On 24 September 2024, UEFA approved the initial regulations and tentative match schedule for qualification. Following FIFA's confirmation of qualification slots, UEFA finalized the regulations for qualification which will occur over two phases:[2]
League A consists of the teams ranked 1–16 drawn into four groups of four teams each.
League B consists of the teams ranked 17–32 drawn into four groups of four teams each.
League C consists of the teams ranked 33–53 drawn into three groups of four teams each and three groups of three teams each.
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 Articles 27.01–27.02).[2]
Play-off phase: Teams will be drawn into paths to play two rounds of home-and-away knockout matches (Regulations Articles 27.03–27.08):[2]
Round 1:
Path 1 will consist of the runners-up and third-place teams from League A competing against the group winners and two best-ranked runners-up from League C. The League A teams will be seeded and will play the second leg at home.
Path 2 will consist of the fourth-place teams from League A and League B group winners competing against the runners-up and third-place teams from League B. The League A fourth-place teams and League B group winners will be seeded and play the second leg at home.
The winners of each two-legged tie will advance to Round 2.
Round 2: The path 1 winners will compete against the path 2 winners. The path 1 winners will be seeded and will play the second leg at home.
The seven round 2 winners with the best overall league phase rankings will qualify directly for the Women's World Cup, and the remaining round 2 winner will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.
The league phase will also determine the composition of the 2027 UEFA Women's Nations League, which uses an identical league structure. The group winners of League B and League C will be promoted to the higher league for that competition, while the fourth-place teams in Leagues A and League B, as well as the two lowest-ranked third-place teams in League B, will be relegated to the lower league.[1][2]
Tiebreakers
During the league phase, teams will be ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If teams are tied on points, tiebreaking criteria will be applied (Regulations Article 23):[2]
higher number of 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
Fifty-three nations were eligible to submit entries to compete in qualification.
Gibraltar and Liechtenstein entered World Cup qualifying for the first time, having participated in their first official competitive international tournament in the preceding Women's Nations League.
San Marino does not field a senior women's national team,[4] and Russia were suspended indefinitely in February 2022 from participating in UEFA and FIFA competitions due to their country's invasion of Ukraine[5] and were excluded by UEFA from the list of participants.[6]
Teams were divided into four pots of four teams in Leagues A and B, and three pots of six teams and one pot of three teams in League C. The seedings, pots, and draw procedure were confirmed by UEFA on 30 October 2025.[3]
12345678 Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Northern Ireland, and Republic of Ireland participated in the League A vs League B promotion/relegation matches in October 2025 to determine each team's league allocation.
The league phase draw for 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification (UEFA) took place on 4 November 2025 at 13:00 CET.[3]
The following draw conditions were announced:[2][3]
For political reasons, matches between the pairs of Armenia–Azerbaijan and Bosnia and Herzegovina–Kosovo were prohibited. No other political prohibitions were required due to the involved teams being in different leagues.
League C: Teams from Pot 1 were drawn into Groups C1 through C6, in order. The same procedure occurred with Pots 2 and 3, unless a draw condition required placement in a different group. Pot 4 teams were then drawn to Groups C1 through C3.
League B: Teams from Pots 1 through 4 were drawn into Groups B1 through B4, in order. There were no identified draw conditions for League B.
League A: Teams from Pots 1 through 4 were drawn into Groups A1 through A4, in order, unless the winter venue restriction required Iceland to be placed in a different group.
League phase
Teams will play home-and-away matches against each other team in their group.
Group winners will qualify for the final tournament in Brazil. All other teams will advance to the play-off phase. All fourth-place teams will be relegated to 2027 UEFA Women's Nations League B.
Updated to match(es) played on 7 March 2026. Source: UEFA
↑Due to differing group sizes in League C, results against fourth-place teams are not considered when ranking group winners, runners-up, and third-place teams.
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Tessa Wullaert 
Rimantė Jonušaitė 
