2027 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification (UEFA)
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | February – December 2026 |
| Teams | 53 (from 1 confederation) |
| Women's Nations League ← 2025 2029 →
Women's World Cup qualifying ← 2023 2031 → | |
| Qualification for women's championships (UEFA) |
|---|
The European qualifying tournament for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup to determine the UEFA teams that will qualify directly for the final tournament and for the inter-confederation play-offs will take place from February to December 2026.[1]
Format
[edit]On 24 September 2024, UEFA approved the regulations and tentative match schedule for qualification, which will occur over two phases:[2]
- League phase: The teams entering qualification will be divided into three leagues based on the 2025 UEFA Women's Nations League overall phase ranking (Regulations Article 21):[2]
- League A will consist of the teams ranked 1–16 to be drawn into four groups of four teams each.
- League B will consist of the teams ranked 17–32 to be drawn into four groups of four teams each.
- League C will consist of the remaining teams to be drawn into three groups of four teams each and three groups of three teams each; the number and sizes of groups may change based upon the number of teams entering qualification.
- All groups will play a league format, playing all other teams at home and away (Regulations Article 22).[2] The League A group winners will qualify directly for the Women's World Cup, and two rounds of play-offs will determine the remaining direct qualification slots and the inter-confederation play-offs representatives (Regulations Article 27.01).[2]
- Play-off phase: Teams will be drawn into paths to play two rounds of home-and-away knockout matches, with winners of each path qualifying for the Women's World Cup. Further details will be determined after FIFA confirms the slot allocation for each confederation (Regulations Article 27.02–27.04).[1][2]
Tiebreakers
[edit]During the league phase, teams will be ranked according to standings points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If teams are tied in standings points, tiebreaking criteria will be applied (Regulations Article 23):[2]
- higher number of standings points obtained in matches among the tied teams
- greater goal difference obtained in matches among the tied teams
- greater number of goals scored in matches among the tied teams
- if teams remain tied, then criteria a–c are reapplied only to those teams that remain tied
- If teams still remain tied, then the following criteria are applied only to those teams that remain tied:
- greater goal difference in all league phase matches
- greater number of goals scored in all league phase matches
- greater number of away goals scored in all league phase matches
- greater number of wins in all league phase matches
- greater number of away wins in all league phase matches
- lower total of disciplinary points obtained by players and team officials in all league phase matches
- Yellow card: 1 point
- Second yellow card/indirect red card: 3 points
- Direct red card: 3 points
- higher position in the 2025 UEFA Women's Nations League overall phase rankings
Schedule
[edit]The anticipated draw and match schedule is below.[1]
| Stage | Round | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| League phase | Draw | 4 November 2025[A] |
| Matchdays 1 & 2 | 26 February – 7 March 2026 | |
| Matchdays 3 & 4 | 9–18 April 2026 | |
| Matchdays 5 & 6 | 3–9 June 2026 | |
| Play-offs | Draw | 22 June 2026[A] |
| Round 1 | 7–13 October 2026 | |
| Round 2 draw | 16 October 2026[A][B] | |
| Round 2 | 26 November – 5 December 2026 |
Entrants
[edit]Fifty-three nations are eligible to submit entries to compete in qualification. San Marino does not field a national women's team, and Russia were suspended indefinitely on 28 February 2022 from participating in UEFA and FIFA competitions due to their country's invasion of Ukraine[3] and were excluded by UEFA from the list of participants.[1]
League phase
[edit]Teams will play home-and-away matches against each other team in their group.
Draws
[edit]The league phase draws will take place 4 November 2025, with the draw procedures yet to be announced.
The UEFA Executive Committee has voted to prohibit certain teams from facing off due to geopolitical conflicts, and other nations have draw conditions based on travel distance or extreme winter weather. Any applicable restrictions will be announced with the draw procedures and draw pot allocations.
Play-off phase
[edit]Draws
[edit]The draws for both play-off rounds will take place 22 June 2026, with draw procedures to be announced after FIFA finalizes the slot allocation for the final tournament. If teams prohibited from facing each other could meet in the second round, the play-off round 2 draw will take place 16 October 2026.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e "2025 UEFA Women's Nations League and 2026 Women's European Qualifiers for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup" (ZIP). UEFA Circular Letter. No. 53/2024. UEFA. 30 September 2024. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f "Regulations of the 2025 UEFA Women's Nations League and 2026 Women's European Qualifiers for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup". UEFA. 24 September 2024. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
- ^ "FIFA/UEFA suspend Russian clubs and national teams from all competitions". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2024.