On July 27, at 21:30, the women's national team of Ukraine will meet Croatia in the 1/4 finals of the 2023 Challenger Cup. All matches of the tournament will be held in the French city of Laval.
Challenger Cup. Women. 1/4 finals
Laval, France
July 27. 21:30
Ukraine — Croatia
Regulations
The winners of the Challenger Cup will qualify for the Nations League, where the world's top national teams compete. Interestingly, our women's national team has never participated in these prestigious competitions. Therefore, the ladies will have a great chance to enter the history of worldwide volleyball.
Eight national teams will play in this year's draw: France (hosts of the tournament), Colombia (highest ranking in South America), Croatia (relegated from the Nations League), UKRAINE and Sweden (finalists of the European Golden League), Kenya (highest ranking in Africa), Mexico (winners of the NORCECA continental championship), Vietnam (winners of the Asian Challenge Cup).
The participants will start their journey from the quarterfinals. At all stages, the winners will be determined by the results of one match. The semi-finals will be played on July 29, while the third-place match and the finals will be played on July 30.
Tournament draw
The tournament grid of the Challenger Cup was formed according to the world ranking as of July 10. Ukraine ranks 20th in it and therefore was one of the seeds. In the 1/4 finals, our team will meet with the highest-ranked team from the list of unseeded teams - Croatia (25th place in the FIVB ranking).
In case of success against the Croatians, the blue and yellows will play against a stronger team in the semi-finals in the confrontation between France and Vietnam.
Schedule of games
Quarterfinal
July 27
18:00 France – Vietnam
21:30 Ukraine - Croatia
July 28
18:00 Mexico - Sweden
21:30 Colombia - Kenya
Semifinal
France/Vietnam – Ukraine/Croatia
Mexico/Sweden – Colombia/Kenya
A chance for the historical success of Ukraine
As we mentioned above, the women's national team of Ukraine has never played in the Nations League. Therefore, this year Ivan Petkov's wards have every chance to achieve historic success.
Our ladies are in great shape right now, as shown by their recent results and high place in the world rankings. In particular, they triumphed in the European Golden League 2023.
At the same time, during the entire tournament, they suffered only one defeat against France in a match that did not decide anything. It was thanks to reaching the finals of these competitions that Ukrainians received a quota for the Challenger Cup.
Croatia is aiming for an immediate return to the Nations League
Croatia will take part in the Challenger Cup as a team that was actually relegated from the Nations League. There, the wards of Turkish coach Ferhat Akbash took fifteenth place out of sixteen possible, having won only two victories in twelve matches.
Only South Korea was below our nearest opponents. However, it is among the "main" national teams that keep their place in the Nations League regardless of the results.
It should be noted that the Croatians are the current holders of the Challenger Cup.
Attack leaders
As part of the national team of Ukraine, the leader of the attacks is the opposite Anastasiia Kraiduba. By the way, she was recognized as the most valuable player of the European Golden League-2023.
In two decisive matches against Sweden, Anastasiia scored a total of 36 points (22 and 14). In addition, during the competition, she repeatedly became the best scorer of confrontations.
The Ukrainian will spend the next season in Italy, having signed a contract with Serie A club "Firenze".
In the Croatian national team, Andrea Mihalevich is the best in this element. In the Nations League for 12 matches, the opposite earned 124 points — that's 10.33 per game. The athlete spent the last season in her homeland in the team "Mladost".
