UEFA Nations League February Internationals
League A Groups
Group A1: Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Scotland
Germany and Netherlands finished third and fourth in the inaugural edition of the UEFA Nations League in 2023-24, while Austria and Scotland missed out on the 2025 Women’s EURO finals—both sides losing in the second and playoff qualifying rounds by 2-0 aggregate scores, to Poland and Finland, respectively.
Friday 21 February
Austria 1 vs Scotland 0
In a battle between two sides that both narrowly missed qualifying for the 2025 Women EURO, Austria took the three points at home in Reid from a goal by midfielder Lilli Purtscheller (21) in the 14th minute; she is in her second season in the German Frauen-Bundesliga with SGS Essen.
Netherlands 2 vs Germany 2
In Breda, Lineth Beerensteyn (28) scored two goals as the Dutch came away with a share of the points against Germany to open the group stage. Beerensteyn is in her first season with Wolfsburg and has scored 12 goals in 15 matches, after two seasons at Juventus.
Tuesday 25 February
Germany 4 vs Austria 1
In Nuremburg, Austria took a shock third minute lead through a goal by midfielder Annabel Schasching (22), who is in her third season with Freiburg of Germany’s Frauen Bundesliga, but Germany forward Laura Freigang (27) of Eintracht Frankfurt tied it up just before the halftime break. A 55th minute goal by midfielder Linda Dallmann (30) of Bayern Munich was the ultimate winner and then Germany added two more tallies in the last 20 minutes for a 4-1 win.
Scotland 1 vs Netherlands 2
At Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland opened the scoring in the 34th minute through Emma Lawton (23), who has four goals in 16 games in her first season with Celtic after moving from Patrick Thistle, but second half goals from Lineth Beerensteyn (her third in two Nations League matches) and forward Chasity Grant (23), who joined Aston Villa of the WSL this season after four seasons with Ajax of Amsterdam. Viv Miedema of Manchester City—now recovered from her torn ACL—assisted on Grant’s goal which gave the Dutch three points on the road.
Germany and Netherlands share the lead at the top with four points, with Austria on three points and Scotland at the bottom with 0 points.
Group A2: France, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland
France lost the inaugural Nations League final to Spain last year. France has a new coach for this round of the Nations League matches in Laurent Bonadei (55), who was an assistant to Herve Renard with the French WNT and in Saudi Arabia with the men’s team; he also coached youth teams with Paris St. Germain and Nice. Renard guided the team at the 2024 Olympic Games Finals at home and at the WWC, making the quarterfinals (and finishing sixth) in both tournaments before returning to Saudi Arabia to coach the men again in late October of 2024. All four sides in this group are finalists for this summer’s EUROS.
Friday 21 February
France 1 vs Norway 0
France and Norway played an entertaining, attacking match, with Marie-Antoinette Katoto (26) of PSG bundling the ball into the net off of her upper body from a corner kick in the 73rd for the only goal of the match. Norway’s WNT head coach is now Emma Granger (42), who previously coached Wales’ WNT and assisted with England’s U-17 and U-20 women’s national teams.
Switzerland 0 vs Iceland 0
Tuesday 25 February
France 3 vs Iceland 2
France built a 3-1 lead with 25 minutes to play through Kadidiatou Diani (29) of Olympique Lyon, Marie Katoto (26) of Paris St. Germain and Sandy Baltimore (25)—in her first season with Chelsea of the WSL after eight seasons at PSG—but goals from Karolina Vilhjalmsdottier (23) of Bayer Leverkusen of Germany and Ingibjorg Siguroardottir (27)—in her first season with Brondby of Denmark after time with clubs in Germany, Norway, Sweden and Iceland—pulled Iceland within one goal by the 68th minute, but France finished with a 3-2 victory in Le Mans. France should be very leery of Iceland in the return leg, as they consistently perform well against the top teams in UEFA qualifying, particularly in Reykjavik.
