Ukraine v England: Women’s World Cup qualifying – live

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22 min: Stanway, running the show at the moment, is bundled down by Shaynyuk. England have a free-kick out on the left …

19 min: Blindkilde Brown, inside the area, has two goes to shoot … the ball hits the underside of the crossbar and, somehow, doesn’t cross the line.

19 min: Replays shows Samson celebrating her save against Stanway; she’s pumped up. Plenty more of that required here.

18 min: Park is eating up plenty of ground for England, drifting into the middle to open up space for Le Tissier on the right. Stanway pulls off a nutmeg in midfield before launching from outside the area … Samson makes a strong save moving to her right.

14 min: Le Tissier finds space on the right but her cross into the middle meets a group of yellow shirts.

13 min: … England play it short, but can’t pull off the training-ground routine.

12 min: Park wins England a corner with a deflected strike …

11 min: The game is being exclusively played inside the Ukraine half.

9 min: Nearly an opener for England: Stanway’s ball in from the left finds the leaping Russo … her header, searching for the top left corner, travels over the bar. The Arsenal forward is on the hunt.

8 min: This is really sad; a stretcher is on to take Kozlova off. She’s replaced by Lidiia Zaborovets.

7 min: Oh dear, Kozlova is down on the pitch in serious pain. She didn’t make contact with anyone, just twisting awkwardly before falling to the ground.

6 min: Stanway shows quick feet in midfield before Russo, inside the area, is quick to turn and shoot from the left-hand side, forcing Samson to get low and make her first save of the night.

4 min: Ukraine, it’s worth saying, have never reached the World Cup; Euro 2009 is their only major tournament appearance.

3 min: Hemp finds room out on the left, her low ball in cleared inside the area.

2 min: England set up camp inside the Ukraine half, the nominal hosts dropping very deep.

1 min: England take hold of possession, wheeling it around at the back, Williamson getting a good look at the ball.

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

Alessia Russo and her England teammates warm up prior to their 2027 Women’s World Cup aualifier against Ukraine. Photograph: Ahmad Mora/Getty Images

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.