The Week in Women's Football: Annual review of UEFA Champions League qualifying group stage

This week, we present part 1 of our annual review of the Qualifying Group Stage of the UEFA Women's Champions League. This week, we look at 8 of the 15 groups from the first-round last month, including results and a roster review—particularly for those teams eliminated—and some interesting team and player news.

2022-23 UEFA Women's Champions League Round 1—Part 1

The 2022-23 Women's Champions League has 71 clubs from 49 football associations taking part this season. It will use the same format as last year, with 58 clubs starting in Round 1, nine starting in round 2 and four seeded directly into the 16-team group stage (holders Lyon and Barcelona, Chelsea and Wolfsburg), which begins in October.

Round 1 qualifying will be split into two sections: the champions path and the league path. In both paths, round 1 will consist of two stages, each of one-off knockout matches played in single-venue mini-tournaments: semi-finals (August 18) and finals/third-place play-offs (August 21).

Champions path draw

• The 42 teams entering at this stage are the champions of the associations ranked eighth and below (with Russia excluded).
• They were drawn into 11 single-venue knockout mini-tournaments: nine of four clubs and two with three teams.
• The winners of the finals will progress to round 2, into which three teams have direct entry. Seven group stage places will be at stake in round

League path draw

• Sixteen teams enter at this stage: the runners-up from the associations ranked seventh to 16th and the third-placed teams from the associations ranked first to sixth.
• They were drawn into four knockout mini-tournaments of four teams each.
• The winners of the four finals will progress to round 2, into which six teams have direct entry. Five group stage places will be on offer in round 2.

There are 10 WCL Debutants this season:

(Entering in Round 1): Brann (Norway), KuPS, (Finland), Ljuboten (North Macedonia), Lokomotiv Stara Zagora (Bulgaria), Rangers (Scotland), Real Sociedad (Spain)

(Entering in Round 2), Roma (Italy), Spartak Myjava (Slovakia), Tomiris-Turan (Kazakhstan), UKS SMS Łódź (Poland).

This week we look at Champions path Groups 1-8 and next week, we will review the Champions path Groups 9-11 and the four groups from the League path.

Champions path:

Group 1

Semifinals
Pomurje Beltinci (SVN) HOSTS 0 vs Shelbourne (IRL) 1
Valur (ISL) 2 vs Hayasa (ARM) 0

Third Place Game

Pomurje Beltinci (SVN) 2 vs Hayasa (ARM) 1

Group Final

Valur (ISL) 3 vs. Shelbourne (IRL) 0

A fourth minute goal was all the scoring that Shelbourne needed in their 1-0 semifinal win over hosts Pomurje of Slovenia on August 18, which came from recently signed American 2015 WWC winner Heather O'Reilly, who will have to delay her expected entry into U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame this year as a result of her short stint with the side, as you have to be fully retired to be honored (see more below).

Valur used a goal from American import Cyera Hintzen in the 14th minute and then a late tally from American-born Venezuela international Mariana Speckmaier, which clinched the match in the 90th minute from the penalty spot, over Armenia's Hayasa (2-0) in the other semifinal in Radenci.

In the third-place match on August 21, Pomurje was ahead 2-0 by the 34th minute on goals by Slovenian international defender Evelina Kos (25) and Slovenian youth international Kaja Horvat (24), who has won five league title with Pomurje. A goal by Ukrainian international Hanna Voronina (30), who has five league title triumphs at home with FK Zhytlogud 1-Kharkiv, just after the break halved the margin for FC Hayasa, who could not score again.

In the Group Final on August 21, Hintzen scored again for Valur, along with a goal from Iceland youth international Solveig Larsen (21) and an own goal from Shelbourne, to advance to the WCL second round with a 3-0 win, likely seeing the end of O'Reilly's (27) playing revival as she is expected to return to her family and her coaching assistant role at the University of North Carolina.

