Ukraine v England: Women’s World Cup qualifying – live
Key events
Peeeeep!
And we’re away. Ukraine kick things off, Kozlova taking the first touch.
The Ukraine players are draped in their national flag as they sing the national anthem.
England are wearing black armbands in a tribute to Lynda Hale, who played in their first formal international. Her name is spelled out by supporters in the crowd.
Ukraine’s Nicole Kozlova, who plays for Glasgow City, explains to Sky Sports just how arduous the journey is for her teammates to get to Turkey.
People need to realise – first, the girls need to get to Kyiv depending on where they live. Then it’s a 15-hour train ride with a five-hour standstill at the border, sometimes more.
They then have to take a flight all the way to Turkey, usually a midnight flight. So it takes at least 24 hours and every trip is like that. They’re kind of used to it now, but I know it never gets easier.
Alex Greenwood is missing for England with a “minor muscle injury”. Leah Williamson returns for her first international appearance since the Euros. England make six changes from their last fixture, a friendly victory over Ghana in December.
The teams
Ukraine: Samson, Shaynyuk, Kotyk, Petryk, Korsun, Basanska, Andrukhiv, Kalinina, Ovidychuk, Kozlova, Kravchuk
Subs: Boklach, Keliushyk, Podolska, Kotiash, Hiryn, Ivkova, Zaborovets, Shmatko, Kohut, Hlushchenko, Olkhova
England: Hampton, Le Tissier, Williamson, Wubben-Moy, Hinds, Blindkilde Brown, Walsh, Stanway, Park, Russo, Hemp
Subs: Moorhouse, Roebuck, Bronze, Pattinson, Morgan, Fisk, Kelly, Kendall, Beever-Jones, James, Carter, Godfrey
Preamble
How do we go about even thinking of a World Cup at present? This fixture says plenty on its own: Ukraine are the home side but are playing in Turkey because of the war with Russia. Sarina Wiegman, the England manager, says her side are in close contact with the UK government regarding their safety amid the conflict that rages nearby. A 32-team festival of joy and global co-operation feels hallucinogenic right now.
But here we are, the start of the European qualifiers for next year’s World Cup in Brazil. England find themselves in a group with Ukraine, Iceland and Spain. The team that finishes top qualifies directly; the others will have to enter the playoffs. The main show, undoubtedly, will be the battle between the world champions and Euro winners, but we’ll get to that in April. First up, Antalya, kick-off at 5pm GMT.