Norway 2 vs Switzerland 1
Barcelona’s Caroline Graham Hansen scored an 87th minute goal to give Norway an important three points over Switzerland (2-1) in this very even and difficult group in Stavanger.
France tops the group with six points, followed by Norway on three and Iceland and Switzerland are tied on one point each.
Group A3: Spain (holders), England, Belgium, Portugal
Portugal were promoted unbeaten back to League A during the qualifying phase of EURO qualifiers. Spain scored 23 goals in the first Women’s Nations League tournament and 18 more in their six EURO qualifiers. All four teams are in the Continental Finals this summer.
Friday 21 February
Portugal 1 vs England 1
Allesia Russo (26) of Arsenal, who is in her second season with the Gunners after three seasons at Manchester United and has scored eight goals in 14 matches this season, tallied in the 15th minute for England. Kika Nazareth (22) of Barcelona and Portugal levelled the match in the 75th minute. She has scored two goals in her first season with Barca in 18 matches (11 starts).
Spain 3 vs Belgium 2
It seemingly can never been easy for the reigning Women’s World Cup and UEFA Women’s Nations League champions, as they were down 2-0 to Belgium in Valenica with less than 20 minutes to play, despite having the bulk of the play, particularly in attack. Claudia Pina (23) of Barcelona halved the deficit in the 77th minute and then Lucia Garcia (26) of Monterrey of Liga MX Femenil tied it in the 92nd minute. Cristina Martin-Prieto (31), who joined Benfica of Portugal this season after two years with Sevilla, grabbed the winner for Spain in the 96th minute in a pulsating last few minutes.
Wednesday 26 February
Belgium 0 vs Portugal 1
Carole Costa (34) of Benfica scored for Portugal from the penalty spot to separate the sides for a 1-0 win over Belgium in Heverlee. She has won four league titles with Benfica and one with Sporting Lisbon.
England 1 vs Spain 0
England won a very entertaining match 1-0 against Spain at Wembley in front of a crowd of 46,550 in a midweek afternoon match, with a 33 minute goal from Jess Park (23) the difference. Park has four goals in 16 games with Manchester City this season.
England and Portugal top the group with four points, Spain is on three points and Belgium have zero points, but have played well in their first two games under their new Icelandic head coach Elisabet Gunnarsdottir (48). Gunnarsdottir retired as a player at home at the age of 25 to coach and won four league titles with Valur in six seasons. She also coached Kristianstads DFF in Sweden for 15 seasons, where she was twice the Damallsvenskan coach of the year. The upcoming Portugal vs. Spain matches should be decisive in terms of who goes on from this group, along with favorites England.
Group A4: Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Wales
Is this the year that Sweden wins a first continental title since their only Women’s EURO crown in 1984? Sweden has finished third in three of the last four WWC Finals. Wales, defeated twice by Denmark and relegated in the first edition of the Nations League but promoted straight back following their successful 2025 EURO qualifying campaign, have just one draw (a 1-1 at home against Denmark in an April 2021 friendly) and seven losses in eight total matches against their three group opponents.
Friday 21 February
Italy 1 Wales 0
Italy used an early (5th minute) goal by veteran midfielder Barbara Bonansea (33), who entered the game with 30 goals from 107 internationals, to defeat Wales 1-0 in Monza. Bonansea has been at Juventus since 2017-18 and won seven Serie A titles with Juve (5) and Brescia (2).
Denmark 1 vs Sweden 2
Sweden won the battle of neighboring countries in Odense, with Frido Rolfo (31), in her fourth season at Barcelona where she has won two UEFA Women’s Champions League titles, scoring the winner in the 54th minute.
Tuesday 25 February
Italy 1 vs Denmark 3
Denmark used three second half goals to defeat Italy 3-1 in La Spezia, with Janni Thomsen (25)—in her sixth season with Valerenga of Norway—sealing the points in the 93rd minute with an assist from Pernille Harder (32). Harder is in her second season with Bayern Munich of Germany, after spells at Chelsea, Wolfsburg and Linkoping of Sweden.
