WWC Qualifiers: Ukraine vs England

In the first international break of the year, England will face-off against Ukraine in the qualifiers for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil which is due to take place over the month of July. England have been placed in League A Group 3, which contains Ukraine, Iceland, and Spain. This fixture will be taking place in Turkey on Tuesday the 3^rd of March in the first of the qualifiers.

After not qualifying for EURO 2025, Ukraine had a decent run in the Nations league, where they were grouped with Czechia, Albania and Croatia, and ultimately finished at the top of their League B group, meaning that they have been promoted to Legue A for these World Cup qualifying matches. Out of their previous five matches, Ukraine have wone three times (once against each of the teams in their Nation’s League group), drawn once against Czechia, which ended in a one-all draw after the Ukrainians scored a penalty in the 19^th minute, and they have lost once (2-0 against Croatia at the end of their campaign in the league). Their top scorer was Olha Ovdiychuk, who bagged three goals and two assists in their Nations League run.

England’s Lionesses return to international duty with their captain Leah Williamson for the first time since their historic victory at EURO 2025 seven months ago. In their past five matches, the team have won four times (including their victory over Spain in the EURO final, but also achieving victories over Australia, China and Ghana). Their only loss came against Brazil, where they conceded twice, resulting in the Brazilian team winning 2-1. Fans will be hoping to see some goal involvements from Georgia Stanway who, if she gets two involvements, will reach 50 in an England shirt.

These two teams last faced each other in June 2014 in what coincidentally was also a World Cup Qualifier, where the Lionesses won 2-1. The only two remaining players from this previous squad are Lucy Bronze and Alex Greenwood with a total of 251 caps between them. Although this is a home match for Ukraine, it will be played in Turkey due to the ongoing conflict in the intended host country. When questioned about whether this puts the game into perspective for the England squad, captain Williamson commented that she was “looking forward to an occasion that gets to celebrate those [Ukrainian] players” and that she “can’t imagine how they feel to step out in the Ukraine shirt”.

The fixture will kick off on Tuesday the 3^rd of March at 5pm and will be available live on ITV4 and will be available to stream on ITVX from 4:30pm. After this fixture, Ukraine will go on to play the previous World Cup champions, Spain, and England will play Iceland with both fixtures being played on Saturday the 7^th of March.