Serbia Under-17s will kick off the Under-17 European Championship in Monday's clash with Ukraine Under-17s in Paralimni.
The two nations will be vying to progress from a group that contains the Czech Republic and tournament hosts Cyprus.
Match preview
Serbia are set to appear in the Under-17 European Championship for the third consecutive year after successfully negotiating their way through the qualifying process.
They collected seven points from three matches to ease through the first round, before going on to finish in the top two of their group in the elite stage.
Serbia secured a second-placed finish in group six after claiming victories against Georgia and Turkey on either side of a defeat to group winners Denmark.
After progressing through qualifying, Serbia will now attempt to advance from another group stage as they make their eighth appearance at an Under-17 European Championship.
Serbia have reached the knockout rounds in the last two years, advancing to the semi-finals in 2022 and the last eight in 2023.
Ukraine have preparing to make their seventh appearance at the tournament and their first since featuring at the 2017 competition.
They struggled in the first qualifying round, picking enough points to advance to the next stage as one of the five best third-placed sides.
Ukraine offered a significant improvement in the elite stage, winning all three games against Greece, Switzerland and Slovakia to finish top of Group 4.
Impressively, Yuriy Moroz's side were just one of two teams to negotiate the elite stage without conceding a single goal.
They will hope to bring that defensive resilience to Cyprus as they look to progress to the knockout rounds for the first time in the competition's history.
In fact, Ukraine have only won one of their 18 previous matches at the Under-17 Euros, with that win taking place against Norway in their most recent game at the tournament in 2017.
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Team News
Serbia are expected to line up with Vukasin Jovanic in goal, with the 16-year-old set to be shielded by the central-defensive pairing of Vuk Roganovic and Veljko Milosavljevic.
Bogdan Kostic will offer one of Serbia's main attacking threats after finishing as his country's top scorer in qualifying with three goals.
As for their opponents, Demian Tretiak is set to partner Kyrylo Dihtiar in central defence, while Mykyta Sheleketa and Dymtro Strilchuk are poised to operate as the two full-backs.
At the opposite end of the pitch, Bayer Leverkusen youngster Artem Stepanov will lead the line after scoring six goals during Ukraine's qualifying campaign.
Serbia Under-17s possible starting lineup:
Jovanovic; Bubanja, Roganovic, Milosavljevic, Avdic; Kostov, Maksimovic, Vasilic; Djordjevic, Rankovic, Kostic
Ukraine Under-17s possible starting lineup:
Makarenko; Sheleketa, Tretiak, Dihtiar, Strilchuk; Olychenko, Ozymai, Redushko; Bohdanov, Bondar, Stepanov
We say: Serbia Under-17s 0-2 Ukraine Under-17s
Ukraine showcased their strong defensive qualities in the second stage of qualifying, and we think that they will produce a resolute display to kick off the tournament with a win.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