Wales 1 vs Sweden 1
In Wrexham, midfielder Fillipa Angeldahl (27)—who is in her first season with Real Madrid after three seasons with Manchester City—gave Sweden an early lead but Kayleigh Barton’s (36) penalty tied the match in the 76th minute. Barton is in her second season with Charlton Athletic in the English Championship (second tier) and has scored nine goals in 35 matches since the start of the 2023-24 season. This was an important point earned for former Canadian international Rhian Wilkinson’s side, both for the Nations League and in order to build confidence ahead of this summer’s EURO Finals, which will be Wales’ first major women’s final.
Sweden tops the group with four points, Denmark and Italy are joint second with three points and Wales has one point. The Denmark-Italy return will be crucial to determining which side advances from this group, as Sweden is expected to also move on, despite their dropped points in Wales.
League B
Finland and Poland are in the 2025 Women Euro final though the qualifying playoffs and, like Czechia and the Republic of Ireland, were all promoted in the first edition of the Nations League, only to be relegated back following the European Championship Qualifying phase.
Only one of these 16 teams were not in League B for 2023/24, Turkey, which is showing strong improvement in the women’s game, including Galatasaray making the 2024-25 UEFA Women's Champions League group stage, though they lost all six games to Roma of Italy, VFL Wolfsburg of Germany and Olympique Lyon of France.
Group B1: Poland, Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania
Friday 21 February
Bosnia and Herzegovina 4 vs Romania 0
In Zenica, Spokane Zephyr’s American-born winger Emina Ekic (25) assisted on the first two goals—by Dula Velagic (23), who plays at home with SFK 2000 and has won four Premijer Zenska Liga titles with the side, and defender Marija Milinkovic (20), who is in her second season at Inter in Italy’s Serie A, where she has started 29 games over the past two years. This was an important win for B&H, who draw on a vast diaspora and have many home-based players with clubs abroad and are becoming a force in Central Europe; they could break through in the next WWC Qualifying cycle to make their first ever women’s finals.
Poland 2 vs Northern Ireland 0
Poland scored two goals by the 20th minute as forward Ewelina Kamczyk (28)—who has played at Fleury in France for the past four seasons, and Adriana Achcinska (22), who is in her fourth season with Koln in Germany—scored for Poland, which will debut at a major finals this summer at the 2025 UEFA Women’s EURO in Switzerland.
Tuesday, 25 February
Northern Ireland 3 vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina 2
In Belfast, Emina Ekic (25) scored in the 46th minute followed by a goal three minutes later by Marija Milinkovic (20), who has won three league titles at SFK 2000 at home, to give B&H a 2-1 lead. Ekic received a ball in her own half and dribbled over 60 yards, outpacing one defender, blowing past the last defender and then slotting the ball past the goalkeeper. Simone Magill (30) scored a brace, in the 89th minute and again in the 92nd to give Northern Ireland the win, both from deep Route 1 balls out of defense that tore open the B&H defense. Magill is in her first season with Birmingham City of the Championship, after two seasons with Aston Villa and seven with Everton in the WSL.
Romania 0 vs Poland 1
In Bucharest, Poland got a key road win thanks to forward Natalia Padilla-Bidas’ (22) goal in the 84th minute; she has six goals in 18 matches with Sevilla in Liga F in Spain, after playing a year each with Koln in Germany and scoring 21 goals in 21 matches with Servette in Geneva, Switzerland in 2022-23, when they won the league title.
Poland leads the group with six points, while the Irish and Bosnia are second on three points and Romania are bottom with zero points.
Group B2: Republic of Ireland, Türkiye, Slovenia, Greece
Friday 21 February
Greece 1 vs Slovenia 2
Republic of Ireland 1 vs Turkey 0
The Republic of Ireland used a goal by their American-born San Diego Wave forward Kyra Carusa (29) three minutes into first half injury time to defeat Turkey 1-0. The new coach of Ireland is Carla Ward (41), who was appointed in January 2025, replacing interim head coach Eileen Gleeson, who has been in charge for almost a year and a half since the 2023 WWC but was not offered a contract renewal at the end of 2024. Ward is an English native who played in Spain and England—primarily with Sheffield FC, where she played in over 200 games. Since 2018, she has managed WSL teams Sheffield United, Birmingham City and Aston Villa.
