Amid Russia’s ongoing full-scale invasion, Ukraine has learned to innovate quickly to defend itself – on the battlefield, and perhaps soon enough, on the football pitch. In a country where artificial intelligence (AI) is already used to conduct strikes against the enemy, the next frontier may well be football (soccer) – once peace returns. When Russia’s invasion ends, Ukraine will be left not only with battle-hardened resilience, but a growing pool of homegrown tech talent in the AI sector. It wouldn’t be far-fetched to assume some of those abilities would trickle down into football. Indeed, the use of AI in football is already gathering pace around Europe. Jordan Campbell, a football writer for The Athletic, recently wrote a story on how AI is poised to transform football at every level – from how clubs recruit talent to how players train, recover, and avoid injury. As former City Football Group data head Lee Mooney puts it, “An AI agent could simulate more football in 24 hours than has ever been played professionally in the history of the game.” Clubs are already using AI to model match tactics, optimize set pieces, and predict injuries. Liverpool has worked with Google DeepMind to refine corner kicks, while Barcelona’s Innovation Hub is investing in AI-driven biomedical tools to prevent injury and extend player careers. In recruitment, AI is increasingly replacing traditional scouting methods, filtering vast troves of data to identify ideal player fits and even projecting how a signing would perform in a specific tactical system. While implementation remains uneven and club cultures vary in their openness to such tools, the direction is clear: football’s next competitive edge will be won by those who can combine human insight with big data and machine intelligence. A country and league under siege “We are currently in the midst of a decline,” says Andrew Todos, founder of Zorya Londonsk. “From next season, Ukraine no longer has an automatic league phase spot in the Champions League. Instead, the top team enters in the second qualifying round, and the season after that, it will be the first.” The reason is plain: Ukrainian clubs have performed poorly in Europe. Shakhtar Donetsk has carried the country’s UEFA coefficient “on its back,” Todos says, while Dynamo Kyiv and others have fallen short. It’s not just about results on the field – it’s about what the war has done to the league itself. “The Russian full-scale invasion, however, has devastated the country. In a footballing sense, dozens of foreign players left Ukraine to avoid the war’s impact,” said Mark Temnycky, a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council. “The Russians have devastated several Ukrainian business operations and companies,” noted Temnycky. “Loss of funding and revenue has forced some teams to fold, players have departed their teams to join some of Ukraine’s top clubs, and some players have even joined the war effort to defend their country.” Ukraine’s top-tier clubs struggle to sign foreign talent. “Most sides can’t attract the kind of high-calibre foreign player they could pre-2022 anymore,” Todos explains. Safety is a concern. So is financing. Clubs lack the budgets to compete, and the war has sapped both revenue and ambition. This has led to distorted transfer spending. “Shakhtar are spending over the odds for young Brazilians – €16m, €17m for players worth under €10m,” Todos notes. The club is banking on these signings paying off long-term. But results remain mixed. “It’s too early to tell. They’re young, 20 or under, and still need time to adapt to Europe.” Temnycky further added: “The loss of foreign players, the destruction of infrastructure, and the general instability have devastated the domestic league.” Ukraine has slipped from 12th to 23rd in UEFA’s league rankings. “Dozens of foreign players left the country. Some clubs folded. Others merged. Some players even joined the military,” he adds. Seeds of innovation Still, there is a growing desire to modernize. Some clubs – like Karpaty Lviv and Polissya Zhytomyr – are beginning to build smarter, data-driven operations. They’re working with PASS, a Ukrainian-run analytics and scouting firm. “Karpaty’s head scout, Hlib Kornienko, is a co-founder,” Todos says. “Their head coach is a graduate of PASS’s courses. Ukraine NT analyst Hlib Platov is also a co-founder.” While AI isn’t widespread yet, it may begin here. “If AI is implemented tactically or in scouting, I assume it’ll be PASS or PASS-linked people who do it first,” Todos predicts. So far, PASS has focused on analytics and player sourcing. But the infrastructure is there to go further – if funding and will align. Still, challenges persist. “Some clubs can hardly run their media departments,” Todos says bluntly. “So I struggle to see them taking AI seriously in its relative infancy.” Even so, he sees potential: “With everyone using Wyscout, GPS tracking, Hudl – data is becoming the norm. I’d hope that there will end up being a Ukrainian club that pioneers AI soon.” Technology can help with scouting “Teams such as Shakhtar have scouts who analyze players across markets in South America, Africa, and Asia,” said Temnycky. “They assess their academy players and look to see where they can strengthen certain positions to ensure that they will have a successful football team.” “There is also an emphasis on identifying and acquiring young talent rather than fully matured professionals. This allows these young players time to develop and excel while playing for Shakhtar, Dynamo, or another top Ukrainian club,” he added. Scouting is the likeliest beachhead for AI in Ukrainian football. “Clubs like LNZ and Polissya have already shifted from just South America to Africa and the Balkans,” Todos notes. “Formerly top domestic Albanians are making the next steps in Ukraine.” Kosovo’s Muharrem Jashari attracted a €1.3m offer from Austria’s LASK, which LNZ rejected. “It’s a big fee for a club outside Ukraine’s traditional top two.” TransferRoom, an online platform for clubs to network and propose deals, is also gaining traction. “It’s highly respected,” says Todos. “It allows clubs to shine a light on players who might be overlooked in a crowded market.” Furthermore, smaller nations might stand to benefit enormously from using AI to unearth hidden talent. Algorithms can scan overlooked leagues and analyze player performance, identifying patterns and profiles that align with what a Ukrainian club might be seeking – often in places where human scouts rarely tread. Future hopes, present struggles Not everyone is optimistic about the short term. If Ukrainian football continues to erode, and no clubs beyond Dynamo or Shakhtar emerge as serious contenders, the decline could become irreversible – at which point, no algorithm will be able to stop the rot. Bradley Stafford, an Irish photographer living in Ukraine that closely follows Ukrainian football, echoes the sentiment. “It’s probably at its lowest point in a very long time. Since 2014, and even more so since 2022, the domestic league has dropped in quality.” Still, he sees hope. “More international players are now playing abroad in top leagues. Players like Brazhko and Sudakov could make big moves this summer.” The national team, too, continues to punch above its weight, recently qualifying for Euro 2024 and drawing with Belgium. “This gives young players something to aim for,” says Stafford. “The pathway is defined.” But the cost is that Ukraine’s best players leave, further weakening the league. “The domestic league may suffer more as a result,” Stafford concedes. “But with more players abroad, the national team could improve.” Can AI be Ukraine’s competitive edge? In a country forced to improvise under fire, where volunteers work out of garages and battlefield tech is updated at a neck breaking speed, the capacity for innovation is there. What’s missing is time, money, and a return to peace – time for clubs to nurture young players and develop them into competitors, money to keep teams financially afloat, and, above all, an end to Russia’s invasion. Still, Todos believes the future could come quickly. “AI still needs refining for football. It’s going to need investment and experts. But the tools are improving. It just takes one Ukrainian club to take the leap.”