Women's World Cup preliminary round draw
Thursday, January 19, 2017
Article summary
Debutants Kosovo will make the short trip to Albania as the 16 FIFA Women's World Cup preliminary round entrants discovered their groups for April.
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Debutants Andorra and Kosovo are among 16 teams that now know their fate after the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup preliminary round draw was made in Nyon.
Preliminary round draw
Group 1: Kazakhstan, Estonia, Georgia (hosts), Latvia
Group 2: Greece, Albania (hosts), Malta, Kosovo
Group 3: Israel, Moldova, Lithuania (hosts), Andorra
Group 4: Turkey, Faroe Islands (hosts), Montenegro, Luxembourg
• The four mini-tournaments will be played on 6, 8 and 11 April, with the section winners and the runner-up with the best record against the sides first and third in their section progressing to the qualifying group stage, joining the 30 top-ranked entrants in the draw on 25 April.
Draw facts
• Kosovo will play their first competitive women's game while Andorra are making their debut in this competition.
• Malta, Albania, the Faroe Islands and Montenegro got through the preliminary round for the 2015 Women's World Cup, with Estonia, Israel, Greece, Albania, Turkey (who won four of their ten matches) and Kazakhstan also taking part in the qualifying group stage.
• Georgia competed in the qualifying group stage for the 2011 tournament.
Qualifying group stage
• The 35 teams will be drawn into seven groups of five, who will play home and away between September 2017 and September 2018. Other details, including seeding arrangements, will be confirmed ahead of the draw.
• The seven group winners will qualify to join France in the finals.
• The four runners-up with the best records against the sides first, third and fourth in their groups will advance to the play-offs, which will consist of two rounds of two-legged knockout ties in October and November 2018 to decide Europe's last qualifier.
Road to France: calendar
Preliminary round draw: 13:30CET, 19 January 2017, Nyon
Preliminary round: 6–11 April 2017
Qualifying group stage draw: 25 April 2017, Nyon
Qualifying group stage: 11 September 2017–4 September 2018
Play-off draw: tbc September 2018, Nyon
Play-off semi-finals: 1–9 October 2018
Play-off final: 5–13 November 2018
Finals draw: late 2018, France
Finals: summer 2019, France