Latvia open women’s floorball world qualifier in Riga with 7-1 win

Latvia’s women’s floorball team opened the European qualifying tournament for the 2027 World Championship with a 7-1 win over Great Britain in Riga on Wednesday. Remārs Vikānis’s side won their first Group D game 2-0, 2-0, 3-1 by periods.

Captain Jūlija Rozīte opened the scoring in the fifth minute with a shot from the right, and Emīlija Salaciete set up an unmarked Olīvija Jarohoviča for 2-0 later in the first period. Anna Ankudinova converted Rozīte’s pass in the second period, and the captain scored her second goal before the break to make it 4-0.

Klinta Mārtiņjēkaba scored early in the third period. Britain pulled one back, but Salaciete soon restored the five-goal lead, and Simona Grāpēna completed the scoring into an empty net shortly before the end. Latvia failed to score on two power plays. Rozīte and Salaciete finished with three points each (2+1 and 1+2), Mārtiņjēkaba with two (1+1), and Jarohoviča was named Latvia’s best player.

Narrowest win over Britain

It was the third World Championship qualifying tournament in a row in which Latvia and Britain were drawn in the same group. Latvia won 17-0 in Kocēni in 2023 and 14-0 in Valmiera in 2025, so the six-goal margin was the smallest of the three games.

What comes next

In Group D’s other game Denmark beat France 6-5, leaving Latvia and Denmark on two points each after the first round. Latvia play France on Thursday 12 November at 19:00 Riga time and Denmark at the same time on Friday. Places at the finals in Turku, Finland, are decided on Saturday: both group winners qualify directly, and two more places go to the winners of crossover games between the second- and third-placed teams.