Tuesday 25 February
Slovenia 4 vs Republic of Ireland 0
Slovenia won emphatically in Koper over the Irish (4-0), with Lara Prasnikar (26) scoring two goals within the first 28 minutes. Prasnikar now has 45 goals in 78 internationals and, on her first goal, she just outran an Irish defense for about thirty meters and was given acres of space early in the game. She has three goals in 13 matches with Eintracht Frankfurt thus far this season, her fifth campaign with the side. Slovenia’s manager Sasa Kolman (40) played for years in Slovenia’s men’s league and spent a season with Suouroy of the Faroe Islands as a player-coach in 2012. He has coached Slovenia’s WNT since 2023 and they could be the real surprise of League B’s group stage.
Turkey 1 vs Greece 0
Midfielder Elif Keskin (23) scored the only goal of the match in the 33rd minute for Turkey against Greece (1-0) in Istanbul. Keskin is with Besiktas this season. She won two league titles in 2019-20 and 2020-21 with Besiktas and returned to the team after a couple of campaigns with Fatih Karagümrük S.K.
Slovenia leads the group with six points, ahead of the Republic of Ireland and Turkey who are tied with three, while Grece is pointless after two games.
Group B3: Finland, Serbia, Hungary, Belarus
Friday 21 February
Belarus 0 vs Hungary 2
Serbia 1 vs Finland 0
Forward Jovana Damnjanovic (30) scored the only goal from the penalty spot just before half time to give Serbia an important win over key group rival Finland. Damnjanovic has been with Bayern Munich since 2017-18 and won three league titles with the side, along with one during a previous stint with Wolfsburg.
Tuesday 25 February
Serbia 0 vs Belarus 0
Hungary 0 vs Finland 1
Eva Nystrom (25) scored the only goal of the match in Finland’s 1-0 win over Hungary. She is in her first season with West Ham United in the WSL after playing with Hammarby in Sweden during the last four seasons, winning the league title in 2023. She also won a league title in 2018 with PK-25 Vantaa at home.
Serbia tops the group with four points, with Finland and Hungary tied for second on three points and Belarus is fourth with one point.
Group B4: Czechia, Ukraine, Croatia, Albania
Friday 21 February
Albania 1 vs Ukraine 2
Ukraine used a goal and an assist by Olha Ovdiichuk (31), who is in her third season with Fomget Genclk of Turkey—winning a Turkish League title in 2022-23 to accompany seven league titles won at home with Zhytlobud-1—and has played in Spain with Atletico Madrid; she is approaching a century of appearances with the WNT. Nikol Kozlova (24) scored the winning goal in the 47th minute. We have interviewed the Canadian-born Kozlova on multiple occasions in the past and, after playing last season in Kharkiv, Ukraine, she moved to Glasgow City and has been an absolute scoring sensation with 16 goals in 22 matches in the Scottish Premier League to current sit seventh in the league’s goalscoring race (See more in: The Week in Women's Football: Nicole Koslova exclusive on Ukraine transfer; A-League bottom 6 review - Tribal Football and her move to Scotland in: The Week in Women's Football: Champions League review - big signings making impact - TribalFootball.com). For Albania, striker Fortesa Berisha (21), who won a league title in Kosovo in 2023-24 with Hajvalia, scored a late goal in second half injury time to narrow the final margin.
Croatia 0 vs Czech Republic 4
On the road in Pula, Czechia built a 3-0 lead within the first half hour, with midfielder Michaela Khyrova (25) scoring once and adding two assists; she plays at Sparta Prague, who she joined in June of 2024 from Slavia Prague where she won four 1 Liga Women titles.
