Ukraine women's futsal squad finalized for friendly matches against Italy

10.03.2024 12:01

The Ukraine women's futsal national team is gearing up for participation in the European qualifiers of the inaugural Women's Futsal World Cup.

As previously announced by head coach Oleh Shaitanov, the team will engage in friendly matches against Italy. The two matches will take place in the city of Taranto on March 18th and 19th (starting at 21:00 and 20:00 local time, respectively). The training camp will commence on the 12th of March.

The list of players called up to the Ukrainian women's futsal national team has been announced by the press service of the Ukrainian Futsal Association.

Roster of the Ukraine women's futsal national team:

Goalkeepers: Anastasiia Terekh (Leixoes, Portugal), Nataliya Mytrofanska (Valdetires Ferrol, Spain), Varvara Novikova (Ladomyr);

Outfield players: Kseniya Hrytsenko, Snizhana Volovenko, Yelyzaveta Kuznetsova, Alyona Kovalenko (all from Budstar), Iryna Dubytska (Leixoes, Portugal), Yuliya Forsyuk (Atlético Torcal, Spain), Dariya Kovshyk (Torreblanca Melilla, Spain), Polina Drozd (Ilves, Finland), Kseniya Burlachenko, Khrystyna Stepanenko, Anastasiya Kalyahina, Anna Kaverzina (all from Internacional, Portugal).

2025 Women's Futsal World Cup. European Qualifiers. Format

26 teams will compete for four spots in the World Cup across the main and elite rounds.

Participants: England, Belgium, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Gibraltar, Spain, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Netherlands, Norway, Northern Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Ukraine, Finland, France, Croatia, Czechia, Sweden.

Spain and Portugal have received direct tickets to the elite round. If a European team earns the right to host the World Cup, they will secure a direct entry into the final stage.

Main round (dates of draw and matches to be determined later): 24 teams will be divided into six groups. The group winners and, if necessary, the best team among the second-place finishers will advance to the elite round.

Elite round (dates of draw and matches to be determined later): Eight teams, including Spain and Portugal, will be divided into two groups. The top two teams from each group will advance to the final stage.

The first Women's Futsal World Cup will take place in 2025. Sixteen teams will participate. The quotas for the World Cup are distributed as follows: Europe - 4, South America - 3, Asia - 3, Africa - 2, CONCACAF - 2, Oceania - 1. Another spot will be allocated to the host country.

Following the introduction of the Women's Futsal World Cup, UEFA will expand the Women's Futsal Euro to eight teams. The tournament will be held every four years, with the next edition taking place in 2027.

It is worth noting that Spain won all three Women's Futsal European Championships held before this moment - in 2019, 2022 (postponed from 2021), and 2023. The Ukrainian national team finished fourth, third, and second respectively in these tournaments.