O'Reilly (37) played with Arsenal at the end of her career but had never experienced the Women's Champions League and wanted to do that. The coach of Shelbourne was the former women's national team coach Noel King, who directed the Republic of Ireland's Women's National team for a decade at the turn of the century and briefly was an interim head coach for the men's national team as well. He had investigated the possibility of O'Reilly playing for Ireland in the past but, despite her surname, her roots in the country were beyond her grandparents so she wouldn't qualify according to FIFA rules. Other Americans on the Shelbourne side this season were defender Isabelle Glennon (who played at Dartmouth College) and midfielder Emma Starr (who played at George Mason University in Virginia). The rest of the squad were all from the Republic of Ireland.

Valur are the current league leaders in Iceland with 32 points after 13 games (four ahead of fellow WCL side Breidablik). Valur had an all-domestic side except for their three North American college graduates. American forward Cyera Makenzie Hintzen (24) has five goals in nine matches in her second season with the club. She played at the University of Texas and with the U.S. U-19 national team; she was drafted by the Utah Royals (now Kansas City NWSL) in the fourth round (#31 overall) of the 2020 draft, but did not see action at the club. Midfielder Brookelynn Paige Entz (23) played at Kansas State University.

Valur's third import with American college experience was Venezuelan international forward Mariana Speckmaier (24), who has played only 56 minutes in 3 games and played in 3 games last season with the NWSL Champions Washington Spirit. She had signed with CSKA Moscow just before the invasion of Ukraine but then joined the Icelandic powerhouse. She played at Clemson University in South Carolina and was on her national squad at the Copa America Femenine in July in Colombia.

Pomurje Beltinc had only two non-Slovenian players on their UEFA WCL roster for the 2022-23 campaign:

• Defender Maja Dimitrijevic (30) of Serbia, who has been a full international since 2009 and has played club ball at home and in Slovakia before going to Slovenia.
• Forward Sakuri Yoshida (29) of the U.S., who grew up in Seattle, played at Oklahoma University and the University of Oregon and for the U.S. U-18, U-19 and U-20 squads.

Hayasa of Armenia loaded up with 13 imports this season, with eight from Ukraine:

• Goalkeeper Inha Mostova (25)
• Goalkeeper Kateryna Boklach (18)
• Defender Olha Basanska (30)
• Defender Anastasia Voronina (29)
• Defender Tetiana Vyshnevska (24)
• Midfielder Tetiana Levytska (25)
• Midfielder Olha Boychenko (33)
• Forward Ganna Voronina (30)

They also had three players from Ghana:

• Midfielder Mary Essiful (29), who is a full international and played at home and then in 2020 joined Nigerian Women's Football League Premiership power Rivers Angels F.C.
• Midfielder Faustina Kyeremeh (23), in her third season at the club
• Forward Sylvia Nelson (19)

Other imports for Hayasa included:

• Midfielder Kamaila Kulmagambetova (27) of Kazakhstan, who has played in the past at BIIK in the country and with the senior national team.
• Midfielder Bruna Nataly Tavares Mendes (27) of Brazil, who has played with Santa Cruz at home in Brazil, at Monroe College and Franklin Pierce College in the U.S. and in Spain, for a season each with Madrid C.F.F. (first division) and C.D. Pozoalbense and C.D. Castelleon (both second division).

Last season, FC Hayasa, on their European club debut, used three imports from Ukraine, two from Romania, one from Moldova, and 40-year-old Belgium defender Delphine Preaux for a total seven, but almost doubled that figure for this season.

Group 2

Semifinals
PAOK (GRE) HOSTS 2 vs Swansea City (WAL) 0
Ferencváros (HUN) 1 vs Rangers (SCO) 3 DEBUTANTS

Third Place Game

Ferencvaros (HUN) 7 vs. Swansea City (WAL) 0

Group Final

PAOK (GRE) 0 vs Rangers (SCO) 4

Rangers of Scotland won in their WCL debut after a 3-1 defeat of Ferenc of Hungary, with a brace from Finland's international midfielder Jenny-Julia Danielsson (27), who is in her first season in Scotland after 3 seasons at AIK in Stockholm in Sweden. In the other semifinal on August 18, PAOK of Greece ended the hopes of the other British side in the groups, Swansea of Wales (2-0). PAOK's American import Eva Vlassopoulos (23) scored a brace (see more below).

In the third-place game on August 21, Hungarian international defender Viktoria Szabo (25) scored a brace as Ferenc teed off on the overwhelmed Swansea side to win 7-0. Szabo played in Germany in the top tier with Saarbrucken and is closing in on 75 full caps for Hungary.

