FIFA Women’s World Cup – Playoff Semi Finals Preview
32 European teams remain in with a shout of being one of the eight UEFA Women’s World Cup playoff winners, enabling seven of them to book their place next summer at the World Cup Finals in Brazil, while the other team will earn a place in the Inter-Confederation Playoffs next year.
The two-legged semi-finals take place on the 9th and 13th October, with the two-legged finals taking place on the 26th November and the 5th December 2026.
Let’s take a look at how the current UEFA qualification campaign stands.
FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 – Qualifiers
The following 18 teams have already qualified for the 32-team tournament.
- AFC (6) – Australia, China, Japan, North Korea, Philippines, South Korea
- CAF (4) – Algeria, Cameroon, Malawi, Morocco
- CONCACAF (4) – None
- CONMEBOL (3) – Argentina, Brazil (hosts), Colombia
- OFC (1) – New Zealand
- UEFA (11) – Denmark, France, Germany, Spain
They will be joined by the winners of the seven UEFA playoffs finals, plus the three winners of a ten-team Inter-Confederations playoff tournament which will be contested by qualifiers from AFC (2), CAF (2), CONCACAF (2), CONMEBOL (2), OFC (1), UEFA (1).
UEFA Playoffs – Semi Final Ties
First legs played Friday 9th October, reverse leg played on Tuesday 13th October.
- Kazakhstan v Republic of Ireland
- Finland v Serbia
- Lithuania v Sweden
- Albania v Wales
- Kosovo v Austria
- Slovakia v Ukraine
- Turkey v Slovenia
- Belarus v Italy
- Greece v England
- Israel v Switzerland
- Croatia v Iceland
- Czech Republic v Scotland
- Romania v Norway
- Hungary v Netherlands
- Northern Ireland v Portugal
- Belgium v Poland
The eight teams that win their way through the playoff will then be ranked based on their seeded position. The top seven seeds will qualify automatically for the finals next summer. The eighth seed will progress into the Inter-Confederation Playoffs to be played next year.
England are the highest ranked of the teams competing in the playoffs, with Israel the lowest ranked.
Playoff Final Draw Format
The potential playoff finals have already been drawn and will pan out as follows:-
- Slovakia or Ukraine v Greece or England
- Finland or Serbia v Belarus or Italy
- Northern Ireland or Portugal v Croatia or Iceland
- Albania or Wales v Romania or Norway
- Israel or Switzerland v Kosovo or Austria
- Czech Republic or Scotland v Lithuania or Sweden
- Belgium or Poland v Kazakhstan or Republic of Ireland
- Turkey or Slovenia v Hungary or Netherlands
After missing out to Spain on goal difference for automatic qualifying in the Nations League, England should be confident of progressing with winnable games against Greece and either Slovakia or Ukraine ahead of the Lionesses.
It looks to be a tougher task for the other home nations with Wales likely to have to beat Norway, Scotland to defeat Sweden and Northern Ireland defeat Iceland if they are to stand a chance of progressing.
However, the team to beat next summer will be the defending champions Spain, although the likes of France, United States, Canada, Germany, Brazil and, assuming they qualify, England, Sweden and the Netherlands are all expected to put on a strong display.
Next summer’s tournament runs from the 24th June to the 25th July across eight host cities in Brazil, with the final set to be hosted at the famous Estadio do Maracana.
