Women’s WC qualification latest: Spain, Denmark, France, Norway, Sweden in the final
European qualifying group play for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand draws to a close on Tuesday with the final matches underway.
The record 51 challengers are divided into six groups of six teams and three of five. They are competing for nine direct places in the final (for group winners) as well as the chance to play for two other European berths, and one more in the confederation play-offs, which will take place in New Zealand at February 23.
The draw for the UEFA play-offs, involving all nine group runners-up, will be held at 13:30 CET on 9 September, with the matches on 6 and 11 October. The top two playoff winners qualify directly while the others travel to the inter-association playoffs.
Game mode
Qualified:
Denmark (Group E winners)
France (Group I winners)
Norway (Group F winner)
Spain (Group B winners)
Sweden (winners in group A)
Playoffs:
Republic of Ireland (second in Group A)
Scotland (second in Group B)
Confirmed in the top two of their group:
Austria, England, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland
How it works
- The winners of the nine qualifying groups advance directly to the finals in Australia and New Zealand from 20 July to 20 August 2023.
- The runners-up of the group participate in the UEFA play-offs on 6 and 11 October.
- In the playoffs, the top three runners-up will be seeded directly to Round 2. The six remaining runners-up will compete in three singles playoffs in Round 1 on 6 October.
- The three winners from Round 1 and the three teams seeded directly to Round 2 will then compete in singles play-offs on 11 October.
- The two playoff winners with the highest rankings (based on results in the qualifying group play and playoff round 2) will qualify for the final.
- The remaining play-off winner will compete in the inter-association play-off from 17 to 23 February 2023 in New Zealand.
Qualified groups
Group A: Sweden (qualified), Ireland (playoffs), Finland, Slovakia, Georgia
- Kosovar Asllani equalized with 11 minutes remaining to give Sweden a 1-1 draw with the Republic of Ireland in April and the point they needed to maintain their qualifying record for every World Cup finals tournament. Ireland defeated Finland 1-0 on Thursday in front of a national record crowd of 6,952 in Dublin to qualify for the World Cup play-offs for the first time and close in on a potential major finals debut.
Group B: Spain (Qualified), Scotland (Playoffs), Ukraine, Hungary, Faroe Islands
- Jenni Hermoso scored twice to give Spain a 2-0 April win in Scotland that booked their place in the final with two games to spare. Scotland were confirmed in the play-offs after June’s games when they won 4-0 against Ukraine, who then defeated Hungary 2-0.
Group C: Iceland, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Belarus, Cyprus
- Iceland thrashed Belarus 6-0 on Friday to move a point ahead of the Netherlands with the top two meeting on Tuesday in Utrecht, with the Dutch needing victory to qualify automatically and deny their visitors an immediate World Cup debut. Netherlands Vivianne Miedema is one behind Julie Fleeting’s career record of 32 World Cup qualifying goals (though just one ahead of Belgium’s Tessa Wullaert).
Group D: England, Austria, Northern Ireland, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Latvia
- England’s quiet progress continued in April as they won 5-0 in Northern Ireland for an eighth perfect victory. They lead Austria, 8-0 winners over Latvia, by five points ahead of the game in Wiener Neustadt on Saturday, when a point would secure the new European champions a World Cup place. The top two are now assured of at least a play-off spot with their UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 Group A joint opponents Northern Ireland unable to reach either, although they set a new record crowd of 15,348 in Belfast against England.
Group E*: Denmark (qualified), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Azerbaijan, Malta
*Russia excluded
- Denmark have qualified with eight perfect wins. Bosnia and Herzegovina lead Montenegro by one point into second place and boast superior head-to-head goals, should they finish level. On Tuesday, Bosnia and Herzegovina visit Azerbaijan knowing victory would seal a play-off spot, while Montenegro, who must win to have any chance of finishing second, host Malta.
