Let’s now take a look at another of the countries experiencing their first World Cup, and the Australian community of fans who’ll be following their rise through the ranks.
Ukraine became independent from the former Soviet Union in 1991 after more than 70 years of division between the USSR, Poland, Romania and Czechoslovakia.
During this time, Ukrainian migrants fled persecution to destinations throughout Europe and the world. The first large influx into Australia began in the 1950s.
While there are now around 15,000 Ukrainian-born migrants in Australia, there are about twice that number who are second- and third-generation Australian. This provides an interesting mix of football allegiances between the old country and the new.
Adam Connors spoke with three members of Australia’s Ukrainian community in the lead-up to the World Cup to investigate how they’ll be following the competition, and more importantly, who they’ll be following throughout the next month.
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