In the final, PAOK held out until the 50th minute when Spanish defender Nicola Docherty (29) scored and then Rangers added three more goals, including one from a PAOK own goal, for a final 4-0 scoreline to send the Scottish debutants onto the second round.

PAOK had six imports for the 2022-23 WCL season:

• Goalkeeper Rebecca Gartner (26) of the U.S., who played at Villanova University and Baylor University and with the Philadelphia Lone Star of the WPSL in 2022
• Defender Dunja Stokan (28) is a Croatian international who went to the University of Northwestern Ohio in Lima and played in Italy and Croatia
• Defender Jessika Pedersen (29) of Sweden, who played this summer for IBV in Iceland and for a number of second division teams at home.
• Midfielder Anna Kristine Gornela (24) is an international for Latvia who played last season with Sundsvall in the Swedish Elitettan or second tier
• Forward Eva Vlassopoulos (22) of the U.S. was raised in Portland, Oregon and played at the University of Redlands in California.
• Forward Esse Akida (29) is an Kenyan international who is in her second season with PAOK and previously played in Turkey, Israel and in Kenya.

Swansea of Wales had a home-grown roster from Wales except for three players from England:

• Defender Lucy Finch (23), who played at West Bromwich Albion and in the WCL with her former club, Cardiff Met
• Midfielder Laura Davies (35)
• Forward Emily Freeman (22), who came from Swansea University

Ferencvaros had six imports on their roster, including:

• Defender Inna Zlidnis (32) from Estonia, who is a full international and won five league titles in Hungary
• Midfielder Hanna Barker (26) of the U.S., who played at Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches in East Texas
• Midfielder Livia Muckova (18) is an U-19 Slovakian international
• Forwards Biljana Bradic (31) is a full international for Serbia and played club ball in Slovenia (where she won a title with Pomurje), Romania and at home
• Forward Shameeka Fishley (28) of England played at Davenport University in Michigan and in Iceland, Italy and Spain, joining Ferencvaros this summer.
• Forward Viktoria Nagy (21) of Slovakia won three league titles in Hungary with Ferenc and is a U-19 international

The Hungarian side also included veteran Hungarian international Fanni Vago (31), who is vastly experienced player and who doubles as player-coach for the side. She is nearing 125 caps for her country and played in Romania, Austria, Iceland and Germany. She has won five league titles in Hungary, four in Austria and one in Romania.

Group 3

Semifinals
BIIK-Shymkent (KAZ) 5 vs Split HOSTS (CRO) 1
Vorskla-Kharkiv-2 (UKR) 5 vs Lanchkhuti (GEO) 0

Third Place Game

Lanchkhuti (GEO) 0 vs. Split (CRO) 2

Group Final

BIIK-Shymkent (KAZ) 0 vs Vorskla-Kharkiv-2 (UKR) 2

In the group semifinal, Zhytlobud-2 dominated Lanchkuti of Georgia from the very start, with their Ukrainian international forward Iryna Kotiash (21) opening the scoring in the first minute and then bookending the scoring during second half injury time for a brace, in route to a 5-0 victory.

BIIK of Kazakhstan won by a similar scoreline over Croatia's Split on August 18, who hosted group play, 5-1. Grace Chanda of Zambia is on fire in 2022—helping her national team to the 2023 WWC after a third-place finish at July's WAFCON in Morocco, where she scored twice—she scored four goals within 46 minutes in BIIK's 5-1 defeat of Split.

In the Final, the Ukrainian side used two second half goals to upset BIIK, with goals from defender Kateryna Korsun (26) and midfielder Roksolana Kravchuk (24)—both current Ukrainian internationals.

