# 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification (UEFA)
The UEFA segment of 2027 [FIFA Women's World Cup](https://www.edgepedia.org/fifa-womens-world-cup) qualification, officially the Women's European Qualifiers, is the competition through which the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) decides which of its women's national teams join the 32-team finals in Brazil. It runs from February to December 2026 and awards 11 direct finals places plus one berth in the inter-confederation play-offs, while also settling promotion and relegation ahead of the next [UEFA Women's Nations League](https://www.edgepedia.org/uefa-womens-nations-league) cycle.[1](https://www.uefa.com/womenseuropeanqualifiers/news/029a-1deb1f28ab23-a0bdf613dd31-1000--women-s-european-qualifiers-for-the-2027-fifa-women-s-worl/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Teams | 53 UEFA members, split into League A (16), League B (16), and League C (21)[1](https://www.uefa.com/womenseuropeanqualifiers/news/029a-1deb1f28ab23-a0bdf613dd31-1000--women-s-european-qualifiers-for-the-2027-fifa-women-s-worl/) |
| UEFA places at the finals | 11 direct, plus 1 team entering the FIFA inter-confederation play-offs[1](https://www.uefa.com/womenseuropeanqualifiers/news/029a-1deb1f28ab23-a0bdf613dd31-1000--women-s-european-qualifiers-for-the-2027-fifa-women-s-worl/) |
| Direct qualifiers from the league stage | The four League A group winners: France, Germany, Spain, and Sweden[1](https://www.uefa.com/womenseuropeanqualifiers/news/029a-1deb1f28ab23-a0bdf613dd31-1000--women-s-european-qualifiers-for-the-2027-fifa-women-s-worl/) |
| League stage dates | Six matchdays, 26 February to 9 June 2026; draw held 4 November 2025[1](https://www.uefa.com/womenseuropeanqualifiers/news/029a-1deb1f28ab23-a0bdf613dd31-1000--women-s-european-qualifiers-for-the-2027-fifa-women-s-worl/) |
| Play-offs | Round 1 on 7–13 October 2026, round 2 on 26 November–5 December 2026; seven round 2 winners qualify directly[1](https://www.uefa.com/womenseuropeanqualifiers/news/029a-1deb1f28ab23-a0bdf613dd31-1000--women-s-european-qualifiers-for-the-2027-fifa-women-s-worl/) |
| Inter-confederation play-offs | February 2027; the UEFA entrant joins in the second of the two phases[1](https://www.uefa.com/womenseuropeanqualifiers/news/029a-1deb1f28ab23-a0bdf613dd31-1000--women-s-european-qualifiers-for-the-2027-fifa-women-s-worl/) |
| Finals | 24 June–25 July 2027 in Brazil[1](https://www.uefa.com/womenseuropeanqualifiers/news/029a-1deb1f28ab23-a0bdf613dd31-1000--women-s-european-qualifiers-for-the-2027-fifa-women-s-worl/) |
## Format and leagues
The league stage is played in the same format as the UEFA Women's Nations League, a three-tier competition UEFA introduced in 2023 to connect a Nations League with European Qualifiers and to give teams competitive matches against opponents of similar strength.[1](https://www.uefa.com/womenseuropeanqualifiers/news/029a-1deb1f28ab23-a0bdf613dd31-1000--women-s-european-qualifiers-for-the-2027-fifa-women-s-worl/) • [2](https://www.uefa.com/news-media/news/027b-16802fa89740-23355efda63f-1000--new-women-s-national-team-system/) Each team's league was set by its position in the overall rankings of the [2025 UEFA Women's Nations League](https://www.edgepedia.org/2025-uefa-womens-nations-league), with two-legged play-offs in late October 2025 settling the final promotion and relegation places before the draw.[1](https://www.uefa.com/womenseuropeanqualifiers/news/029a-1deb1f28ab23-a0bdf613dd31-1000--women-s-european-qualifiers-for-the-2027-fifa-women-s-worl/)
