Today, December 1st, at the El Palmer stadium in Cadiz, Spain, Ukraine's women's national team played their second match in the She Plays tournament — against Austria. In the first game, Vladimir Pyatenko's wards drew with Scotland (1:1), while the Austrians had a 1-1 draw with Finland.

In the starting lineup for Ukraine there was only one change: Kateryna Boklach replaced Kateryna Samson in goal. The first half was dynamic and productive. As early as the 16th second, Austria opened the scoring with a long-range shot. However, the Ukrainians not only quickly equalized — on the 14th minute Kozlova converted Kravchuk's pass — but also went ahead: in four minutes Kravchuk scored the second goal from Ovdychuk's assist. But their opponents restored parity before halftime: Schichtel shot from the penalty line, and after a deflection off Kotik’s foot, the ball ended up in the net.

Photo by Yuri Lisin

At the start of the second half, Ovdychuk touched the ball near the opponent's penalty area, sped up and accurately shot into the far corner. This goal was the only one after halftime and brought Ukraine’s national team a 3-2 victory. Having earned four points in two matches, blue-and-yellow ended their participation at She Plays-2025.

Photo by Yuri Lisin

She Plays-2025 Tournament

Austria — Ukraine — 2:3 (2:2)

Goals: Hillbrandt (1), Kotik (28, own goal) — Kozlova (14), Kravchuk (18), Ovdychuk (47).

Austria: Pal, Klein, Degen, Schichtel (Puntigam, 46), Pinter (Kemball, 60), Danst, Brunold (Gikkelberger, 60), Weinharter (Brontgaver, 80), Plattner (Hamshou, 60), Neschenweng, Hillbrandt.

Ukraine: Boklach, Korsun, Kotik, Shmatko (c), Shaynyuk, Petrik (Apanaschenko, 45+4), Semkiv, Kozlova (Pantulaia, 87), Ovdychuk (Radionova, 87), Kalinina (Kogut, 66), Kravchuk (Glushenko, 74). 

Yellow cards: Kalinina (29), Kotik (33), Korsun (53).

Schedule of She Plays Tournament Matches

November 27. Finland — Austria — 1:1

November 28. Scotland — Ukraine — 1:1

November 28. Switzerland — Belgium — 1:2

December 1. Austria — Ukraine — 2:3

December 1. Belgium — Finland

December 2. Wales — Switzerland

December 2. Scotland — China

Calendar of Matches for Ukraine's Women National Team in Group 3 Qualification for the 2027 WC

March 3, 2026. Ukraine — England

March 7, 2026. Ukraine — Spain

April 14, 2026. Iceland — Ukraine

April 18, 2026. Spain — Ukraine

June 5, 2026. Ukraine — Iceland

June 9, 2026. England — Ukraine

European Qualification for the 2027 WC

League A

Group 1: Sweden, Italy, Denmark, Serbia.

Group 2: France, Netherlands, Poland, Ireland.

Group 3: Spain, England, Iceland, Ukraine.

Group 4: Germany, Norway, Austria, Slovenia. 

League B

Group 1: Wales, Czech Republic, Albania, Montenegro.

Group 2: Switzerland, Northern Ireland, Turkey, Malta.

Group 3: Portugal, Finland, Slovakia, Latvia.

Group 4: Belgium, Scotland, Israel, Luxembourg.                

League C

Group 1: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein.

Group 2: Croatia, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Gibraltar. 

Group 3: Hungary, Azerbaijan, North Macedonia, Andorra.

Group 4: Greece, Faroe Islands, Georgia. 

Group 5: Romania, Cyprus, Moldova. 

Group 6: Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia.                  

As a reminder, the FIFA Council approved that the women's World Cup in Brazil will take place from June 24 to July 25, 2027. Of the 32 spots, 29 direct entries will be distributed as follows:

• Europe — 11;
• Asia — 6;
• Africa — 4;
• CONCACAF — 4;
• Southern America — 3 (Brazil qualifies automatically from this quota);
• Oceania — 1.

The three remaining spots will be determined in a playoff tournament featuring ten national teams. It consists of two stages with the following quotas:

• Europe — 1;
• Asia — 2;
• Africa — 2;
• CONCACAF — 2;
• Southern America — 2;
• Oceania — 1.

The first stage of the playoff tournament will take place in October—December 2026, and the second one — in February 2027.

European Qualification for the 2027 WC

The European qualification will take place over three stages. Group stage matches will be held on March 3rd and 7th, April 14th and 18th, June 5th and 9th, 2026 in three leagues — A (16 teams), B (16) and C (21).

The starting position of each team in the leagues is determined based on the results of the Nations League-2025. Ukraine will participate in League A.

Direct entries to the 2027 WC go to the winners of four groups in League A. 

The remaining spots will be contested in playoff rounds in October—December 2026. In the first round, teams that finish second and third in League A will play against the winners of six groups from League C and the best teams finishing second there. Eight winners advance to the second round.

The four lowest-ranked teams in League A and four group winners from League B will face off against the runners-up and third-placed teams from League B, respectively. Eight winners advance to the second round.

In the second round, 16 teams will meet in eight pairs. Seven of the best winners qualify for the World Cup, while the eighth one has to participate in a continental playoff.