For BIIK, who have done so much for the game in Kazakhstan over the years with fine WCL runs and moving up the FIFA rankings so that now two sides from the country qualify every year, Head Coach Kaloyan Petkov left for Gintra in Lithuania in February of this year (see below) and was replaced by Oleg Sabriov (41), who was born in Kazakhstan but played internationally for Uzbekistan. The spirit of Petkov still lives on with the 2021-22 side that still has a massive number of imports, including seven from Africa:

• Uganda forward Fauzia Najjemba (18)
• Zambia forward Grace Chanda Zambia (25)
• Ghana midfielder Grace Adams (26)
• Nigeria midfielder Adeola Rasheedat Adeniran (21)
• Nigeria defender Oluwakemi Abiodun Famuditi (23)
• Nigeria defender Mary Nunumwen Ologbosere (23)
• Nigeria defender Nigke Udegbe (35)

Others imports included:

• Defender Sabrina Williamson (28) of the U.S., who played at Stanislaus State University in California and has played professionally in Hungary. She has a graduate degree from Cal-Berkeley and was a consultant to the WPSL from 2015 through the 2017 season.
• Defender Maya Rose Lambert (23) is an American who played at Purdue University in Indiana but listed by UEFA as a Kazakhstan national
• Goalkeeper Angela Gaier (24) is an American who is in her fourth season at BIIK and also listed as a Kazakhstan national
• Midfielder Ana Rafalea Hermes Da Silva (24) is from Brazil

The team also had one import each from Russia and Georgia.

Split of Croatia had seven imports from the following nations:

• Bosnia-Herzegovina (2)
• North Macedonia
• Montenegro
• Slovenia
• Portugal
• Venezuela

Midfielder Sonia Maria O'Neill (28) is a Canadian-born Venezuelan international, who played at this summer's Copa America Femenine in Colombia. She played at Niagara University and the University of North Florida in the State. She has played professionally in Europe in Sweden, in Italy, France and in 2020-21 with Rangers in Scotland, before joining Split.

Vorskla-Kharkiv-2 (UKR) used an all-Ukrainian side except for two midfielders:

• Olga Osipyan (26) of Armenia
• Beata Ambrus (24) of Romania

Lanchkuti used a squad entirely from Georgia except for two imports from Azerbaijan:

• Defender Ayshan Ahmadova (22)
• Midfielder Kristina Bakarandze (24)

Group 4
Semifinals

Zürich (SUI) 6 vs KÍ Klaksvík (FRO) 0
Apollon LFC (CYP) HOSTS 3 vs SFK Rīga (LVA) 0

Third Place Game

KI Klaksvik (FRO)1 vs. SFK Riga (LVA)2 AET

Group Final

Zurich (SUI) 1 vs. Apollon LFC (CYP) 0

Apollon's three goals in their first-round shutout of SFK Riga of Latvia (3-0) came from imports: Queralt Gomez (25) of Spain—who played at Eibar the last two seasons and was capped at the U-17 level—along with a goal from Chilean international Maria Rojas (34), who played with Sydney FC last season, and one from Ghana U-17 international midfielder Elshaddai Acheampong (see more below).

In the other semifinal on August 18, Zurich scored six times against KI from the Faroe Islands, racing to a 3-0 lead by the 25th minute.

An exciting third place match between Klaksvik and SFK Riga saw Latvia's youth international Jekaterina Ovsjankina (17) open the scoring from the penalty spot in the 15th minute. KI tied it late with a goal from Faroe Island international Eyovor Klakstein (26) in the 88th minute, who had 3 goals in 13 matches this season after scoring 5 in 12 for KI in 2021. Another 17-year-old for SFK Riga, Anastasija Poluhovica (also a youth international for Latvia), scored the ultimate winner in the 113th minute.

In the Group Final on August 21, Zurich, who won their first league title this past season since 2019 and have won 23 in total—with 10 coming in their current name since 2009—took a 1-0 victory over the experienced WCL battlers Apollon, thanks to a goal by Austrian international Victoria Pinther (23) on the hour mark. Pinther has won three league titles at home with St. Polten.

KÍ Klaksvík of the Faroe Islands, along with Sarajevo in Group 7, were entering for a record 20th time (including the pre-2009 UEFA Women's Cup). KI Klaksvik was all-home based except for their 17-year-old goalkeeper Kata Fanni Turi who plays at home with Vikingur but is listed by UEFA as from Hungary.

SFK Riga of Latvia used no imports.

