In the second round of the 2027 Women's World Cup qualifying tournament, the Ukrainian national team lost to the reigning world champions, Spain, in a nominal home match held in Antalya, Turkey.

Photo: Dan Balashov

Women's World Cup 2027 qualifying. Group A3

Ukraine — Spain — 1:3 (0:2)

Goals: Ovdiychuk (76) — Imade (44), Corrales (45+3), Lopez (55, from penalty).

Ukraine: Keliushyk, Shayniuk (Kravchuk, 46), Kotyk, Olkhova, Shmatko, Ivkova (Basanska, 37), Podolska, Kalinina (k) (Kohut, 66), Petryk (Zaborovets, 66), Ovdiychuk (Glushchenko, 83), Giryn.

Spain: Misa, J. Fernandez, Mendez (M. Fernandez, 63), Codina, Corrales, Lopez (Gabarro, 63), Sarrajordi, Putellas (Iannuzzi, 46), Paraluelo (Navarro, 46), Imade, del Castillo (Vignola, 77).

Yellow cards: Kotyk (45+1) — Y. Fernandes (74).

March 7. Antalya (Turkey). Mardan Stadium.

England — Iceland — 2:0

Photo: Dan Balashov

Standings group A3

Match calendar in Group A3 of the 2027 World Cup qualifiers

1 round. 03.03.2026 

Ukraine — England — 1:6

Spain — Iceland — 3:0

2 round. 07.03.2026 

Ukraine — Spain — 1:3

England — Iceland — 2:0

3 round. 14.04.2026

Iceland — Ukraine

England — Spain

4 round. 18.04.2026

Spain — Ukraine

Iceland — England

5 round. 05.06.2026

Ukraine — Iceland

Spain — England

6 round. 09.06.2026

England — Ukraine

Iceland — Spain      

As a reminder, the FIFA Council has approved that the 2027 Women's World Cup in Brazil will be held from June 24 to July 25. 29 direct berths out of 32 will be distributed as follows:

• Europe — 11;
• Asia — 6;
• Africa — 4;
• CONCACAF — 4;
• South America — 3 (Brazil qualifies automatically from this quota);
• Oceania — 1.

The final three teams will be determined in a playoff tournament involving 10 teams. It will consist of two stages with the following quota:

• Europe — 1;
• Asia — 2;
• Africa — 2;
• CONCACAF — 2;
• South America — 2;
• Oceania — 1.

The first stage of the playoff tournament will take place in October-December 2026, the second in February 2027.

European qualification for the 2027 World Cup

The European qualification will be held in three stages. The group round matches will be held on March 3 and 7, April 14 and 18, and June 5 and 9, 2026 in three leagues - A (16 teams), B (16) and C (21).

The starting position of each team in the leagues is determined based on the results of the 2025 Nations League. Ukraine will play in League A.

The winners of the four League A groups will qualify directly for the 2027 World Cup. 

The remaining places will be played in play-off rounds in October–December 2026. In the first round, the teams finishing second and third in League A will play the winners of the six League C groups and the best second-placed teams in each. The eight winners will advance to the second round.

The last four teams in League A and the four group winners in League B will play against the third and second placed teams in League B respectively. The eight winners will advance to the second round.

In the second round, 16 teams will meet in eight pairs. The seven best winners will advance to the World Cup, while the eighth will have to participate in an intercontinental playoff.