Women's European Qualifiers league stage draw

The Women's European Qualifiers league stage draw has formed the groups that will ultimately decide places at UEFA Women's EURO 2025 in Switzerland as well as the play-off berths.

Holders England have been placed in a group with France, fellow former champions Sweden and a team hoping for a EURO finals debut, Republic of Ireland, in the draw made by UEFA Women's EURO 2025 ambassador and former Switzerland goalkeeper Gaëlle Thalmann, and UEFA managing director of women's football Nadine Kessler.

How qualifying works

League phase

In qualifying, as per the league stage of the Nations League, teams compete in groups of four or three teams (League C) and over six matchdays between April and July, with each team playing one home match and one away match against all the other teams in their group.

For qualifying itself, the top two teams in each League A group will gain places in the July 2025 finals alongside hosts Switzerland (who will compete in League B although their automatic qualification is assured). The remaining seven spots will be decided by two rounds of play-offs in October and November/December.

Play-offs

The first round of the play-offs is split into two paths. In one path, the teams finishing third and fourth in League A will play the five group winners and three best-ranked runners-up in League C. The eight winners progress to the second round.

In the other first round path, the four group winners and two best-ranked runners-up in League B will be drawn into six ties against the remaining two runners-up and four third-placed teams in League B. The six winners progress to the second round.

In the second round, the teams from both paths come together and will be drawn into seven ties, with seeding for the seven highest-ranked teams based on the European Qualifiers overall league rankings. The seven winners progress to the final tournament.

The play-off paths will be adjusted as necessary to take into account the performance of Women's EURO hosts Switzerland, who will compete in League B but are guaranteed a slot in the final tournament.

If Switzerland finishes as a League B winner, runner-up or in third place, the best-ranked fourth-placed team of League B will complete the round 1 path 2 play-off line-up and the draw seeding for the six ties will be adjusted accordingly.

Promotion and relegation

Promotion and relegation will also be at stake ahead of the next UEFA Women's Nations League, beginning the 2025–27 competition cycle:

• The winners, runners-up and third-placed teams of League A stay in League A;

• The runners-up and three best-ranked third-placed teams in League B stay in League B;

• The runners-up, third-placed and fourth-placed teams in League C stay in League C;

• The winners of Leagues B and C will be promoted to the next league;

• All fourth-placed teams in Leagues A and B, as well as the lowest-ranked third-placed team of League B, will be relegated to the next league.

How the draw worked

In the league stage, which runs from April to July, teams are split into three leagues based on their UEFA Women's Nations League rankings:

• The 16 teams ranked 1st to 16th enter League A.
• The 16 teams ranked 17th to 32nd enter League B.
• The 19 teams ranked 33rd to 51st enter League C.

Across the three leagues, teams were split into 13 groups:

• League A, containing four groups of four teams.
• League B, containing four groups of four teams.
• League C, containing four groups of four teams, and one group of three teams.

The following principles applied to the league stage draw:

• The composition of the groups within each league was decided by draw.
• The teams in each league were seeded according to the overall UEFA Nations League phase rankings.
• Teams that played in three-team groups in the UEFA Nations League phase were drawn into four-team groups in the European Qualifiers phase wherever possible.

Who was in which pot?

League A

• Pot 1 contained the fourth best-ranked teams, i.e. the teams ranked 1st to 4th
• Pot 2 contained the four teams ranked 5th to 8th
• Pot 3 contained the four teams ranked 9th to 12th
• Pot 4 containde the four teams ranked 13th to 16th

Pot 1: Spain, France, Germany, Netherlands,

Pot 2: England, Denmark, Italy, Austria

Pot 3: Iceland, Belgium, Sweden, Norway

Pot 4: Republic of Ireland, Finland, Poland, Czechia

League B

• Pot 1 contained the four teams ranked 17th to 20th
• Pot 2 contained the four teams ranked 21st to 24th
• Pot 3 contained the four teams ranked 25th to 28th
• Pot 4 contained the four teams ranked 29th to 32nd

Pot 1: Portugal, Switzerland, Scotland, Wales

Pot 2: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, Hungary

Pot 3: Slovakia, Northern Ireland, Ukraine, Türkiye

Pot 4: Malta, Israel, Kosovo, Azerbaijan

League C

• Pot 1 contained the five teams ranked 33rd to 37th
• Pot 2 contained the five teams ranked 38th to 42nd
• Pot 3 contained the five teams ranked 43rd to 47th
• Pot 4 contained the four teams ranked 48th to 51st

Pot 1: Slovenia, Greece, Belarus, Romania, Albania

Pot 2: Latvia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania

Pot 3: Luxembourg, Kazakhstan, North Macedonia, Cyprus, Andorra

Pot 4: Georgia, Moldova, Faroe Islands, Armenia

Draw conditions

Prohibited team clashes

Based on the UEFA Executive Committee decisions valid at the time of the draw, the following teams could not be drawn into the same group:

• Kosovo (League B, Pot 4) & Bosnia and Herzegovina (League B, Pot 2)
• Kosovo (League B, Pot 4) & Serbia (League B, Pot 2)

Three-team groups to four team groups

Teams that played in three-team groups in the UEFA Women's Nations League phase were drawn into four-team groups in the Women's European Qualifiers phase:

• Bulgaria (Group C5)
• North Macedonia (Group C5)

Draw procedure

League C

The draw started with League C and Pot 1, which contained five balls. The drawn teams were assigned to the groups in ascending order from C1 to C5, except if a draw condition applied.

• A first ball was drawn and the team assigned to Group C1;
• A second ball was drawn and the team assigned to Group C2;
• A third ball was drawn and the team assigned to Group C3;
• A fourth ball was drawn and the team assigned to Group C4;
• A fifth ball was drawn and the team assigned to Group C5.

The draw continued with Pot 2 and Pot 3, and followed the same rules as described above for Pot 1.

The draw continued with Pot 4 which contained four balls. The drawn teams were assigned to the groups in ascending order from C1 to C4, except if a draw condition applied.

• A first ball was drawn and the team assigned to Group C1;
• A second ball was drawn and the team assigned to Group C2;
• A third ball was drawn and the team assigned to Group C3;
• A fourth ball was drawn and the team assigned to Group C4.

League B

The draw continued with League B and Pot 1, which contained four balls. The drawn teams were assigned to the groups in ascending order from B1 to B4, except if a draw condition applied.

• A first ball was drawn and the team assigned to Group B1;
• A second ball was drawn and the team assigned to Group B2;
• A third ball was drawn and the team assigned to Group B3;
• A fourth ball was drawn and the team assigned to Group B4.

League A

The draw for League A followed the same procedure as League B (so Groups A1, A2, A3 and A4 all each contain a team from Pot 1, Pot 2, Pot 3 and Pot 4).