Apollon LFC (CYP) is always a large importer from the North America and Europe and only had eight Cyprus nations on the side. Imports included:

• Goalkeeper Olivia Marie Jenkins (22) of the U.S., who played at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio
• D Savannah Taylor (25) of the U.S., who played at Western Oregon University
• D Kristen Ricks (25) of the U.S., who played at the University of Central Arkansas and for a season at Metz in France during the 2019-20 season

Other imports came from the following nations:

• 1 from England
• 1 from Netherlands
• 1 from Greece
• 1 from Spain
• 1 from Romania
• 1 from Sweden
• 1 from Chile
• 1 from Colombia (see below)
• 3 from Ghana (see below)
• 1 from India (see below)

Cyprus is also frequently an importer of coaches and Apollon's coach this season is from Laurent Fassotte (44) of Belgium, who took on the job in November 2021.

One of the most notable imports on any of the 60 teams' rosters was Apollon's recent import from the sub-continent: Indian international forward Manisha Kaylan (20), who became the first player from India to appear in a UEFA Women's Champions League match. Kalyan played the last 17 minutes, subbing on for Romanian international Olga Iordachiusi (33), in the second match, while she played the final 30 minutes in the first WCL Group match as a sub for Cyprus international forward Marilena Georgiou (26).

Manisha Kalyan (right) made her national team debut at the age of 17 for India and is shown in action against Iran in the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup earlier this year in India; she now is playing UEFA Women's Champions League matches for Apollon of Cyprus [Photo courtesy of Thananuwat Srirasant/Getty Images]

In November 2021, Kalyan made international headlines when she scored for India against Brazil in a four-nation tournament in Manaus, the only goal for the Asian side in a 6-1 defeat to the world powerhouse in their preparation for the 2022 Women's Asian Cup, which India hosted this past January and February. India began the tournament by dropping two points in a surprising 0-0 tie with Iran but then had a COVID outbreak in their camp and had to withdraw from the tournament, as they couldn't field the required 13 player roster for their second game due to quarantine procedures. Kaylan made her Indian senior team debut at 17 in January 2019 against Hong Kong. In the 2019 AFC U-19 Women's Championship qualifiers, she scored a hat-trick in India's 18-0 win over Pakistan. The All-India Football Federation named her the Emerging Player of the Year in 2020-21 and she was then named the Footballer of the Year for the 2021-22 season after scoring 14 goals in the Women's IWSL for league title winners Gokulam FC of Kerala, her third year in the league. Her 14 goals were second to her teammate at Gokulam—Elshaddai Acheampong (18) of Ghana, who finished with 20 in 11 games—who also joined Apollon ahead of the WCL (signing a three-year deal) and Acheampong just missed out on a roster spot for Ghana's U-20 side last month at the FIFA Finals in Costs Rica.

Kalyan grew up in rural India and used to play on a boys' team and travel for tournaments as the only girl on the team. She used to ride her bike four kilometers (2.5 miles) daily to practices. With FIFA recently suspending the All-India Football Federation for government interference, putting the U-17 Women's World Cup—which India is due to host next month—at risk, Kaylan's move to Europe and the interest in foreign clubs in Indian players (Bala Devi signed in 2020 in Scotland with Rangers—see our story at the time: https://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/the-week-in-women-s-football-dennerby-takes-india-u17-job-2022-asian-women-s-cup-bangladesh-national-league-4324238) is a huge positive for the sport after a difficult year so far, with the suspension and India's WNT having to drop out of the Women's Asian Cup Finals this year after their first game because of a COVID outbreak—and they hosted the tournament. The final word is Kaylan's who says: "One day, I want to play for the biggest club in the world. I also want to see my national team playing the World Cup." It's an exciting time of India's women's footballers who dream of playing abroad and more clubs will look to India for talent.

Note: On August 29, FIFA ended the India Football Federation's brief ban after the nation's supreme court handed control back to the IFF so their original soccer management team was reinstated, so the U-17 WWC is back on for the nation from October 11-30. This is very good news for the development of women's football in the country.

The other two players from Ghana on Apollon's roster were midfielders:

• Elizabeth Oppong (19)
• Olivia Anokye (20)

Colombian midfielder Lorena Bedoya Durango (24) moved from Atletico Nacional and was on the Colombian national team that finished second at home at this summer's Copa America Femenine and qualified for the third time for the Women's World Cup Finals next year.