Group F: Norway (qualified), Belgium, Poland, Albania, Kosovo, Armenia
- Tuva Hansen’s first international goal gave Norway a 1-0 win in Belgium on Friday and booked a finals place for the 1995 champions in their debut game under one of their players from that World Cup success, Hege Riise. Belgium are second, two points ahead of Poland, who will make the play-offs on Tuesday if they beat Kosovo and the Red Flames lose to Armenia. Belgium’s Tessa Wullaert is the top scorer in the groups of 15. That is one short of the women’s European Women’s qualification record bested by Adriana Martín for the 2011 edition and Miedema for 2015, and two short of the UEFA women’s qualification record set by Célia Šašić for women’s EC 2013.
Group G: Italy, Switzerland, Romania, Croatia, Lithuania, Moldova
- On Friday, Italy won 8-0 in Moldova and Switzerland beat Croatia 2-0 to both confirm top two finishes. First place will be decided on Tuesday with Italy two points ahead, which means victory against Romania means qualification. Switzerland must beat Moldova and hope Italy slip up; the head-to-head between the pair is even but the Azzurri currently have an advantage of 11 in total goal difference.
Group H: Germany, Portugal, Serbia, Türkiye, Israel, Bulgaria
- Germany, previously perfect, suffered their first away qualifying defeat since 17 June 1998 when they were beaten 3-2 in Serbia thanks to two goals from Bayern’s Jovana Damnjanović in April, denying the two-time champions the chance to reach the final with two matches. to go, although they can do so with a point in Türkiye on Saturday. Portugal finished second on Friday when they came from behind to win 2-1 in Serbia. To overtake Portugal on Tuesday, Serbia must beat Israel and hope the second-placed team does not beat Türkiye.
Group I: France (qualified), Wales, Slovenia, Greece, Estonia, Kazakhstan
- France managed a 2-1 win in Wales in April and then Delphine Cascarino scored the 1-0 win against Slovenia that secured qualification for Les Bleues. Wales ended Greece’s hopes with a 1-0 win on Friday while Slovenia defeated Kazakhstan 2-0. Wales are two points ahead of Slovenia in the race for second place, so only a draw is needed when the pair meet on Tuesday in Cardiff to earn a debut play-off spot.
Law facts
- Germany is aiming to follow its wins in 2003 and 2007.
- Norway are the only other European world champions, having triumphed in 1995.
- The Netherlands finished second in 2019.
- Sweden won its second straight Olympic silver medal in August 2021; they took the 2019 World Cup bronze after being runners-up to Germany in 2003.
- England hope to follow their EC triumph with WC successes like Germany did in 2003 and 2007 (Norway also won EC 1993 and WC 1995, but the EC was then biennial and Germany had taken the continental title in 1995 a few months before the global final in Sweden) .
- Cyprus make their Women’s World Cup debut.
- Luxembourg participates for the first time in a full qualifying group.
Date
Qualifying group games
16–21 September 2021
21–26 October 2021
25–30 November 2021
February 23, 2022
7–12 April 2022
23–28 June 2022
1–6 September 2022
UEFA playoffs
Round 1: October 6, 2002
Round 2: 11 October 2022
Finals: Continental Allocation/Qualified Teams
Hosts: 2 (Australia, New Zealand)
AFC: 5 (China, Japan, Philippines*, South Korea, Vietnam*)
CAF: 4 (Morocco*, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia*)
CONCACAF: 4 (Canada, Costa Rica, Jamaica, USA)
CONMEBOL: 3 (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia)
UEFA: 11 (Denmark, France, Norway, Spain, Sweden)
Play-offs between associations: 3
*Debut
Playoffs between associations
A ten-team tournament will be held in New Zealand from 17 to 23 February 2023 to determine the final three finalists.
Continental Allotment/Challenger
AFC: 2 (Chinese Taipei, Thailand)
CAF: 2 (Cameroon, Senegal)
CONCACAF: 2 (Haiti, Panama)
CONMEBOL: 2 (Chile, Paraguay)
OFC: 1 (Papua New Guinea)
UEFA: 1
The teams will be divided into three groups: two of three teams and one of four, with seeding determined by the FIFA rankings. All three groups will be played as separate knockout competitions, with the winner of each qualifying for the final. In the two three-team groups, the seeded team goes directly to the final (after playing a friendly against New Zealand or a visiting nation) and faces the winner of a semi-final between the other two teams in their group.