**Groups.** The draw on 4 November 2025 produced four groups in each of Leagues A and B and six groups in League C, including three-team groups in League C. Group A3 paired World Cup holders Spain with European champions England, alongside Iceland and Ukraine; the other League A groups were Sweden, Italy, Denmark, and Serbia (A1); France, Netherlands, Poland, and [Republic of Ireland](https://www.edgepedia.org/republic-of-ireland) (A2); and Germany, Norway, Austria, and Slovenia (A4).[1](https://www.uefa.com/womenseuropeanqualifiers/news/029a-1deb1f28ab23-a0bdf613dd31-1000--women-s-european-qualifiers-for-the-2027-fifa-women-s-worl/) Draw conditions kept [Azerbaijan](https://www.edgepedia.org/azerbaijan) apart from Armenia and [Bosnia and Herzegovina](https://www.edgepedia.org/bosnia-and-herzegovina) apart from Kosovo, and limited groups to at most two teams from countries at high or medium risk of severe winter conditions.[3](https://www.uefa.com/womenseuropeanqualifiers/news/029e-1f04d68676ff-19a6a2e5550b-1000--women-s-european-qualifiers-for-2027-fifa-women-s-world-c/)
Teams played one home and one away match against every other team in their group over six matchdays between February and June 2026.[1](https://www.uefa.com/womenseuropeanqualifiers/news/029a-1deb1f28ab23-a0bdf613dd31-1000--women-s-european-qualifiers-for-the-2027-fifa-women-s-worl/)
## Qualification routes
**Direct places.** The four League A group winners qualified automatically for Brazil 2027. Germany were assured of top spot in Group A4, and a place at their tenth Women's World Cup finals, before the final matchday, having beaten Slovenia 5-0 in their opening fixture.[4](https://www.uefa.com/womenseuropeanqualifiers/news/02a5-20b5ba17b23f-57af31d1b97d-1000--women-s-european-qualifiers-for-the-2027-fifa-women-s-wor/) The league stage concluded on 9 June 2026, with France, Germany, Spain, and Sweden taking the four direct places.[1](https://www.uefa.com/womenseuropeanqualifiers/news/029a-1deb1f28ab23-a0bdf613dd31-1000--women-s-european-qualifiers-for-the-2027-fifa-women-s-worl/)
**Play-offs.** The remaining seven direct finals places and the inter-confederation play-off berth were decided by two knockout rounds, each tie played over two legs with the team scoring more goals over the two matches advancing.[5](https://documents.uefa.com/r/Regulations-of-the-2025-UEFA-Women-s-Nations-League-and-2026-Women-s-European-Qualifiers-for-the-2027-FIFA-Women-s-World-Cup-2025-27/Article-27-Qualification-for-the-2027-FIFA-Women-s-World-Cup-Online) Round 1 ran in two paths: in Path 1, the four second-placed and four third-placed League A teams met the six League C group winners and the two best-ranked League C runners-up; in Path 2, the four fourth-placed League A teams and the four League B group winners met the four second-placed and four third-placed League B teams. League A teams in both paths were seeded and played their second legs at home.[1](https://www.uefa.com/womenseuropeanqualifiers/news/029a-1deb1f28ab23-a0bdf613dd31-1000--women-s-european-qualifiers-for-the-2027-fifa-women-s-worl/) Round 1 was played on 7–13 October 2026; in the first legs, England, Italy, and Sweden won, and Slovenia came back from two goals down to draw with Türkiye.[6](https://www.fifa.com/en/tournaments/womens/womensworldcup/brazil-2027/articles/uefa-qualifying-playoffs-round-one-review)
In round 2, played 26 November to 5 December 2026, the eight round 1 winners from both paths were drawn into eight ties, with the Path 1 winners seeded and at home in the second leg. The seven best-ranked round 2 winners according to the 2026 Women's European Qualifiers overall league rankings qualify directly for the World Cup; the remaining round 2 winner goes to the inter-confederation play-offs in February 2027, entering directly in the second phase.[1](https://www.uefa.com/womenseuropeanqualifiers/news/029a-1deb1f28ab23-a0bdf613dd31-1000--women-s-european-qualifiers-for-the-2027-fifa-women-s-worl/) • [3](https://www.uefa.com/womenseuropeanqualifiers/news/029e-1f04d68676ff-19a6a2e5550b-1000--women-s-european-qualifiers-for-2027-fifa-women-s-world-c/)