Group 5

Semifinals
Anderlecht (BEL) 3 vs UKS SMS Łódź (POL) HOSTS 2 DEBUTANTS
Gintra (LTU) 0 vs KuPS Kuopio (FIN) 2 DEBUTANTS

Third Place Game

Gintra (LTU) 0 vs UKS SMS Lodz (POL) 1

Group Final

Anderlecht (BEL) 2 vs KuPS Kuopio (FIN) 2 (3-4 on penalty kicks)

Lodz, making their debut in the Women's Champions League this season while also the host side for Group 5, jumped out to a 2-0 lead over Anderlecht by the 50th minute mark, but the Belgium side fought back with 3 goals in the last 33 minutes, with two goals coming from American Allie Thornton (see below), including the winner in the 90th minute.

In the other game on August 18, another new side to the WCL, KuPS of Finland, built a 2-0 lead by the 35th minute with goals by U-19 Finnish international Nanne Russkanen (20—and in her fourth season at the club) in the 23rd minute and Albanian international forward Lavdije Begolli (29) in the 34th minute; they then shutout the WCL veteran side Gintra the rest of the way for a 2-0 victory in a huge upset.

In the third-place match on August 21, full Poland international midfielder Anna Redzia (25) scored her second goal of the tournament in the 53rd minute for the only goal of the match as Lodz beat Gintra 1-0.

In the Final, North Macedonia international Gentjana Rochi (27) scored twice in the 120 minutes of play (once from the penalty spot) and KuPS advanced on penalty kicks over Anderlecht; KuPS has now won its first two ever WCL games and is onto the second round.

Anderlecht of Belgium had two imports from the Netherlands, one from the U.S. and one from Romania—midfielder Stefania Vatafu (29), who won six league titles at home with Olimpia Cluj and has played in Spain as well at Tenerife.

Lodz only had two imports in their side: Japan defender Yurina Enjo (27) and Ghanian forward Ernestina Abambila (23), who is in her first season with Lodz and has played in Belarus, Greece, Spain and Sweden before moving to Medyk Konin in Poland for the 2021-22 season. She also played collegiately in the States at Mississippi Valley State and Youngstown State in Ohio.

Gintra Universitatas of Lithuania, with their new coach from BIIK and the Kazakhstan national team—Kaloyan Petkov, who also coached in Russia and the U.S.—is always loaded with imports and this time they had 8 Americans and 2019 Women's World Cup Finalist Trudi Carter from Jamaica—who played at Navarro Community College and the University of South Florida—along with two Nigerians:

• Vivian Ikechukwu (25)
• Koku Oluwadamilola (20)

Nine of the squad were Lithuanian nationals.

Group 6

Semifinals
Juventus (ITA) HOSTS 4 vs Racing FC Union Luxembourg (LUX) 0
Flora Tallinn (EST) 0 vs Qiryat Gat (ISR) 5

Third Place Game

Flora Tallinn (EST) 1 vs Racing FC Luxembourg (LUX) 3

Group Final

Juventus (TA) 3 vs Qiryat Gat (ISR) 1

Qiryat Gat of Israel had little difficulty unlocking the Flora Tallinn of Estonia defense on August 18 in their 5-0 semifinal win, with Danyelle Helena (29) of Brazil scoring a natural hat-trick by the 52nd minute for a 3-0 lead. Helena played at Real Brasilia earlier this season, scoring 3 times in 13 games, and also played in Spain at Sporting de Huelva (2 seasons) and Logrono (1 year).

Juventus did well by making the Group Stage last year and started with a 4-0 win over Racing FC of Luxembourg, with goals by Marina Rosucci (30)—who is in her sixth season with Juve—and Christina Girelli (32), for a two-goal lead by the 21st minute; then Arianna Causo (22), who scored 8 goals in 15 regular season matches in 2021-22, and Agnese Bonfantini (23), who is in her second season with Juve after moving over from Roma, both scored in the second half for Juve's 4-0 win. All four scorers for Juventus played for Italy at the Women's EURO this summer in England.