Tuesday 25 February
Czech Republic 5 vs Albania 1
Czech Republic blasted Albania 5-1 in Ceske Budejovice, with two goals by Katerina Svitkova (28) seven minutes apart late in the first half to give the home side the lead after Albania’s Megi Doci (28), who has won eight titles at home with KS Vllaznia Shkoder, scored from the penalty spot in the 24th minute. Svitkova won a WSL title with Chelsea in 2022-23 and six at home with Slavia, who she joined again for the 2024-25 season; she is nearing a half-century in international caps. Eva Bartonova (31), who has won five league titles at Sparta Prague at home and played in Italy, scored two goals as well—one in each half.
Ukraine 2 vs Croatia 1
Ukraine defeated Croatia 2-1 with a goal by Yana Kotyk (21) of Vorskla Poltava in the first minute and a second by Yana Kalinina (30), also of Vorskla Poltava—who has been capped over 70 times—in the 61st minute, with Croatia scoring in the 68th minute through Kristina Nevrkla (34) of Osijek in Croatia, where she has won ten league titles since the 2011/12 season.
Czech Republic and Ukraine are the joint leaders of this group with six points, with Croatia and Albania tied with 0 points.
League C
Kosovo and Malta will hope to repeat their promotions from the first edition of the Nations League competition, while Bulgaria, Latvia and Montenegro earned play-offs. Gibraltar and Liechtenstein are both making their senior women's national-team competitive debuts, part of a record entry of 53 countries in a UEFA Women’s competition.
Group C1: Slovakia, Faroe Islands, Moldova, Gibraltar
Friday 21 February
Moldova 1 vs Gibraltar 0
Carolina Tabut (26) scored a late winner for Moldova in the 93rd minute in Nisporeni. She won three Romanian league titles with Cluj and transferred to Farul Constanta for the 2024-25 season, who stopped Cluj’s long title run as they had won the title the previous 13 years in a row, though the 2019-20 season title was not awarded due to COVID, when Cluj led after the regular season of the Liga 1 title that campaign but the playoff round was cancelled.
Slovakia 3 vs Faroe Islands 0
Tuesday 25 February
Gibraltar 0 vs Faroe Islands 1
Midfielder Heidi Sevdal (35) scored the only goal of the match in the 70th minute in Faroe Islands’ 1-0 win away to Gibraltar. Over the last four seasons with NSi at home, she has scored 33, 33, 25 and 33 goals respectively in 19-21 games each season. In her career, since starting in 2010 with Vikingur in the Meistaradeildin, when she has won league titles in 2017 (with EBS/Scala) and 2024 (with NSI), she has 340 goals in 249 matches.
Slovakia 1 vs Moldova 0
Midfielder Dominika Skorvankova (33) scored five minutes from time to power Slovakia to a 1-0 home win over Moldova at home in Trnava. Skovankova is in her second season with Como in Italy and has also played in France with Montpellier and Germany with Bayern Munich and SC Sand. Early in her career, she won two Austrian league titles with Neulengbach and one Slovakian title with Slovan.
Slovakia tops the group with six points, while Moldova and Faroe Islands are tied with three points and Gibraltar has zero points from their two group match losses in February.
Group C2: Malta, Georgia, Cyprus, Andorra
Friday 21 February
Cyprus 2 vs Malta 1
The home side used two first half goals from forward Andri Violari (28)—who plays at Turkish side Fomget Genclik in Turkey, winning the league title last season, and won three league titles at home along with four Cyprus Women’s Cups with Apollon Limassol —and Marilia Konstantinou (18) for Cyprus’ 2-1 win over Malta. Cyprus defender Sara Papdopoulou (37)—who plays for Omonia at home and has also lined-up for clubs in Austria and Italy—put through her own net early in the second half for Malta’s only goal in Larnaca.
