Women's Futsal World Cup 2025: Ukraine claims first win in qualification tournament

17.10.2024 18:35

Today, October 17, the Ukraine women's futsal team continued its campaign in the main round of the European qualification for the Women's Futsal World Cup 2025.

Under the guidance of Oleksandr Shaitano, the team suffered a loss to France (1:3) yesterday in Group 3. Today, they faced Northern Ireland, who were coming off a heavy defeat to the Czech Republic (0:6).

The first half of the match in Teplice, Czechia, saw a significant territorial advantage for the Ukrainians. They continuously attacked the opponents' goal, but the Northern Ireland team managed to hold off for a long time. This continued until the 15th minute, when, after a corner kick taken by Yuliya Tytova, Anastasiya Klipachenko struck powerfully from a distance to make it 1:0. Just 30 seconds later, a cross from Kseniya Hrytsenko was converted by Dariya Kovshyk, doubling our team's lead.

At the start of the second half, that combination worked again. Hrytsenko shot at goal, and Kovshyk redirected the ball into the net. Furthermore, in the 28th minute, Hrytsenko found her teammate again with a precise pass, and Kovshyk completed her hat trick. Six minutes later, Kseniya Burlachenko extended our team's lead to five goals. The final touch of the match was made by the star of the game, Dariya Kovshyk, who completed her quadruple.

In the end, it was a 6:0 victory for the Blue and Yellows. Ukraine's next match will be the day after tomorrow, October 19, against Czechia.

As a reminder, only the group winner will advance to the elite qualifying round.

Futsal World Cup 2025. Main Round of Qualifying. Group 3

October 16, 2024

Ukraine — France — 1:3

Northern Ireland — Czechia — 0:6

October 17, 2024

Northern Ireland — Ukraine — 0:6 (0:2)

Goals: Klipachenko (15), Kovshyk (16, 23, 28, 38), Burlachenko (34).

Northern Ireland: Harkness — McMaster, Kelly, Peachey, Ree; Newman, McConnell, Dunn, Uzerol, Hennity, Bell, McKay, McCartney, Dempster.

Ukraine: Terekh — Shulha, Hrytsenko, Kovshyk, Forsyuk; Mytrofanska, Kyslova, Drozd, Tytova, Volovenko, Klipachenko, Kostyuk, Burlachenko.

Czechia — France — 2:2

Standings

October 19, 2024

France — Northern Ireland (17:00)

Czechia — Ukraine (20:00)

All match times are Kyiv time.

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

A total of 25 teams will compete for four World Cup spots in the main and elite rounds. Spain and Portugal have received direct qualification to the elite round.

Main Round (Matches: October 15–19)

The 23 remaining teams have been divided into five groups of four and one group of three. The winners of each group will advance to the elite round.

Before the draw, the 23 teams, including Ukraine, were seeded into four pots based on the UEFA women’s futsal national team rankings.

Women’s Futsal World Cup 2025. Main Round Groups

Group 1: Italy, Croatia, Serbia, Lithuania.

Group 2: Hungary, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Norway.

Group 3: Ukraine, Czechia, Northern Ireland, France.

Group 4: Finland, Slovenia, Moldova, England.

Group 5: Sweden, Belgium, Slovakia, Latvia.

Group 6: Poland, Netherlands, Kazakhstan.

Elite Round (Draw: October 31, Matches: March 18–23, 2025)

Eight teams, including Spain and Portugal, will be divided into two groups of four. The top two teams from each group will advance to the final tournament.

The inaugural Women's Futsal World Cup will be held in 2025, with 16 teams participating. The slots have been allocated as follows: Europe – 4, South America – 3, Asia – 3, Africa – 2, CONCACAF – 2, Oceania – 1, and one slot reserved for the host nation (Philippines).

With 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 one scheduled for 2027.

It’s worth noting that Spain has won all three Women's Futsal EURO championships held to date — in 2019, 2022 (postponed from 2021), and 2023. Ukraine’s national team finished fourth, third, and second in these tournaments, respectively.