In the third-place match, Germany's Karolina Kohr (26), a long-time player with Koln and in her second season in Luxembourg, scored a brace along with a third from Kinmerley Dos Santos (24)—a full international for Luxembourg who is nearing 25 senior caps—in Racing's 3-1 win over Flora.

In the Final, French import Annahita Zamanian (24) scored the ultimate winner in the 48th minute in Juve's 3-1 win. Zamanian was born in London and is in her fourth season with the reigning Italian champion, after two years at PSG (where she also won one title) following time at Goteborg in Sweden. She has played for France at youth levels but also has English citizenship and is eligible to play for Iran as well. Dany Helena scored again for Kiryat Gat.

Racing FC Union Luxembourg is in their third consecutive WCL and they always have a large group from France (9) and also had forwards Karolina Kohr (26) of Germany (ex-Koln in the first and second division at home) and 16-year-old Sara Armannsdottir of Iceland, along with two new imports from the Republic of Ireland in sisters Aoibhe (17) and Clodagh Moran (16). Yvonne Leuko (30) is a Cameroon international defender who played for years in France and joined Racing this season from Strasbourg of France. Ten players are nationals of Luxembourg.

Flora Tallinn (EST) used an all-Estonian roster except for 16-year-old Eline Ruth Haberli of Switzerland.

Qiryat Gat (ISR) used four imports from Brazil and one from Ghana—forward Princella Adubea (24), a full international who played for years at home with Ampem Darkoa Ladies—winning two league titles—before moving to Spain in 2019 to play with Sporting Huelva and Racing Santander; she joined the Israel side for the 2022-23 season. Qiryat's Brazilians were:

• D Bruna Natieli Plaskievics (26), who came over from Real Brasilia this summer in her first stint abroad and won a Copa Libertadores Femenine title in 2020 with Ferroviaria.
• M Ana Carolina Bruniera Arruda (37) of Brazil, who played the past five seasons with Santos of Sao Paolo State, finishing as CONMEBOL CopaLibertadores Femenina runner-up in 2018.
• M Sandra (Sandrinha) Perieira (37), who played for years at Santos and won a Copa Libertadores Femenine in 2018 with Santos; she is in her third season at Kiryat Gat and won the last two league titles and state cups with the team.
• F Danyelle Helena Da Silva (29) played earlier this year in Brazil with Real Brasilia and has spent three years in Spain, two with Sporting de Huelva and one with Logrono.

Group 7

Semifinals
Universitatea Olimpia Cluj (ROU) HOSTS 0 vs Glentoran (NIR) (4-2 on penalty kicks)
SFK 2000 Sarajevo (BIH) 4 vs Birkirkara (MLT) 0

Third Place Game

Birkirkara (MLT) 2 vs. Glentoran (NIR) 1

Group Final

SFK 2000 Sarajevo (BIH) 2 vs. Universitatea Olimpia Cluj (ROU) 1

Host Cluj were held scoreless for 120 minutes by the Northern Irish side Glentoran in the first semifinal but the Romanian club survived on penalty kicks 4-2 to advance to the group final.

Bosnia and Herzegovina international forward Minela Gacanica (22) scored twice in Sarajevo's convincing 4-0 WCL opener on August 18 in her first season at the club after playing last season at ZFK Breznia Plevlja in Montenegro.

In the third-place match on August 21, Glentoran had the lead by the 13th minute but two second half goals turned the match around for Birkirkara, finishing with a 2-1 win.

In the Group Final on August 21, SFK of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Cluj of Romania traded goals within a minute just before the 70th minute mark but SFK's 33rd minute goal from Bosnia and Herzegovina international forward Maja Jelcic (18) gave the visitors a 2-1 win.

Glentoran had an all home-based roster except for forward Michelle Mcdaid from the Republic of Ireland, who has played for Sion Swifts and Cliftonville in Northern Ireland, and Immy Lancaster of Wales, who played with the Erie Commodores FC in Pennsylvania this summer in the UWS and at the University of Oxford and with lower division English side Crawley Wasps LFC. Midfielders Nadene Caldwell, Joely Andrews and Chloe McCarron were on the Women's EURO squad for Northern Ireland while forward Kerry Beatie was a late cut and Lauren Wade left the club to sign with Reading in early August, after the women's EURO Finals in July.

