Euro 2026 (WU-17): in the opening match of the first qualifying round, Ukraine's women's national team lost to Switzerland

Today, on November 26, the Ukrainian women's national team played their opening match in the first qualifying round for Euro-2026 (WU-17) against Switzerland.

Euro 2026 (WU-17): in the opening match of the first qualifying round, Ukraine's women's national team lost to Switzerland

Photo by the UAF press service

The match of Group A6 took place in the Romanian town of Buftea. Under the guidance of Lyudmila Lemeschko, her team played evenly with their opponents but ultimately lost.

The key moment of the first half was a penalty on the 22nd minute that Lil Rickenbach failed to convert.

The scoreless tie held until almost the end of the match, but in the fifth added minute Linne Laetwiler finally directed the ball into the blue and yellow goalposts.

Thus, 0:1 — a disappointing loss for Ukraine's women's team.

Ukraine's next match in the Euro-2026 (WU-17) qualification will be on November 29 against Austria.

Euro-2026 (WU-17). Qualifying tournament. First round. Group A6. Matchday 1

Ukraine (WU-17) — Switzerland (WU-17) — 0:1 (0:0)

Goal: Laetwiler (90+5).

On the 22nd minute Rickenbach (Switzerland) failed to convert a penalty.

Ukraine (WU-17): Lisenkova, Oliynychenko, Belkina, Derevyanyko, Pipchenko, Nazarenko (Semenyuk, 81, Vorobyey, 90+2), Ivanchenko (c), Grinyshyn, Kolodyi, Pasarenko (Kozishkurt, 65), Lespuk.

Switzerland (WU-17): Azevedo, Messerli, Grauwiler, Rickenbach (c), Merkt, Kamber (Tsva, 46), Vegmann, Mettro (Blazer, 68), Campagniola (Laetwiler, 68), Steffen, Nain. 

Austria (WU-17) — Romania (WU-17) — 0:0

29.11.2025

Austria — Ukraine (Buftea). 11:00

Switzerland — Romania (Buftea). 16:00

02.12.2025

Romania — Ukraine (Buftea). 12:00

Switzerland — Austria (Tunari). 12:00

First round of Euro-2026 (WU-17) qualification

League A

Group A1: Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Bulgaria.

Group A2: France, Belgium, Germany, Ireland.

Group A3: Netherlands, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Andorra.

Group A4: Poland, Scotland, England, Montenegro. 

Group A5: Italy, Finland, Croatia, North Macedonia.

Group A6: Austria, Switzerland, Ukraine, Romania.

Group A7: Norway, Denmark, Serbia, Belarus.

Teams that finish last in their groups will continue the season in League B. The seeding for the second round of Euro-2026 (WU-17) qualification will depend on which places teams secure in their first-round groups.

League B

Group B1: Wales, Kosovo, Moldova, Azerbaijan.

Group B2: Greece, Estonia, Israel, Albania.

Group B3: Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Latvia, Kazakhstan.

Group B4: Turkey, Luxembourg, Northern Ireland.

Group B5: Sweden, Lithuania, Malta.

Group B6: Iceland, Slovenia, Faroe Islands.

The draw for the second round of Euro-2026 (WU-17) qualification will take place on December 11. Matches in this stage will be held until March 25, 2026. Based on their results, seven teams will qualify to join Northern Ireland in the final tournament that will run from May 3 to May 16, 2026.