Georgia 2 vs Andorra 1
Georgia rescued the match late at home in Tbilisi, with two goals in the final six minutes of the match to overcome a 69th Andorra goal from Laia Sole (20) of ENFAF of Andorra. Midfielder Maiko Bebia (21), who plays at home with WFC Lusso, scored the tying goal in the 84th minute from the penalty spot for Georgia and then midfielder Teona Bakradze (29) scored the winner three minutes later. Bakradze plays with KSK Lanchkhuti in Georgia, which has won the last two league titles. Teona played with Turkish sides since 2017-18, including at Trabzonspor and Çaykur Rizespor among others, before coming home a few years ago. She is approaching 40 senior caps with Georgia.
Tuesday 25 February
Malta 1 vs Andorra 0
Cyprus 2 vs Georgia 1
Andri Violari (28) scored two goals within the first half hour to lead Cyprus to a 2-1 win over Georgia in Larnaca; she scored three times in two victories during the February internationals. Midfielder Natia Danelia (21) of Kvartali FC Tbilisi in Georgia, scored Georgia’s goal late in the first half.
Cyprus leads the group with six points, Georgia and Malta each have three points and Andorra is looking for their first points after two games.
Group C3: Luxembourg, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein
Friday 21 February
Armenia 6 vs Liechtenstein 1
In Armavir, midfielder Lara Kazandjian (22), who was born in Canada and played with their youth international sides, scored a hat-trick for a team that traditionally draws heavily on its diaspora. She played at Creighton University in the States and signed with Lens in France in January. Midfielder Anna Dallakyan (23), who won a league title in Lithuania last season with Zalgiris MRU Vilnius and scored three goals in 20 matches with Rostov in Russia in 2024, added one goal and two assists in the Armenia win.
Luxembourg 2 vs Kazakhstan 2
At home, Kazakhstan took the lead through Anastasia Nizamutdinova (24) of Yenisey of Russia—which she joined in 2024, from Tomiris Turan of Kazakhstan—who scored two first half goals. In the second half, Marta Estevez (27) of PAOK Thessalonkiki FC of Greece scored in the 50th minute; she won two league titles at home with Racing FC Union Luxembourg. Then midfielder Laura Miller (23), who is in her fourth season with Standard Liege where she has made 50 appearances with one goal, knotted the scores in the 73rd minute with Luxembourg’s second goal.
Tuesday 25 February
Luxembourg 7 vs Liechtenstein 0
In Esch-sur-Alzette, home side Luxembourg blasted Liechtenstein 7-0. Forward Caroline Jorge (19), who is in her third season with Standard Liege of Belgium, scored the first two goals of the match and added an assist for a 3-0 halftime lead. Marta Estevez, from the penalty spot, and Laura Miller each scored a goal in the second half.
Armenia 2 vs Kazakhstan 0
Defender Svetlana Karagezyan (20)—who was born in Russia and plays in the Russian league with Spartak Moscow, joining in February 2025 after two seasons at Rubin Kazan—scored in the 15th minute. Forward Oksanna Pizlova (24) scored from the penalty spot in the 56th minute for Armenia’s second goal. She also plays in Russia, joining Rostov in February 2025 from Rubin Kazan. She has also played at Okzhetpes in Kokshetau, Kazakhstan and Alashkert FC of Yerevan, Armenia.
Armenia’s women’s national team head coach Artak Adamyan selected a very young squad for the February Women’s Nations League matches, with 12 players between the ages of 16 and 20. With their six points in the two matches, they are developing a younger base for their senior squad, which should bode them well over the next few years. Among the 23 players in the squad: six play in Russia, five in the U.S., one each in Canada, Cyprus, Estonia, France, Germany, and Spain and six in the Armenian Women’s Premier League.
Goalkeepers:
Alina Poghosyan (21) – PFC Krylia Sovetov (Russia)
Sofine Kevorkyan (20) – Louisiana State University (USA)
Lilit Babayan (18) – FC Pyunik
Defenders:
Svetlana Karagyozyan (20) – Spartak Moscow (Russia)
Liana Ghazaryan (25)– FC Rostov (Russia)
Milana Vardanyan (21) – FC Krasnodar (Russia)
Anyuta Galstyn (23) – FC Uratu. She has also played with Okzhetpes of Kazakhstan.