Olimpia Cluj of Romania has participated in every WCL since 2011-12 and made the round of 32 in four of ten previous campaigns, including the round of 16 in 2012-13. Cluj used a quite a diverse roster with imports from North America, Europe, Asia and Africa: including an American goalkeeper, Kyleigh Hall (23), who played at the University of Texas Corpus Christi and a goalkeeper from Kazakhstan, Nazym Ismailova (21).

Cluj's imports included:

• Defender Janessa Staab (23) is an American and played at the University of California-Davis
• Defender Ayah Faisal Ayed Al-Majali (30) of Jordan, has over 100 national team caps and played last season at Konak Belediyespor of Turkey
• Midfielder Sayed Abdou Farhan Sherouk (22) of Egypt, was capped by the senior national team of Egypt when she was 16. She played for Wadi Degla of Egypt late last year in the first Women's Champions League for Africa, finishing in a tie for second with Malabo Kings of Equatorial Guinea on four points, but failed to advance to the knockout stage on an inferior goal difference (+1 vs. -1).

Cluj also had two players from Spain and one from Moldova.

Birkirkara of Malta last year had only a single import from Portugal for their WCL games but this year had two from Italy, an English goalkeeper Erin White (18) and a Canadian forward Grace Sofia Iaderosa (18). Iaderosa, from the nation's capital of Ottawa, who spent a season at St. Francis College in Brooklyn, NY and time with Canada's U-18 national team.

Sarajevo now has the record of 20 straight WCL appearances as Brondby, who they were tied with, did not make the tournament this season—the first time since qualifying for the UEFA Women's Cup in 2003-04. KI Klaksvik of the Faroe Islands (Group 4) also qualified for their 20th tournament but their appearances have not been 20 years in succession.

Group 8

Semifinals
Twente (NED) 13 HOSTS vs Agarista CSF Anenii Noi 2020 (MDA) 0
SL Benfica (POR) 9 vs Hajvalia (KOS) 0

Third Place Game

Agarisa CSF Amenii Noi 2020 (MDA) 0 vs. Hajvalia (KOS) 7

Group Final

Twente (NED) 1 vs SL Benfica (POR) 2

The highest score and goal difference in a game during the first WCL round was Twente's 13-0 win over the Moldovian champions. Twente's Fenna Kalma, who managed seven goals across two games in round 1 last season, scored six in their semifinal win this time and has scored 24 in her 13 European appearances. She is a full international but was not on the Women's EURO Final squad but with head coach Mark Parsons recent departure from the Netherlands, she may be called in again with this type of performance against albeit an overwhelmed opponent.

On July 18, Benfica of Portugal routed Hajvalia from Kosovo 9-0, with Brazilian Mara Cintra scoring a hat trick. She is in her second season with the Lisbon-based side. Jessica Silva (27), who played last season with the Kansas City Current in the NWSL after seeing limited playing time in two seasons at Olympique Lyon, also scored.

On July 21 in the third-place match, Hajvalia got their revenge against Anenii Noi, scoring seven goals while shutting out the opposition, as Fortesa Berisha (19), a U-19 youth international for Kosovo and certainly one to watch in the future, scored four times.

Benfica defeated Twente 2-1 in the final and moved onto the second round.

Twente of the Netherlands used primarily a home-based side but had two imports. including Elena Dhont (24), who is a Belgium international and in her third year at Twente; she played at home in Gent. Anna-Lena Stolze (22) of Germany is in her fourth season at Twente after years at Wolfsburg.

Agarista CSF Anenii Noi used an all-Moldovan side except for forward Yelyzaveta Indycha (19) of Ukraine. This was Anenii Noi's fourth WCL season and not won a game yet in 9 matches.

Hajvalia's roster was entirely from Kosovo except for forward Brooklyn Tidder (24) of Canada, who played at Trinity Western University in Langley (suburban Vancouver) in British Colombia and previously was with Maccabi Kishronot Hadera WFC in Israel's Ligat Nashim.

Tim Grainey is a contributor to Tribal Football. His latest book Beyond Bend it Like Beckham on the global game of women's football. Get yours copy today.

Follow Tim on Twitter: @TimGrainey