European Championship B (Men)

Sun 18th October 2026   - KO  14:00 - FK Zemun Stadium , Serbia
Official: Andrew Pilkington (Spain)

Serbia

14

FT

30

Half Time
4 - 24

Ukraine

Tries

Aleksandar PAVLOVIC (7)
Lachlan DITCHMEN (54)
Tyson WALKER (67)

Mitchell BEGGS-MOWCZAN (20,30)
Vitalii PUCHKOV (27)
Oleksandr FOMIUK (35)
Zayn SLUVINSKY (48)

Goals

Tyson WALKER (1/3)

Oleksandr SKORBACH (5/5)

Sinbins

Liubomyr BEZNOSHCHUK (45)

Match Preview: Serbia and Ukraine name their squads as Euro B get underway in Belgrade!

Euro B kicks off on Sunday 18 October when title holders Serbia play host to Ukraine in a men’s senior international at FK Zenum Stadium, Belgrade (kick off 2pm, local time). All the games in the competition will be played over a week at the central venue, with Netherlands the third nation in the group.

Serbia and Ukraine last met at senior level in 2024 as part of the IRL Rugby League World Cup European Qualifiers, with Serbia having the upper hand, gaining a 50-10 victory.

Serbia head coach, Darren Fisher, commented: “This year's Euro B competition gives us a great opportunity to call up some of our youth players and help them in their development journey. We have rewarded some of our U19s, U21s and U23s with selection in the squad.

“We're excited to see how the mix across the squad comes together and, being title holders, we want to make sure we give our all on the field.”

Ukraine secured promotion to Euro B after beating Italy and Greece in 2025 Euro C.

“We’re really excited to be back together as a group and building on what we achieved last year,” said Ukraine head coach Dan Beardshaw. “We’ve made some fantastic progress as a nation, but we know there’s still plenty of work ahead of us. Serbia are a strong, well-established side, and we’re looking forward to the challenge.

“We’re also incredibly grateful for the continued support of the Ukrainian military particularly in allowing our players to take time away from their duties to represent their country. We never take that opportunity for granted, especially knowing the sacrifices being made back home. For us, representing Ukraine is about much more than rugby league, and we want to make our country proud.”

Spain’s Andrew Pilkington will take charge of the fixture having delivered a match officials course to members of the Ukrainian delegation the day before.

Serbia (squad): Lachlan DITCHMEN (Carina), Sasha POPOVIC (Glebe Dirty Reds), Damian Vukovic (Montpellier XIII), Aleksandar PAVLOVIC, Dzavid JASARI, Strahinja STOILJKOVIC (Partizan 1953), Jason MURANKA (Radnicki New Belgrade), Luka ILIC (Radnicki Nis), Mateja NEDELJKOVIC, Rajko TRIFUNOVIC, Vojislav DEDIC, Andrej MORA, Marko JANKOVIC, Vuk STRBAC, Ilija COTRIC, Bosko Todorovic (Red Star), Tyson WALKER (St George Illawarra), Daniel MARJANOVIC (Villeneuve Leopards), Zaric SABAN (West Brisbane Panthers)

Ukraine (squad): Rhys SCIGLITANO (Blacktown Workers), Zayn SLUVINSKY (Glebe Dirty Reds), Liubomyr BEZNOSHCHUK, Yevhen CHECHETA, Yaroslav Davydov, Yevhen DAVYDOV, Danylo Diachenko, Oleksandr FOMIUK, Taras KOLISNYK, Vitalii PUCHKOV, Dmitro SEMERENKO, SHCHERBYNA OLEKSANDR, Oleksandr SKORBACH, KARPENKO VOLODYMYR, Vedler DANYLO (Kharkiv Legion XIII), HRYSHCENKO OSTAP , PAVLIV MYKHAILO (Lviv Tigers), Narek Manukyan (Rivne Giants, ), Mitchell Beggs-Mowczan (Ukraine Trident)

1 Tyson WALKER
Full Back
Yevhen DAVYDOV 1
2 Andrej MORA
Right Wing
Vedler DANYLO 2
3 Aleksandar PAVLOVIC
Right Centre
Yaroslav DAVYDOV 4
4 Damian VUKOVIC
Left Centre
Liubomyr BEZNOSHCHUK 3
5 Dzavid JASARI
Left Wing
Oleksandr FOMIUK 5
19 Vojislav DEDIC
Stand Off
Oleksandr SKORBACH 6
7 Daniel MARJANOVIC
Scrum Half
Vitalii PUCHKOV 7
8 Marko JANKOVIC
Prop
SHCHERBYNA OLEKSANDR 24
9 Sasha POPOVIC
Hooker
Mitchell BEGGS-MOWCZAN 9
10 Lachlan DITCHMEN
Prop
Rhys Sciglitano 10
18 Strahinja STOILJKOVIC
Second Row
Zayn SLUVINSKY 11
12 Jason MURANKA
Second Row
Dmitro SEMERENKO 12
13 Zaric SABAN
Loose Forward
Yevhen CHECHETA 13
16 Vuk STRBAC
Int 1
Danylo DIACHENKO 12
15 Luka ILIC
Int 2
Narek MANUKYAN 16
17 Rajko TRIFUNOVIC
Int 3
HRYSHCENKO OSTAP  15
6 Bosko Todorovic
Int 4
KARPENKO VOLODYMYR 17
Reserve 1
Taras KOLISNYK 21
Match Report: Ukraine record historic 14-30 win over Serbia in Belgrade

A dominant first half performance saw Ukraine record an historic, first-ever victory over Serbia, 30-14, at the FK Zenum Stadium, Belgrade to open Euro B. After Aleksandar Pavlovic had given the hosts an early lead, Ukraine posted four tries in 15 blistering minutes, debutant hooker Mitchell Beggs-Mowczan with two, to lead 24-4 at the break to set the platform for victory.

Ukraine men’s head coach, Dan Beardshaw, commented: “I’m incredibly proud of the boys. We’ve faced plenty of challenges getting this squad together, but the attitude, commitment and character of the players throughout the week have been outstanding. Mitchell Beggs-Mowczan was excellent on his international debut, he’s brought real quality and professionalism into the group, Oleksandr Shcherbyna also deserves a special mention for his performance in the front row.

“What pleases me most is seeing the continued development of this group. We’re building something special with Ukrainian rugby league and results like today show just how far we’ve come. Our domestic Ukrainian players were outstanding, these are players who are living and training in circumstances that most people simply cannot imagine, yet they continue to improve and compete at this level.”

Serbia rallied late on with tries from U19s Lachlan Ditchmen and Tyson Walker but had left themselves too much to do. “We lost the ruck in that early period and Ukraine took their opportunities well, no excuses the better team won today. We have a week ahead to prepare and know we need to be better next time.”

Ukraine will secure the Euro B title if they beat Netherlands on Wednesday at the same venue.