## Promotion and relegation
The qualifiers also set the leagues for the next Nations League cycle, 2027–29, which leads to UEFA Women's EURO 2029. The group winners of Leagues B and C were promoted, while the fourth-placed teams in Leagues A and B and the two lowest-ranked third-placed teams in League B were relegated.[1](https://www.uefa.com/womenseuropeanqualifiers/news/029a-1deb1f28ab23-a0bdf613dd31-1000--women-s-european-qualifiers-for-the-2027-fifa-women-s-worl/)
## Context
UEFA's 11 guaranteed places are the largest allocation of any confederation at the 32-team tournament, where CONCACAF and CAF have four places each, the AFC six, CONMEBOL three including hosts Brazil, and the OFC one.[1](https://www.uefa.com/womenseuropeanqualifiers/news/029a-1deb1f28ab23-a0bdf613dd31-1000--women-s-european-qualifiers-for-the-2027-fifa-women-s-worl/) European sides dominated the 2023 tournament, providing five of the quarter-finalists including both finalists, winners Spain and runners-up England.[7](https://www.fourfourtwo.com/competition/will-the-womens-world-cup-2027-go-ahead-after-fifa-civil-war) The finals are scheduled for eight Brazilian host cities announced by FIFA in May 2025: [Belo Horizonte](https://www.edgepedia.org/belo-horizonte), Brasília, Fortaleza, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, and São Paulo.[8](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/clyk6wpppxeo)
## References
1. [Women's European Qualifiers for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup: How it works, who is in what league? (UEFA)](https://www.uefa.com/womenseuropeanqualifiers/news/029a-1deb1f28ab23-a0bdf613dd31-1000--women-s-european-qualifiers-for-the-2027-fifa-women-s-worl/)
2. [New women's national team competition system (UEFA)](https://www.uefa.com/news-media/news/027b-16802fa89740-23355efda63f-1000--new-women-s-national-team-system/)
3. [Women's European Qualifiers for 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup: League stage draw (UEFA)](https://www.uefa.com/womenseuropeanqualifiers/news/029e-1f04d68676ff-19a6a2e5550b-1000--women-s-european-qualifiers-for-2027-fifa-women-s-world-c/)
4. [Women's European Qualifiers: Matchday 6 preview (UEFA)](https://www.uefa.com/womenseuropeanqualifiers/news/02a5-20b5ba17b23f-57af31d1b97d-1000--women-s-european-qualifiers-for-the-2027-fifa-women-s-wor/)
5. [Regulations of the 2025 UEFA Women's Nations League and 2026 Women's European Qualifiers, Article 27 (UEFA)](https://documents.uefa.com/r/Regulations-of-the-2025-UEFA-Women-s-Nations-League-and-2026-Women-s-European-Qualifiers-for-the-2027-FIFA-Women-s-World-Cup-2025-27/Article-27-Qualification-for-the-2027-FIFA-Women-s-World-Cup-Online)
6. [England, Italy and Sweden win as UEFA play-offs begin (FIFA)](https://www.fifa.com/en/tournaments/womens/womensworldcup/brazil-2027/articles/uefa-qualifying-playoffs-round-one-review)
7. [Will the Women's World Cup 2027 go ahead after FIFA civil war? (FourFourTwo)](https://www.fourfourtwo.com/competition/will-the-womens-world-cup-2027-go-ahead-after-fifa-civil-war)
8. [2027 Women's World Cup: Qualifying groups, teams qualified & venues (BBC Sport)](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/clyk6wpppxeo)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Association football › Football competitions and records › Seasons and editions › Women's football seasons*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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