Sophia Harutynayan (17) – Breakers FC of Santa Cruz, California (USA)
Savannah Taylor (28) - Apollon Limassol (Cyprus). She grew up in the U.S., played at Delaware State and Adelphia Universities and in Finland.
Natasha Tcheki-Zamgotchian (29) - FC Laval (Canada). She grew up in Canada, played at Syracuse University and McGill University in Montreal and at the club level in Sweden.
Natalia Minissian (18) – Legends FC in Southern California (USA). She will play this fall at the University of Hawaii-Hilo.
Hasmik Grigoryan (19) – FC Urartu
Midfielders:
Anna Dallakyan (23) - FC Rostov (Russia)
Lara Kazanchyan (22) – RC Lens (France). She was born in Canada (see more above).
Isabella Mane Nersesyan (17) - Go Eagles SC in San Diego (USA). She started playing for Armenia’s U-17 team as a 14-year old.
Veronika Asatryan (22) – FC Ararat Tallin (Estonia)
Narine Davtyan (17) Hamburger SV (Germany)
Maral Artin (24) – CF Motril (Spain). She was born in Germany and has played for clubs in Germany, Armenia, France and Spain. She played at youth levels for Germany before joining Armenia at the senior level in 2020.
Forwards:
Oksanna Pizlova (24) – Rostov (Russia)
Tatev Khachatryan (18) - FC Ararat-Armenia
Elina Martirosyan (18) - FC Ararat-Armenia
Milena Sayadyan (18) - FC Urartu
Houri Torossian (16) – Tudela FC in Los Angeles (U.S.A.)
Two other national team pool members are also part of the large Armenia diaspora community in the U.S. and are currently in college:
Defender Tatyana Grigoryan (17) - Pasadena College in California (USA)
Ani Safaryan (19) - Columbia University in New York (USA)
Armenia leads the group with six points, Luxembourg is next with four points, Kazakhstan is third with one point and Liechtenstein has zero points.
Group C4: Azerbaijan, Montenegro, Lithuania
Friday 21 February
Azerbaijan 0 vs Montenegro 0
Tuesday 25 February
Montenegro 3 vs Lithuania 1
Montenegro defeated Lithuania 3-1 at home in Podgorica as forward Armisa Kuc (32) scored a hat trick. She is currently playing with Forget Genclik in Turkey and played in Belarus, Russia (with Zenit St. Petersburg), Spain and Sweden. She won two league titles with SFK 2000 of Bosnia and Herzegovina and a title at home with Ekonomist. Marija Galgina (22) scored a lone goal for Lithuania and won Lithuanian and Baltic League titles in 2022 and 2023 with FK Gintra.
Montenegro leads the group with four points from two matches, while Azerbaijan and Lithuania each have one point from one game each.
Group C5: Israel, Bulgaria, Estonia
Friday 21 February
Bulgaria 1 vs Israel 3
Bulgaria took the lead in the 36th minute with midfielder Lora Petrova’s (26) goal. She currently plays at Cesena in Italy’s Serie B. She won a league title at home with NSA Sofia in 2016-17. Israel replied with two quick goals before the halftime break by midfielder Marian Awad (28)—who is in her first season with Kiryat Gat in Israel and has played in Turkey with Fomget Genclik, in Spain and collegiately with Long Island University-Brooklyn—and forward Talia Sommer (21), who was born in New York, grew up in Israel and played collegiately at Butler University in Indianapolis and has 25 senior caps. Israel added a second half goal by midfielder Eden Avital (27), who played two seasons with Soyaux in France’s top league. She has won three Liga AI Women titles in stints at home with Kiryat Gat and ASA and has joined Hapoel Tel Aviv in her hometown. She is approaching 50 full caps for Israel.
