Mykola Matvienko

Mykola Matvienko came through the Shakhtar Donetsk academy, signing his first professional contract with the club in 2013. Rather than easing him straight into the first team, Shakhtar sent him out on loan twice — first to Karpaty Lviv for the second half of the 2016–17 season, then to Vorskla Poltava for the whole of 2017–18 — before he returned to Donetsk on a permanent basis. In the 2016–17 season he was rated the second-best left-back in the Ukrainian Premier League, extending his contract with the club in 2023.

At club level he has collected six Ukrainian Premier League titles, six Ukrainian Cups and a Ukrainian Super Cup, and as a youth player he reached the final of the UEFA Youth League with Shakhtar's under-19 side. He has also twice been named among the "33 Best Footballers of Ukraine".

Matvienko made his senior international debut for Ukraine in March 2017 in a World Cup qualifier against Croatia and has gone on to earn 84 caps without scoring. He was part of the Ukraine squad that reached the quarter-finals at Euro 2020, and he also played at Euro 2024. He featured in Ukraine's unsuccessful qualifying campaign for the 2022 World Cup, including the play-off matches against Scotland and Wales. His older brother, Dmytro Matvienko, is also a professional footballer.