March 8, the Ukrainian women's national team (WU-17) will start their second qualifying round for Euro-2025 in Spain, where they will face Belgium and Iceland alongside hosts Spain.

Head coach of our footballers, Ludmila Lemeshko, commented on the official website of the UAF about the latest news regarding the team's preparation:

— Before leaving for Spain, we held a training camp in Ternopil. We accomplished everything that was planned. The only unpleasant thing is that our leader Viktoriya Savkina got injured in a friendly match against Polissya, and she will not be able to help the team in Murcia. This is a very serious loss.

— You invited 24 players to Ternopil for training but only 20 are going to Spain…

— Besides Savkina, Yuliya Palamarchuk, Valeriia Rudenko and Uliana Solovyova did not make the final squad.

— When we talked about a friendly match with Polissya (2:3), we noticed that Karina Lespuh had made her debut in the team…

— She has been playing well and is one of our leaders. Also, I would like to highlight Alina Savka — captain of the national team.

— Did all the players you were counting on arrive in Ternopil?

— No, Anna Avramenko and Evelina Kupcova missed out due to injuries.

— Are the Spanish favorites for this group?

— Yes. By the way, Ukrainian girls will have to face them in the first match already. The difficulty lies in the fact that my players trained on artificial turf, while we will play on grass. On the other hand, we will have more time to gather information about our next opponents from Belgium and Iceland. Our main task is to avoid finishing last and stay among the strongest teams.

Photo: Dan Balashov

Ukraine WU-17 Squad Composition

Goalkeepers: Anna Kharchenko («Vorskla» Poltava), Alina Pasko («Obolon» Kyiv).

Defenders: Anastasiia Belkina («Kryvbas» Kryvyi Rih), Veronika Derevyanko («EMS-Podillia» Vinnytsia), Valeriia Kazyna (DUSHS «Podil» Kyiv), Elizaveta Hirun («OKIP-Polissya» Kyiv), Mariia Osadcha («Sisters» Odesa), Alina Savka («Vorskla» Poltava).

Midfielders: Milena Ivanchenko, Daria Kolydiy, Polina Nazarenko, Iryna Oliynychenko (all — «Kryvbas» Kryvyi Rih), Oleksandra Pichevska («Yunyst» Chernihiv), Daria Artemenko, Zoria Hladun (both — «Ladomir» Volodymyr), Emilie Kanakhovska («Aurich», Germany).

Forwards: Arina Paskarenko («EMS-Podillia» Vinnytsia), Karina Lespuh («Minay» Zakarpattya oblast), Kseniya Vorobei («Yunyst» Chernihiv), Varvara Kozliuk («Polissya» Zhytomyr).

Euro-2025 (WU-17). Second Qualifying Round. Group A1

March 8, 2025

Spain — Ukraine (13:00)

Iceland — Belgium (19:00)

March 11, 2025

Spain — Iceland (13:00)

Belgium — Ukraine (19:00)

March 14, 2025

Belgium — Spain (16:00)

Ukraine — Iceland (16:00)

All match times are in Kyiv time.

In the second qualifying round, seven teams will qualify for the final stage of the European Championship among girls under 17 years old along with the Faroe Islands team. Additionally, some teams will move up from one league to another based on their performance in this round.

In League A, seven groups with a total of 28 teams are competing, including seven teams that advanced from League B after the first qualifying round. The winners of these seven groups in the second qualifying round will secure spots at the final stage, which will take place between May 4 and May 17, 2025. Teams finishing fourth in their respective groups will start the next season in League B.

In League B, 21 teams are competing across six groups for spots to advance to League A in the next qualifying round.

Euro-2025 (WU-17). Second Qualifying Round

League A

Group A1: Spain, Belgium, Iceland, Ukraine.

Group A2: Scotland, France, Wales, Slovakia.

Group A3: Italy, Czech Republic, Croatia, Georgia.

Group A4: Switzerland, Poland, Turkey, Hungary.

Group A5: England, Finland, Netherlands, Sweden.

Group A6: Norway, Portugal, Greece, Serbia.

Group A7: Germany, Austria, Denmark, Kosovo.

League B

Group B1: Northern Ireland, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Montenegro.

Group B2: Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Azerbaijan, Malta.

Group B3: Belarus, Albania, Israel, Andorra.

Group B4: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, Latvia.

Group B5: Ireland, Faroe Islands, Lithuania.

Group B6: Slovenia, North Macedonia, Moldova.

It is worth noting that Euro-2025 (WU-17) will serve as a qualifier for the 2025 FIFA Women's U-17 World Cup in Morocco from October 17 to November 8.