Tuesday 25 February
Israel 3 vs Estonia 1
Israel’s goals came from midfielder Noa Slimhojits (21)—who is in her third season with Turbin Potsdam, which won the German second division title last season, and previously played with AC Milan in Italy—in the 35th minute, Elianna Hutchinson (28)—who grew up in Portland, Oregon, played collegiately with Marquette University in Milwaukee and is with the Carolina Ascent in the first year USL Super League this season after playing with Keflavik in Iceland in the 2024 summer season and won a championship in Kazakhstan in 2018 with BIIK—in the 48th minute and defender Irena Kuzenezov (22) in the 80th minute. Kuznezov also plays at Turbine Potsdam in the German Frauen-Bundesliga and is in her fourth season with the club. Estonia had pulled a goal back by forward Katrin Kirpu (20)—who will soon start her second season with Aland United in Finland—two minutes before Kuznezov’s goal.
Israel tops the group with six points after two games while Bulgaria and Estonia each are pointless after one game each.
Group C6: Kosovo, Latvia, North Macedonia
Friday 21 February
North Macedonia 0 vs Kosovo 4
In Skopje, forward Kaltina Biqkaj (24) scored a brace along with one assist for Kosovo in an easy 4-0 win over North Macedonia. She has won four league titles at home with Mirovica and joined Trabzonspor of Turkey for the 2024-25 season. German-born midfielder Gentiana Fetaj (22) added a goal and an assist. Fetaj plays in Germany with Carl Zeiss Jena and won a UEFA U-17 title in Bulgaria in 2019 with Germany. She also played at the University of South Florida in the States.
Tuesday 25 February
Kosovo 0 vs Latvia 1
In Pristina, home side Kosovo lost to Latvia 1-0, with midfielder Viktorija Zaicikova (24) scoring in the 51st minute. She won four league titles from 2016 through the 2020 season with Rigas FS and has been with IBV of Iceland since 2021.
Latvia and Kosovo are tied with three points, but Kosovo has played two games to Lativia’s one, while North Macedonia is at the bottom of the group with zero points from a single game.
Women’s Four Nations Cup Tournament in Nepal
At the Women’s Four Nations Cup Tournament in Kathmandu, Nepal, in the first matches on February 17, Myanmar defeated Lebanon 3-1 and home side Nepal bested Kyrgyz Republic 1-0. On February 20, Myanmar won easily (5-0) over Kyrgyz Republic while host nation Nepal edged Lebanon (1-0). On February 23, Lebanon won their first game of the tournament (2-0) over Kygyz Republic while Nepal tied Myanmar (2-2). For the group stage, Myanmar finished first with seven points on a better goal difference (+7 to +2) over host Nepal, who also had seven points. Lebanon finished on three points and Krygz Republic had zero points. The top two teams played a championship match on February 26, with Myanmar defeating Nepal 2-0. (See more about Lebanon’s team in our interview with Australian native and Wellington Phoenix defender Tiana Jaber: The Week in Women's Football: A-League review; exclusive with Tiana Jaber on Lebanon call - TribalFootball.com).
Domestically, APF Football Club secured the 2024 ANFA Women’s League/Super League title in Nepal after a 4-0 win over Nepal Police Club on January 29, 2025. Sabita Rana Magar scored twice while Saru Limbu and Anu Lama added a goal each, all in the second half, with all the goals coming in the last 30 minutes.
The Women’s League involves 10 teams, while the Super League involves the top 5 teams who play home and away matches, after which playoffs are held leading up to the Grand Final. APF players also won the top league season honors: Sabita Rana Magar was named the Most Valuable Player, Rashmi Kumari Ghising won the Highest Scorer award with 35 goals, and Sabitri Kisan was honored as the Best Goalkeeper.
Only four of the ten Women’s League sides in Nepal had imports in 2024:
Bagmati Youth Club with one each from India, Mauritius and Senegal.
Koshi Province with three imports from India.
Sankata F.C. with two from Senegal and one each from Ghana and Nigeria.
Waling Municipality with three from Uganda.