Women's European Qualifiers play-offs: How the round 1 ties stand
Friday, October 25, 2024
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Ewa Pajor struck late for Poland and former champions Norway and Sweden were also among the winners while Greece held Belgium in Friday's round 1 first legs, with the returns on Tuesday.
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The play-off phase of the Women's European Qualifiers involves 28 teams competing in two rounds of two-legged knockout ties for the last seven finals slots at UEFA Women's EURO 2025 in Switzerland from 2 to 27 July next year.
Round 1 began on Friday with the first legs. Austria, Czechia, Norway, Portugal, the Republic of Ireland and Sweden have opened up significant leads with away wins while Poland came from behind to prevail 2-1 in Romania with an 89th-minute Ewa Pajor penalty, her 60th international goal. Finland and Scotland gained 1-0 victories on the road.
Greece showed steel in holding Belgium 0-0 as Serbia equalised late in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland secured an added-time equaliser in Croatia (who had led for 87 minutes) and there was also a draw between Türkiye and Ukraine. Slovakia withstood a late Wales comeback for 2-1 victory in the only home first-leg win. The returns are on Tuesday.
Round 2, for which the draw is already made, will be played between 27 November and 3 December, with the dates confirmed once the ties are set. The seven round 2 winners will join hosts Switzerland and direct qualifiers Denmark, England, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain in the 16 December finals draw in Lausanne.
Play-off ties
All KO times CET
Round 1
First legs: Friday 25 October
Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-2 Serbia
Azerbaijan 1-4 Portugal
Albania 0-5 Norway
Montenegro 0-1 Finland
Türkiye 1-1 Ukraine
Slovakia 2-1 Wales
Romania 1-2 Poland
Greece 0-0 Belgium
Georgia 0-6 Republic of Ireland
Slovenia 0-3 Austria
Hungary 0-1 Scotland
Croatia 1-1 Northern Ireland
Luxembourg 0-4 Sweden
Belarus 1-8 Czechia
Second legs: Tuesday 29 October
Czechia vs Belarus (15:00, first leg: 1-8)
Ukraine vs Türkiye (17:00, first leg: 1-1)
Finland vs Montenegro (17:30, first leg: 1-0)
Poland vs Romania (18:00, first leg: 2-1)
Austria vs Slovenia (18:00, first leg: 3-0)
Sweden vs Luxembourg (19:00, first leg: 4-0)
Norway vs Albania (19:00, first leg: 5-0)
Serbia vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (19:00, first leg: 2-2)
Northern Ireland vs Croatia (20:00, first leg: 1-1)
Belgium vs Greece (20:15, first leg: 0-0)
Wales vs Slovakia (20:15, first leg: 1-2)
Republic of Ireland vs Georgia (20:30, first leg: 6-0)
Scotland vs Hungary (20:35 first leg: 1-0)
Portugal vs Azerbaijan (20:45, first leg: 4-1)
Round 2
Azerbaijan / Portugal vs Belarus / Czechia
Hungary / Scotland vs Montenegro / Finland
Türkiye / Ukraine vs Greece / Belgium
Slovakia / Wales vs Georgia / Republic of Ireland
Romania / Poland vs Slovenia / Austria
Croatia / Northern Ireland vs Albania / Norway
Bosnia and Herzegovina / Serbia vs Luxembourg / Sweden
Two-legged ties played between 27 November and 3 December
Team guide
- Norway (1987 & 1993) and Sweden (1984) are former winners. Neither team have failed to qualify since the introduction of the group stage in 1997.
- In 2022, Sweden were semi-finalists and both Austria and Belgium made the last eight. Finland, Northern Ireland, Norway and Portugal also played in England.
- Scotland (2017) and Ukraine (2009) are also past qualifiers.
- The Republic of Ireland went to the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup but have never qualified for Women's EURO (meaning one of Slovakia, Wales, Georgia or Ireland will definitely make their debut in Switzerland).
- Czechia and Ukraine both missed out in the 2022 play-offs. Other past Women's EURO play-off contenders involved this time but yet to make a finals debut are Romania (2017), Republic of Ireland (2009) and Slovenia (2009). Hungary reached the 1991 two-legged quarter-finals (when the final tournament consisted of four teams).
Which first-round tie is in which path?
The first round of the play-offs is split into two paths.
Path 1
In Path 1, the teams finishing third and fourth in League A play the five group winners and three best-ranked runners-up in League C.
This path provided the seven seeds for the round 2 draw, namely the ties involving the seven highest-ranked teams based on the European Qualifiers overall league rankings.
Romania vs Poland
Greece vs Belgium
Montenegro vs Finland
Georgia vs Republic of Ireland
Slovenia vs Austria
Luxembourg vs Sweden
Belarus vs Czechia
Albania vs Norway
Path 2
Path 2 involves the top three teams from each of the League B groups. As Switzerland finished as a League B winner, the best-ranked fourth-placed team of League B (Azerbaijan) completed the round 1 path 2 play-off line-up, and the draw seeding for the six ties was adjusted accordingly.
The three group winners (other than Switzerland) and three best-ranked runners-up in League B were drawn into six ties against the remaining play-off contenders from League B.
Türkiye vs Ukraine
Croatia vs Northern Ireland
Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Serbia
Azerbaijan vs Portugal
Hungary vs Scotland
Slovakia vs Wales