The opening day of the EuroHockey 5s Championship Women 2026 in Walcz delivered goals, excitement and an early indication of the teams likely to challenge for the title. Ukraine and Sweden both completed two victories from two matches to move clear at the top of Pool A.
Ukraine set the tone with an impressive 9-2 win over Bulgaria in the tournament’s opening match before following up with a 6-1 success against hosts Poland. Eight goals from Karyna Leonova across the day helped Ukraine establish a tournament-leading goal difference of +12.
Sweden also enjoyed a flawless start. They overcame Poland 5-3 in their first outing and later defeated Bulgaria 6-2 to keep pace with Ukraine on six points. Nora Thien starred for the Swedish side, finishing the day as one of the competition’s leading scorers.
For Poland and Bulgaria, Day 1 proved challenging. Despite strong home support, Poland suffered defeats to Sweden and Ukraine, while Bulgaria were unable to contain the attacking power of both Ukraine and Sweden.
Pool A Standings after Day 1
| P | W | D | L | GD | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ukraine | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | +12 | 6 |
| 2 | Sweden | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | +6 | 6 |
| 3 | Poland | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -7 | 0 |
| 4 | Bulgaria | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -11 | 0 |
With Ukraine and Sweden still to meet, the battle for top spot remains finely balanced heading into Day 2, while Poland and Bulgaria will be looking to secure their first points and keep their hopes alive of climbing the standings.
