2007 19:00 (EEST)
Kyiv – NSC "Olimpiyskiy"
Attendance: 64,500
Dynamo Kyiv
2 – 1
(0 – 0)
Shakhtar Donetsk
2007–08
Final
7 May 2008 19:00 (EEST)
KharkivOSC "Metalist"
Attendance: 28,000
Shakhtar Donetsk
2 – 0
(1 – 0)
Dynamo Kyiv
2008–09
Final
31 May 2009 17:00 (EEST)
DnipropetrovskDnipro Arena
Attendance: 25,700
Vorskla Poltava
1 – 0
(0 – 0)
Shakhtar Donetsk
2009–10
Final
16 May 2010 17:00 (EEST)
KharkivOSC "Metalist"
Attendance: 21,000
Tavriya Simferopol
3 – 2
(2 – 0; 2 – 2)
Metalurh Donetsk
2010–11
Final
25 May 2011 20:15 (EEST)
SumyStadium "Yuvileiny"
Attendance: 27,800
Shakhtar Donetsk
2 – 0
(0 – 0)
Dynamo Kyiv
2011–12
Final
6 May 2012 19:30 (EEST)
Kyiv – NSC "Olimpiyskiy"
Attendance: 47,314
Shakhtar Donetsk
2 – 1
(1 – 0; 1 – 1)
Metalurh Donetsk
2012–13
Final
22 May 2013 19:45 (EEST)
KharkivOSC "Metalist"
Attendance: 40,003
Shakhtar Donetsk
3 – 0
(1 – 0)
Chornomorets Odesa
2013–14
Final
15 May 2014 20:00 (EEST)
PoltavaStadium "Vorskla" Butovskoho
Attendance: 9,700
Dynamo Kyiv
2 – 1[10]
(2 – 0)
Shakhtar Donetsk
2014–15
Final
4 June 2015 21:00 (EEST)
Kyiv – NSC "Olimpiyskiy"
Attendance: 53,455
Dynamo Kyiv0 – 0
(0 – 0)
Shakhtar Donetsk
2015–16
Final
21 May 2016 17:00 (EEST)
LvivArena Lviv
Attendance: 21,720
Shakhtar Donetsk
2 – 0
(1 – 0)
Zorya Luhansk
2016–17
Final
17 May 2017 21:00 (EEST)
KharkivOSC "Metalist"
Attendance: 25,000
Shakhtar Donetsk
1 – 0
(0 – 0)
Dynamo Kyiv
2017–18
Final
9 May 2018 20:30 (EEST)
DniproDnipro Arena
Attendance: 28,155
Shakhtar Donetsk
2 – 0
(0 – 0)
Dynamo Kyiv
2018–19
Final
15 May 2019 21:00 (EEST)
ZaporizhiaSlavutych Arena
Attendance: 11,100
Shakhtar Donetsk
4 – 0
(3 – 0)
Inhulets Petrove
2019–20
Final
8 July 2020 21:30 (EEST)
KharkivOSC "Metalist"
Attendance:0
Dynamo Kyiv
1 – 1
(1 – 1)
Vorskla Poltava
2020–21
Final
13 May 2021 19:00 (EEST)
TernopilRoman Shukhevych Ternopil city stadium
Attendance: 3,000
Dynamo Kyiv
1 – 0
(0 – 0)
Zorya Luhansk
2021–2211 May 2022 (the final was scheduled)interrupted at quarterfinals due to war
2022–23no competition due to war
2023–24
Final
15 May 2024 19:00 (EEST)
RivneStadium "Avanhard"
Attendance: 3,500
Shakhtar Donetsk
2 – 1
(1 – 0)
Vorskla Poltava

Top scorers of finals

NoNameClub(s)Goals
1 Andriy ShevchenkoDynamo Kyivalign=center rowspan=24
Serhiy AtelkinShakhtar Donetsk
3 Oleksandr HladkyyShakhtar Donetsk3
4 Valiantsin BialkevichDynamo Kyiv2
Aliaksandr KhatskevichDynamo Kyiv
Andriy VorobeiShakhtar Donetsk
Diogo RincónDynamo Kyiv
KléberDynamo Kyiv
Alex TeixeiraShakhtar Donetsk
TetêShakhtar Donetsk
10align=center colspan=233 players1

Performances

Achievements of clubs since 1992[11] [12]

Teamwidth=80WinnersWinning yearswidth=80Runners-upwidth=80Runners yearswidth=80Finals
Shakhtar Donetsk141995, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 202462003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2014, 201519
Dynamo Kyiv131993, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2014, 2015, 2020, 202152002, 2008, 2011, 2017, 201818
Chornomorets Odesa21992, 1994120133
Vorskla Poltava1200922020, 20243
Tavriya Simferopol12010119942
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk31995, 1997, 20043
Karpaty Lviv21993, 19992
CSKA Kyiv21998, 20012
Metalurh Donetsk22010, 20122
Zorya Luhansk22016, 20212
Metalist Kharkiv119921
Nyva Vinnytsia119961
Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih120001
Metalurh Zaporizhya120061
Inhulets Petrove120191

