Ukrainian national women's team players Yana Kalinina and Natiya Pantulaia gave pre-match comments ahead of the final qualifying match for the 2023 World Cup — an away game against Spain.

The Ukrainian women's national team will play against Spain today, September 6. The match with the Pyrenees will take place in Madrid at Ciudad del Fútbol de Las Rozas — the Royal Spanish Football Federation Center (kickoff at 22:00 Kyiv time).

Photo by Pavel Kubanov

Yana Kalinina: "The team approaches the match with Spain in good shape. We have prepared well for this encounter, and our victory over the Faroes added morale. We need to show a good game."

The Ukrainian national team has always been known for its character and teamwork. We've won many matches thanks to this. We will fight and I believe we can put on a decent performance. Let's see what the result is later."

We did well in qualifying, but it's unfortunate that our current standing in the table doesn't satisfy us. Everything was decided by our home match against Scotland. I believe that in future qualification cycles we will show a better result."

Photo by Pavel Kubanov

Natiya Pantulaia: "The Ukrainian national team approaches the match with Spain with full responsibility. This is a very important game, and it doesn't matter where we are in our group. We need to conduct this meeting as well as possible."

In the Spanish squad there has been a change, but it's unlikely that this will significantly affect their play. They have an extremely high level of football. But we've worked and are ready for this match.

Every team has some weaknesses. Spain is no exception. Our goal is to take advantage of them."

Photo by Pavel Kubanov

It should be noted that the Royal Spanish Football Federation will conduct a social action in support of Ukraine during the Spain-Ukraine match.

At the beginning of the war, the Spanish government through the Ministry of Integration and Social Security initiated a program to help and care for refugees who arrived due to military actions in Ukraine.

Thanks to this action, some of these people will be able to support our team.

There will be nearly a hundred Ukrainians at the match. In addition, Ukrainian children will be present as escorts for players at the start of the game.

Composition of the Ukrainian women's national team

Goalkeepers: Kateryna Samson, Daria Bondarchuk (both — "Zhitlobud-2" Kharkiv), Iryna Sanyina ("Kolos" Kovalivka).

Defenders: Lyubov Shmatko ("Fomget", Turkey), Anna Petrik ("Breidablik", Iceland), Olha Basanska ("Hayasa", Armenia), Kateryna Korsun, Iryna Podolska (both — "Zhitlobud-2" Kharkiv), Daria Kravets ("Como", Italy), Tetiana Romanenko ("Saint-Etienne", France).

Midfielders: Yulia Shevchuk, Daria Apanshenko (both — "Fomget", Turkey), Tetiana Kitayeva ("Skra", Poland), Natiya Pantulaia ("Zhitlobud-2" Kharkiv), Tamila Kimych (ETO, Hungary), Viktoriya Girin ("Ladomyr" Vladimir), Nikolina Kozlova ("Keghe", Denmark), Yana Malakhova ("Pradehon" Spain).

Forwards: Nadiya Kunina ("Austria", Austria), Inna Glushchenko ("Reims", France), Olha Ovdychuk ("Fomget", Turkey), Roxolana Kravchuk, Yana Kalinina (both — "Zhitlobud-2" Kharkiv).

Photo by Pavel Kubanov

Women's World Cup 2023 Qualifying Tournament

European Zone. Group B

16.09.2021. Faroe Islands — Spain — 0:10

17.09.2021. Hungary — Scotland — 0:2

21.09.2021. Scotland — Faroe Islands — 7:1

21.09.2021. Hungary — Spain — 0:7

21.10.2021. Ukraine — Faroe Islands — 4:0

22.10.2021. Scotland — Hungary — 2:1

26.10.2021. Ukraine — Spain — 0:6

26.10.2021. Faroe Islands — Hungary — 1:7

25.11.2021. Spain — Faroe Islands — 12:0

26.11.2021 Scotland — Ukraine — 1:1

30.11.2021. Hungary — Ukraine — 4:2

30.11.2021. Spain — Scotland — 8:0

08.04.2022. Hungary — Faroe Islands — 7:0

12.04.2022. Scotland — Spain — 0:2

24.06.2022. Ukraine — Scotland — 0:4

28.06.2022. Ukraine — Hungary — 2:0

02.09.2022. Faroe Islands — Ukraine — 0:3

02.09.2022. Spain — Hungary — 3:0

Standings Table

06.09.2022. Spain — Ukraine

06.09.2022. Faroe Islands — Scotland

Play-offs: 3—11 October 2022.

Intercontinental Play-offs: 7—15 November 2022, 13—25 February 2023, 3—11 April 2023.

Final Tournament (Australia, New Zealand): 10 July — 20 August 2023.

Women's World Cup 2023 Qualifying Tournament. European Zone

Group Stage

Europe has eleven direct spots for the Women's World Cup 2023, another team will participate in the intercontinental play-offs.

The nine group winners will go directly to the Women's World Cup. The second-placed teams in each group will continue their battle at the next stage.

Photo by Pavel Kubanov

Play-offs

Nine teams that will occupy second places in their groups will participate in the play-offs, which will consist of two stages.

The top three among the second-placed teams will have a chance to play directly at the second stage of the UEFA play-off. Six participants who remain after the first round will compete for three spots in one-legged matches. Three winners from the first round and three teams that went straight to the second stage will determine the trio of UEFA play-off winners.

The two winners of the UEFA play-offs at the second stage with the highest ranking (criteria applied to group stage results plus the second-round playoff) will receive two automatic spots for the Women's World Cup, while the third winner will continue their journey in the intercontinental play-off.