Women’s World Cup qualifier group stage: Denmark, England, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden in finals
The European qualifying group for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand decided nine final places and sent a further nine to the playoffs.
The record 51 contenders were divided into six groups of six teams and three of five. They were 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 17-23. February.
The draw for the UEFA play-offs, which involves all nine group runners-up, will be held at 13:30 CET on Friday, with the matches on 6 and 11 October. The top two playoff winners qualify directly while the others travel to the inter-association playoffs.
Who has qualified?
Qualified:
Denmark (Group E winners)
England (Group D winners)
France (Group I winners)
Germany (Group H winners)
Italy (Group G winners)
Netherlands (Group C winners)
Norway (Group F winner)
Spain (Group B winners)
Sweden (winners in group A)
Playoffs:
Austria (Group D runner-up)
Belgium (Group F runner-up)
Bosnia and Herzegovina (second in Group E)
Iceland (second in Group C)*
Portugal (second in Group H)
Republic of Ireland (second in Group A)*
Scotland (second in Group B)
Switzerland (second in Group G)*
Wales (second in Group I)
*Bye to playoff round 2, other teams start in round 1.
How it worked
- The winners of the nine qualifying groups go 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 finals place with two games remaining, and they finished with a perfect record and no goals conceded. Scotland were confirmed in the play-offs after June’s games when they won 4-0 against Ukraine, who then beat Hungary 2-0.
Group C: Netherlands (Qualified), Iceland (Playoffs), Czech Republic, Belarus, Cyprus
- 2019 runners-up Netherlands needed a win in their last match with Iceland in Utrecht and got 1-0 in extra time through Stefanie van der Gragt. Iceland, after missing out on an immediate World Cup debut, enter the playoffs.
Group D: England (Qualified), Austria (Playoffs), Northern Ireland, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Latvia
- England won 2-0 in Austria on Saturday, confirming the European Champions’ World Cup place, and after beating Luxembourg 10-0, the Lionesses finished with the best record in qualifying history, 10 perfect wins and 80 goals unanswered. Austria will take part in the play-offs after holding off a challenge from another Women’s EURO Group A side, Northern Ireland.
Group E*: Denmark (Qualified), Bosnia and Herzegovina (Playoffs), Montenegro, Malta, Azerbaijan
*Russia excluded
- Denmark qualified with eight perfect wins. Bosnia and Herzegovina drew 1-1 in Azerbaijan in their final match to reach their first ever play-off, two points ahead of Montenegro, who lost 2-0 to Malta.
Group F: Norway (Qualified), Belgium (Playoffs), 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 secured a play-off spot by defeating Armenia 7-0. Belgium’s Tessa Wullaert finished top scorer in the group of 16, and her goal against Armenia ensured she equaled the best Women’s European Championship qualifiers held by Adriana Martín for the 2011 edition and Miedema for 2015 (one behind the record for any UEFA women’s qualifying campaign ). by Célia Šašić for Women’s European Championship 2013).
Group G: Italy (Qualified), Switzerland (Playoffs), Romania, Croatia, Lithuania, Moldova
- Italy booked their place in the final by beating Romania 2-0, finishing two points ahead of Switzerland.
Group H: Germany (Qualified), Portugal (Playoffs), 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 in April, but the two-time champions secured their final place thanks to a 3-0 victory in Türkiye on Saturday. Portugal finished second on Friday when they came from behind to win 2-1 in Serbia, beating Türkiye 3-1 to reach their first World Cup finals.
Group I: France (Qualified), Wales (Playoffs), Slovenia, Greece, Estonia, Kazakhstan
- France managed a 2-1 win in Wales in April and then Delphine Cascarino netted a 1-0 win against Slovenia that sealed qualification for Les Bleues, who finished with a perfect result. Wales ended Greece’s hopes with a 1-0 win and a 0-0 draw at home to Slovenia booked their first ever play-off appearance.
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 made their Women’s World Cup debut.
- Luxembourg took a full qualifying group for the first time.
Results
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, England, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, 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.