Women's World Cup play-off draw

Friday, September 9, 2022

The ties have been set for October, deciding two finals spots and one berth in the intercontinental play-offs.

The three round 1 winners will each face teams entering in round 2 in one-off ties UEFA

The European play-offs for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup will be played on 6 and 11 October 2022, and the ties have been set.

Play-off draw

Round 1 (6 October)

Scotland vs Austria
Wales vs Bosnia and Herzegovina
Portugal vs Belgium

Round 2 (11 October)

Portugal / Belgium vs Iceland
Scotland / Austria vs Republic of Ireland
Switzerland vs Wales / Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia & Herzegovina and Wales are in their first play-off for a final tournament.
Austria, Belgium, Iceland, Ireland and Portugal are also aiming for World Cup debuts.
Scotland qualified in 2019; Switzerland in 2015.

In the play-offs, the three best qualifying group stage runners-up (based on results against the sides ranked first, third, fourth and fifth in their section) have been seeded directly to round 2 of the play-offs (Switzerland, Iceland and Ireland). The six remaining runners-up contest three single-leg play-offs in round 1.

The three winners from round 1 and the three teams entering directly in round 2 will then compete in single-leg play-offs.

The two play-off winners with the highest ranking (based on results in the qualifying group stage against the sides ranked first, third, fourth and fifth in their section, and round 2 play-offs) will qualify for the finals from 20 July to 20 August 2023 in Australia and New Zealand. The remaining play-off winner will compete in the inter-confederation play-offs.

All play-offs level after 90 minutes will go to extra time, and if necessary a penalty shoot-out.

How the play-off winner ranking is decided

To determine the ranking of the play-off winners, the results of the round 2 play-offs (three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw, and none for a defeat; result after extra time is counted but not any penalty shoot-out) are added to the results of the group stage matches used to determine the ranking of the group runners-up (see Paragraph 14.04 of the official regulations). The following criteria are applied in the order given:

1: Higher number of points

2: Superior goal difference

3: Higher number of goals scored

4: Higher number of away goals scored

5: Higher number of wins

6: Higher number of away wins

7: Lower disciplinary points total based only on yellow and red cards received by players and team officials (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points)

8: Higher position in the UEFA women's national team coefficient rankings used for the group stage draw (see Annex B.1.2 of the official regulations)

Ranking after group stage

Inter-confederation play-offs

A ten-team tournament will be held in New Zealand from 17 to 23 February 2023 to decide the last three finalists.

Continental allocation/Contenders
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 split into three groups: two of three teams and one of four, with seeding decided by FIFA ranking. All three groups will be played as separate knockout competitions, with the winner of each qualifying for the finals. In the two three-team groups, the seeded team will go straight to the final (after playing a friendly against New Zealand or a guest nation) and meet the winner of a semi-final between the other two teams in their group.

Who has qualified for the World Cup so far?

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, United States)
CONMEBOL: 3 (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia)
UEFA: 11 (Denmark, England, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, 2 play-off winners TBC)
Inter-confederation play-offs: 3 TBC

*Debut

Draw procedure: Round 1

The six teams wree placed in one bowl, with no seeding. They were drawn into three ties (ties 1 to 3) and the first team drawn in each tie will be at home. The ties will be played on 6 October.

Draw procedure: Round 2

The six teams (the three teams entering in this round and the three round 1 winners) were placed in one bowl, with no seeding (the three winners of round 1 of the play-offs will be indicated as 'winner round 1 tie 1' to 'winner round 1 tie 3').

They were drawn into three ties (ties 1 to 3) and the first team drawn in each tie will be at home. The ties will be played on 11 October.