All-time table

Top-10. All figures are correct through the 2017–18 season.[13]

PLTeamSeasonsGPWDLGSGAPtsAchievement
1align=LEFT bgcolor=goldShakhtar Donetsk271511112119346 106354champion
2align=LEFT bgcolor=goldDynamo Kyiv271441121616345 90352champion
3align=LEFT bgcolor=silverFC Dnipro27117681732188 105221finalist
4align=LEFT bgcolor=goldTavriya Simferopol2487491523141 97162champion
5align=LEFT bgcolor=silverKarpaty Lviv2789451232130 96147finalist
6align=LEFT bgcolor=goldVorskla Poltava2784441228113 97144champion
7align=LEFT bgcolor=goldChornomorets Odesa2792441236148 99144champion
8align=LEFT bgcolor=tanVolyn Lutsk278442834141 128134semi-finalist
9align=LEFT bgcolor=silverMetalurh Zaporizhia2780401129119 94131finalist
10align=LEFT bgcolor=silverMetalurh Donetsk2070371023107 91121finalist

Competition people

Managers

+ Winning managers
ManagerClub(s)WinsWinning years
Mircea LucescuShakhtar Donetsk72003–04, 2007–08, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2015–16
Dynamo Kyiv2020–21
Valery Lobanovsky31997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000
Viktor ProkopenkoChonomorets Odesa1992, 1993–94
Shakhtar Donetsk2000–01
Paulo Fonseca2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19
Yozhef SaboDynamo Kyiv21995–96, 2004–05
Anatoliy Demyanenko2005–06, 2006–07
Serhii Rebrov2013–14, 2014–15
Oleksiy Mykhaylichenko2002–03, 2019–20
Mykhailo FomenkoDynamo Kyiv11992–93
Vladimir SalkovShakhtar Donetsk1994–95
Valeriy Yaremchenko1996–97
Nevio Scala2001–02
Mykola PavlovVorskla Poltava2008–09
Serhiy PuchkovTavriya Simferepol2009–10

