The Women’s European Sixes Qualifier is set for five days of action from March 4-9 in Vila Real de Santo Antonio, Portugal, with 12 teams vying for the final two berths at The World Games 2025.
The 12-team field includes Austria, Croatia, Czechia, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain and Switzerland.
Lacrosse will be competed at The World Games 2025 in Chengdu, China, in August with eight teams competing in women’s sixes competition. Six teams have already punched their tickets: Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Japan, United States and host China.
The European qualifier begins action on Wednesday, March 4 at 2 p.m. GMT with pool play set for Wednesday and Thursday in three groups of four teams.
The top eight teams will advance to the quarterfinals on Friday before the semifinals on Saturday, and the two winners will earn qualification for The World Games. On Sunday, those two teams will play in the final to cap off the competition.
Streaming throughout the event will be available for free on YouTube.
The qualifier marks the fourth year Portugal has hosted European sixes competition, after the EuroLax Sixes Cup was first held in 2022. The Great Britain women claimed the gold medal three years in a row but are not in attendance in 2025 having already secured their spot in Chengdu.
Germany and Netherlands took the silver and bronze in the most recent edition of EuroLax Sixes in 2024. In the most recent European Women’s Lacrosse Championship in the field discipline in July 2024, Israel took second place, while Ireland finished fifth and Germany finished sixth.
Czechia and Israel also both competed at the last edition of The World Games in 2022 in sixes, with Israel claiming fifth place.
Germany’s preliminary roster includes 10 athletes who competed at the two World Lacrosse championships in 2024, with five players each from the women’s U20 championship and the women’s box championship. Eight players also competed at the 2024 European Women’s Lacrosse Championship, led by points leader Lina Mullejans.
The Netherlands also has two athletes from its women’s box championship roster, and 13 out of 14 players on the preliminary roster that were also on the EWLC squad last year, led by prolific attacker Sarah Sweerts de Landas Wyborgh.
Ireland also has athletes from both 2024 World Lacrosse championships, with six from the women’s U20 championship and two from the women’s box championship. Star playmaker Margaret Egan also returns from the team that took fifth at the EWLC in 2024.
Israel has two returners from its sixes squad at The World Games in 2022 in Rachel Rosen and Ilana Kofman, as well as four athletes from its women’s U20 championship team. Five players also return from the silver medal squad at the EWLC, led by Rosen who tallied 18 points in seven games.
Czechia’s veteran core includes five athletes who played at The World Games 2022 in Tereza Bartuskova, Anna Lottman, Marketa Malinovska, Linda Semerakova and Michaela Srchova. Six players return from the team that won the dramatic seventh place game over Italy at the EWLC to secure qualification for the 2026 World Lacrosse Women’s Championship, led in points by Lottmann.
Austria, Poland, Spain and Switzerland also all boast returners from their 2024 EWLC squads, including team scoring leaders Stefanie Boruta (AUT) and Maria Grala (POL).
All 12 preliminary rosters can be found here, with finalized versions released on Wednesday before competition starts.
