A game taking shape: Women's football in Montenegro

When Montenegro face Albania on Tuesday 3 March, it will mark another major moment in the short but evolving history of the women's national team.

Montenegro will be playing in League B of the UEFA Women's European Qualifiers for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup, having earned promotion from League C for the first time after an unbeaten campaign.

This underlines how much progress has been made by a team that played its first official match just 13 years ago and only claimed its first-ever competitive win in 2021.

Few understand that journey better than Armisa Kuč, who has scored 41 goals in 92 appearances for Montenegro. Alongside Jasna Djoković, Darija Djukić and Sladjana Bulatović, the 33-year-old is one of only four players to have been part of the team since its very first match.

"For all of us, it feels like a reward for years of hard work and endless belief that better days would come," says Kuč.

From margins to momentum

Those better days were a long time coming. Montenegro has a strong tradition in women's sport, particularly in handball and basketball, but football spent many years on the margins.

After decades of limited visibility, the situation has changed in recent years, and women's football is now steadily gaining its place within Montenegro's sporting landscape.

There are currently 540 registered female players in Montenegro, 383 of them under the age of 18 – a notable figure for a country of just over 600,000 inhabitants.

According to Jadranka Pavićević, a former international and the Football Association of Montenegro's (FSCG) women’s football coordinator since 2022, the numbers reflect progress and are being achieved by concerted efforts to grow the game.

The Montenegrin Development League, which features 11 clubs at Under-14 level, is currently in its third season, with an Under-16 league launched in September last year featuring eight teams.

"These competitions play a crucial role, both in popularising the game and in the long-term development of women's football," Pavićević explains. "Through a clearly structured competition system, we have given girls more matches, continuity in their work and a clear development pathway towards the professional level."

Since 2023, the FSCG has also been part of the UEFA Playmakers project. Within it, the Inspire Girls league has been created for around 200 girls aged six to nine.

"I am particularly proud of the Inspire Girls league, because it allows the youngest girls to play football in a safe environment adapted to their age," says Pavićević. "Previously, at that age, they could only play in mixed teams with boys."

Montenegro's women's national teamFSCG

A different path for the next generation

Marija Vukčević, Montenegro's first captain and the country's first professional female football player, was unable to play with other girls when she started her journey almost three decades ago.

"I was the only girl who wanted to go to football training," the 39-year-old recalls. "And I could, but only with boys, in FK Budućnost Podgorica’s youth teams. I played matches with them, but opponents from other cities didn’t know I was a girl, because at the time girls were not allowed to play with boys.

"The coach called me Mario, not Marija. I had short blond hair, and from the stands I often heard comments like: ‘That little blond Mario is really good…’"

At the age of 14, Vukčević left Montenegro in pursuit of football, building her career first in Serbia and then in Italy, playing for US Lecce, Brescia Calcio and AS Roma.

Three decades later, a similar path has taken shape, but in a very different environment. Among the new generation of Montenegrin players, Maša Tomašević has also made the move to Italian football, this time from a position of support and opportunity.

Last summer, shortly after turning 18, Tomašević completed a transfer from local club Budućnost to FC Internazionale Milano, having previously been named by UEFA as among the ten rising female players to watch in 2024.

Marija Vukčević playing in Montenegro's first-ever international matchFSCG

"Even though I am only at the beginning of my career, I would really like my example to inspire young girls, parents and the wider community," says Tomašević. "It shows that it is possible to reach the highest level of football from Montenegro – if you are talented, persistent and have the support of those closest to you."

As a leader of the new generation, Tomašević – alongside veteran Kuč – will guide Montenegro into a new chapter, which begins against Albania and continues with matches against Wales and Czechia.

"I truly believe we are ready and that we can compete with – and even beat – teams that are, on paper, stronger than us, with a longer tradition and a larger player base," says Kuč. "The arrival of younger players, their energy and talent, has given us a lot, and I believe we can only continue to improve."

For Marija Vukčević, however, the greatest victory lies elsewhere.

"There is a lot of talent in the new generations, but what fulfils me the most is seeing girls aged five or six going to training and enjoying football," she says. "The fact that there are more and more of them, and that it has become completely normal for girls to play football, feels like a victory for the entire community and society as a whole – not just for those of us who were pioneers of women's football in Montenegro."