Players

Leaders with the most games played
RankPlayerYear(s)Games per team(s)Games total
1 Ruslan Kostyshyn1995 – 2012Advis (2), Podillia (2), CSKA/Arsenal (28), Dnipro (25), Kryvbas (6) 63
2 Oleksandr Shovkovskyi1993 – 2015Dynamo-3 (2), Dynamo (58)60
31993 – 2009Karpaty (32), Metalurh Z (7), Volyn (1), Tavriya (13), Zakarpattia (5)58
41992 – 2006Tavriya (24), Dynamo (32)56
Vitaliy Reva1994 – 2010Polihraftekhnika (4), CSKA/Arsenal (34), Dynamo (16), Tavriya (2)56
1994 – 2008Stal A (3), Shakhtar (48), Illichivets (2), Metalurh D (1), Zoria (1), Komunalnyk (1)56
1996 – 2014Harai (6), Karpaty (7), Dynamo (2), Kryvbas (4), Dnipro (20), Shakhtar (12), Zoria (2), Tavriya (2), Hoverla (1)56
81992 – 2007Shakhtar54
Ruslan Rotan2001 – 2018Dnipro (42), Dynamo (12)54
10 Andriy Vorobei1996 – 2013Shakhtar (4), Shakhtar (44), Dnipro (2), Arsenal (1), Metalist (2)53
11 Serhii Rebrov1992 – 2010Shakhtar (6), Dynamo (44), Irpin (1)51
1994 – 2007Prykarpattia (6), Shakhtar (42), Kryvbas (3)51
131993 – 2008Dynamo-2 (3), Dynamo (18), Dnipro (2), CSKA/Arsenal (5), Karpaty (11), Kryvbas (7), Metalist (4)50
[14]
All-time Ukrainian Cup scorers
RankPlayerYear(s)Goals per team(s)Goals total
1 Andriy Vorobei1996 – 2013Shakhtar-2 (2), Shakhtar (22), Metalist (1) 25
2 Maksim Shatskikh2000 – 2015Dynamo (22), Arsenal (1), Hoverla (1)24
31992 – 2003Dnipro (7), Veres (4), Karpaty (5), Kryvbas (3), Metalist (3)22
41994 – 2012Dynamo-2 (5), Dynamo (16)21
51992 – 2010Shakhtar (1), Dynamo (19)20
6 Andriy Pokladok1992 – 2008Karpaty (15), Metalurh D (2), Rava (1), Halychyna L (1)19
2007 – 2017Dynamo19
81992 – 2003Shakhtar (16), Metalurh Z (1)17
9 Oleksiy Antiukhin1992 – 2001Metalurh Z (1), Tavria (13), Vorskla (2)16
Luiz Adriano2007 – 2015Shakhtar16
111993 – 2013Shakhtar Pavlohrad (1), Metalurh Z (8), Dnipro (1), Chornomorets (1), Dniester (4)15
Bohdan Yesyp1996 – 2014Dynamo-3 (4), Zirka (1), Zakarpattia (3), Naftovyk (7)15
2003 – 2016Arsenal (1), Dynamo (14)15
[15]
Seasonal top scorers
YearTop Scorer(s)Goals
1992 Oleksandr Zayets (Torpedo)6
1993 Vitaliy Parakhnevych (Odesa)8
1994 Oleksiy Antiukhin (Tavria)
Eduard Valenko (Lviv, Karpaty)
5
1995 Andriy Shevchenko (Dynamo-2, Dynamo)6
1996 Oleksandr Palyanytsia (Dnipro)
Oleksandr Ihnatyev (Nyva M)
Oleksandr Perenchuk (Nyva M)
4
1997 Yakiv Kripak (Metalurh Z)5
1998 Andriy Shevchenko (Dynamo)8
1999 Artem Lopatkin (Stal A)
Vyacheslav Tereshchenko (Odesa)
8
2000 Valentyn Poltavets (Metalurh Z)
Maksim Shatskikh (Dynamo)
4
2001 Andriy Vorobei (Shakhtar D)6
2002 Yevhen Arbuzov (Tytan A)
Andriy Vorobei (Shakhtar D)
Maksim Shatskikh (Dynamo)
5
2003 Andriy Vorobei (Shakhtar D)
Maksim Shatskikh (Dynamo)
5
2004 Oleksandr Kosyrin (Chornomorets) 5
Seasonal top scorers
YearTop Scorer(s)Goals
2005 Diogo Rincón (Dynamo) 6
2006 Kléber (Dynamo) 5
2007 Ruslan Levyha (Illichivets) 6
2008 Wladzimir Karytska (Chornomorets) 5
2009 Andriy Yarmolenko (Dynamo) 5
2010 Oleksandr Kovpak (Tavriya)5
2011 Andriy Oliynyk (Karpaty Ya.)5
2012 Maicon (Volyn)5
2013 Luiz Adriano & Alex Teixeira (Shakhtar)4
2014 Eduardo (Shakhtar)4
2015 Anton Kotlyar (Stal D)5
2016 Oleksandr Karavayev (Zorya)
Andriy Yarmolenko (Dynamo)
4
2017 Andriy Yarmolenko (Dynamo) 3
2018 Serhiy Kyslenko (Lviv) 5
Data through 2015–16 season.

Amateur clubs in the tournament

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Football Federation of Ukraine. Football Federation of Ukraine. 2016-08-18.
  2. Web site: Football Federation of Ukraine. Football Federation of Ukraine. 2016-08-18.
  3. Banyas, V. Forgotten tournaments (Забуті турніри). Ukrainian Premier League. 23 May 2017
  4. Banyas, V. Simply Pasha (Просто Паша). Ukrainian Premier League. 4 August 2017
  5. http://www.datagroup.ua/en/press/about/159?classID=71 Cup of Ukraine got title sponsor (Datagroup website)
  6. http://www.ffu.org.ua/ukr/tournaments/cup/5628/ Trouphy presentation for the 2010 final (FFU website)
  7. http://www.ffu.org.ua/ukr/tournaments/cup/1421/ Shakhtar won the 2008 Cup final.
  8. Web site: RSSSF. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 2016-08-18.
  9. Web site: Soccerway. Soccerway. 2016-08-18.
  10. https://web.archive.org/web/20160409000239/http://us.soccerway.com/matches/2014/05/15/ukraine/cup/fc-dynamo-kyiv/joint-stock-company-fc-shakhtar-donetsk/1679903/?ICID=PL_MS_01 2014 Final of the Ukrainian Cup
  11. https://web.archive.org/web/20171028191104/http://www.upl.ua/news/view/1380 Five holders, 13 finalists and 26 semifinalists (П’ять володарів, 13 фіналістів і 26 півфіналістів)
  12. http://www.uafootball.net.ua/statistika/kubok.htm Statistics by season
  13. http://wildstat.ru/p/2102/cht/211/stat/summary Кубок Украины (Суммарная таблица за все годы)
  14. https://web.archive.org/web/20201227053958/https://upl.ua/ua/news/view/4856 The Ruslan Kostyshyn's "Gvardiya" honours of the Cup (Гвардійська кубкова висота Руслана Костишина)
  15. https://web.archive.org/web/20201226205742/https://upl.ua/ua/news/view/4861 Among the best top scorers of Ukrainian Cup is Hladkyy and Seleznyov (Серед найкращих кубкових бомбардирів – Гладкий та Селезньов)