Serbia and France have named their squads for the group A European Women’s World Cup 2026 qualifier at the FC Radnicki Stadium, Belgrade tomorrow, Saturday, (kick off 6pm local time). Victory for the French will see them through to the tournament proper and they start as strong favourites after beating the Serbians 116-0 in Avignon in March 2023. They defeated Greece at home in the first group match, the Greeks then overcoming Serbia in Athens.
The kick off time has been put back to the early evening as Serbia is currently experiencing a heatwave, with match temperatures of 38 degrees expected.
Serbian women’s head coach, Slobodan Manak, commented: “We are glad that we can host one of the best woman's teams in Europe. France are heavy favourites to qualify but we have prepared in the best way to give our all in front of our home crowd and improve the impression from our previous meeting.”
“We're grateful for the opportunity to play two consecutive international matches,” said France women’s head coach, Romain Maillot, whose side take on England in Toulouse next weekend. “We're approaching this match against Serbia very seriously and with a great deal of respect. A win would mean qualification for the 2026 World Cup and that's our objective.”
The game will be officiated by Jaroslav Bzoch from Czechia, and live streamed on the ERL Facebook page.
SERBIA WOMEN’S SQUAD
Olivera Miskovic (Arsenal Tivat), Anna Liuter (RLC Dorcol), Anastasija Karanovic, Milica Cvetkovic (RLC Partisan 1953), Karolina Blizanac, Katarina Veljanoski, Ljiljana Bajic, Natasa Kovacevic, Natalija Simic, Nika Bajic, Marija Maslakovic, Marija Simovic, Marija Stojcic, Sanja Starcevic, Tamara Bosnjak, Teodora Marin, Teodora Micic, Uma Cengaj (RLC Red Star Belgrade)
FRANCE WOMEN’S SQUAD
Amael Vilanove, Fanny Mama Ohandja, Ines Legout, Mahault Pommier, (A.S. Ayguevives 13), Cristina Song Puche, Justine Roses, Leila Bessahli, Louane Baby, Pauline Noe, (Deesses Catalanes), Dorine Samarra, Lise Diraison, Manon Samarra, Noemie Samuel, Perle Ramazeilles, Perrine Monsarrat, Salomé Segala (Racing Club Lescure Arthes 13), Tallis Kureza (RC Begles 13), Chahrazad Himoudi, Haoua Kessely, (Toulouse Ovalie)