Women's European Qualifiers for 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup: Play-off second round ties set

Round 1 of the Women's European Qualifiers play-offs is complete, with 16 teams through to round 2 on 1 and 5 December, which will have places at the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup at stake.

While the four League A group winners (Denmark, France, Germany and Spain) have qualified directly for the finals in Brazil from 24 June to 25 July 2027, Europe's seven other berths, plus a slot in February's inter-confederation play-offs, are being settled by two rounds of home-and-away ties.

Poland came through the most dramatic round 1 encounter; beginning the second leg in Gdansk 1-0 down to Belgium, they took it to extra time, where Ewa Pajor then equalised late on to force a penalty shoot-out. Kinga Seweryn saved twice to take Poland through, having previously stopped a Tessa Wullaert spot kick in the first leg.

Slovenia scored two late goals to draw their first leg 3-3 in Türki̇ye then repeated the trick for a 2-0 home win in the return; European champions England progressed more comfortably, as did Norway and Sweden, for whom Felicia Schröder got her first five senior international goals in the tie against Lithuania. Also through are five other teams that qualified for the 2023 World Cup – Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Republic of Ireland and Switzerland, as well as Austria, Finland, Iceland, Scotland, Ukraine and Wales.

Round 2 fixtures

First legs: Tuesday 1 December

Ukraine vs England 
Finland vs Italy 
Portugal vs Iceland 
Wales vs Norway 
Switzerland vs Austria 
Scotland vs Sweden 
Poland vs Republic of Ireland 
Slovenia vs Netherlands 

Second legs: Saturday 5 December

England vs Ukraine
Italy vs Finland 
Iceland vs Portugal 
Norway vs Wales 
Austria vs Switzerland 
Sweden vs Scotland 
Republic of Ireland vs Poland 
Netherlands vs Slovenia 

Kick-off times TBC

Round 1 results

Second legs: Tuesday 13 October

Slovenia 2-0 Türkiye (agg: 5-3)
Ukraine 1-0 Slovakia (agg: 4-1)
Serbia 1-3 Finland (agg: 2-6)
Norway 6-0 Romania (agg: 8-0)
Austria 4-0 Kosovo (agg: 6-1)
Poland 3-2 Belgium (aet, agg: 3-3, Poland win 4-3 on penalties)
Italy 1-1 Belarus (agg: 3-1)
Sweden 10-0 Lithuania (agg: 15-0)
Iceland 5-0 Croatia (agg: 9-0)
Switzerland 2-0 Israel (agg: 9-3)
Wales 3-0 Albania (agg: 4-0)
Scotland 3-2 Czechia (agg: 5-2)
Portugal 3-1 Northern Ireland (agg: 7-1)
England 5-0 Greece (agg: 8-1)
Republic of Ireland 4-0 Kazakhstan (agg: 12-0)
Netherlands 3-0 Hungary (agg: 11-0)

First legs: Friday 9 October

Kazakhstan 0-8 Republic of Ireland
Israel 3-7 Switzerland
Finland 3-1 Serbia
Kosovo 1-2 Austria
Albania 0-1 Wales 
Türkiye 3-3 Slovenia 
Slovakia 1-3 Ukraine 
Lithuania 0-5 Sweden 
Belarus 0-2 Italy
Greece 1-3 England
Croatia 0-4 Iceland 
Romania 0-2 Norway
Czechia 0-2 Scotland 
Hungary 0-8 Netherlands
Northern Ireland 0-4 Portugal 
Belgium 1-0 Poland

Play-off team guide

• England were World Cup runners-up to Spain in 2023 and are winners of the last two Women's EURO final tournaments. Also in 2023, Sweden finished third, the Netherlands were quarter-finalists, Norway and Switzerland made the last 16 and Italy, Portugal and Republic of Ireland also took part. Ireland and Switzerland qualified via the UEFA play-offs, while Portugal (after beating Iceland in extra time) then came through the inter-confederation play-offs.
• Scotland have previously qualified as well, in 2019. Austria, Belgium, Iceland, Finland, Northern Ireland, Poland, Ukraine and Wales have previously qualified for a Women's EURO but never the World Cup.
• Norway and Sweden are hoping to emulate Germany in having qualified for all ten World Cup final tournaments.

How the play-offs work

Round 1 of the play-offs was in two paths.

Path 1

The teams finishing second and third in League A groups played the six group winners and two best-ranked runners-up in League C.

The teams from League A were seeded and played the second legs at home. The eight winners progressed to round 2.

Path 2

The four fourth-placed League A teams and four League B group winners played the teams finishing second and third in the League B groups.

The teams from League A and the League B group winners were seeded and played the second legs at home. The eight winners progressed to round 2.

Round 2

In round 2, the teams from both paths come together and have been drawn into eight ties, with seeding for the round 1 path 1 winners, who will be at home in the second leg.

The seven best-ranked round 2 play-off winners according to the 2026 Women's European Qualifiers overall league rankings qualify directly for the 2027 Women's World Cup. The one remaining round 2 play-off winner qualifies for the World Cup inter-confederation play-offs. The European contenders will directly enter the inter-confederation play-offs in the second phase in February 2027.