Ukraine's national team makes history, winning World Championship for players with hearing impairments

The Deaflympics football team of Ukraine before the match against Japan on October 7, 2023 Photo: Screenshot from Malaysian Deaf Sports Association broadcast

Alvina Kaminska

At the 2023 World Cup, held in the Malaysian city of Kuala Lumpur, the Ukrainian Deaflympics football team won the competition.

"Suspilne. Sport," and the Ukrainian Football Association reported this.

The publication noted that Ukraine participated in the football championship among players with hearing impairment for the fourth time. And at this year's championship, it won for the first time. The Ukrainian national team took ninth place at the previous world competitions in 2016.

This year, 19 national teams took part in the tournament. Türkiye defended the title of the current champion.

^{Deaflympic football team of Ukraine. Photo: WDFC}

The Ukrainian team got into group B, where they defeated Thailand (6:0), drew with Senegal (2:2), and defeated Argentina (5:0).

In the 1/8 finals, the "blue and yellow" defeated Nigeria (2:0), and in the quarterfinals — Iran (3:0). In the semifinals, the Ukrainians beat Senegal in a penalty shootout (1:1, penalty shootout 8:7).

^{Deaflympic football team of Ukraine. Photo: WDFC}

In the decisive match, the Ukrainian team faced Japan. The Ukrainians defeated the Japanese with a score of 2:1 and became world champions.

Ihor Reutov, who scored eight goals, became the best scorer of the the national team.

For reference:

The Deaflympics are top-level sports competitions for deaf people. Last year, the 2021 Deaflympics were held in Brazil, postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Ukraine won by a large margin in the medal count, winning 138 medals.

The next Deaflympics will be held in Japan in 2025.