2027 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
International football competition
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The 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification process determines the 31 teams joining hosts Brazil in the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup. It is the tenth FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international women's football world championship tournament. The tournament is the first Women's World Cup to be hosted by a CONMEBOL member association and the second to be held in the Southern Hemisphere, after the previous edition in 2023.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 19 February 2025 – February 2027 |
| Teams | 179 (from 6 confederations) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 332 |
| Goals scored | 1,276 (3.84 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Charlyn Corral Kim Kyong-yong(13 goals each) |
← 2023 2031 →
All statistics correct as of 18 April 2026. | |
Qualification began on 19 February 2025 with two matches of the CAF zone played that day. The first goal of the qualification series was scored by Algerian player Laura Taleb Muller against South Sudan.
Slot allocation
The allocation of slots for the final tournament was approved by the FIFA Council on 10 December 2024.[1] The slot for the host nation was taken directly from the quotas allocated to its confederation.
Qualified teams
| Team | Method of qualification | Date of qualification |
Total times qualified |
Last time qualified |
Current consecutive appearances |
Previous best performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Brazil |
Hosts | 17 May 2024 | 10 | 2023 | 10 | Runners-up (2007) |
 Australia |
2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup QF Winners | 13 March 2026 | 9 | 2023 | 9 | Fourth place (2023) |
 China |
2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup QF Winners | 14 March 2026 | 9 | 2023 | 4 | Runners-up (1999) |
 South Korea |
2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup QF Winners | 14 March 2026 | 5 | 2023 | 4 | Round of 16 (2015) |
 Japan |
2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup QF Winners | 15 March 2026 | 10 | 2023 | 10 | Champions (2011) |
 Philippines |
2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup Play-in Winners | 19 March 2026 | 2 | 2023 | 2 | Group stage (2023) |
| North Korea |
2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup Play-in Winners | 19 March 2026 | 5 | 2011 | 1 | Quarter-finals (2007) |
 New Zealand |
OFC qualification winner | 15 April 2026 | 7 | 2023 | 6 | Group stage (1991, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019, 2023) |
Qualification process
Summary of qualification
FIFA's confederations organise their qualifications either through continental championships or separate qualifying competitions. Hosts Brazil qualified automatically for the tournament, and all eligible remaining FIFA member associations could enter qualification if they chose to do so.
Qualifying matches began on 19 February 2025 and are scheduled to end in February 2027.
 | ||||||||||
| Confederation | Direct slots | Play-off slots | Teams started | Teams eliminated | Teams can still qualify | Teams qualified | Qualifying start date | Qualifying next match date | Qualifying end date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AFC | 6 | 2 | 38 | 30 | 2 | 6 | 23 June 2025 | N/a | 19 March 2026 | |
| CAF | 4 | 2 | 37 | 21 | 16 | 0 | 19 February 2025 | 26 July 2026[2] | 16 August 2026 | |
| CONCACAF | 4 | 2 | 31 | 23 | 8 | 0 | 27 November 2025 | 27 November 2026 | 2 December 2026 | |
| CONMEBOL | 2+1 (host) | 2 | 9+1 (host) | 1 | 8 | 0+1 | 24 October 2025 | 5 June 2026 | 9 June 2026 | |
| OFC | 1 | 1 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 28 November 2025 | N/a | 15 April 2026 | |
| UEFA | 11 | 1 | 53 | 5 | 48 | 0 | 3 March 2026 | 5 June 2026 | December 2026 | |
| Play-offs | 3 | N/a | (10) | 0 | (10) | 0 | November 2026 | November 2026 | February 2027 | |
| Total | 31+1 (host) | 10 | 179+1 (host) | 89 | 83 | 7+1 | 19 February 2025 | 5 June 2026 | February 2027 | |
Suspensions and withdrawals
Russia were suspended indefinitely on 28 February 2022 from participating in UEFA and FIFA competitions due to their country's invasion of Ukraine.[3][4] The suspension was still in effect when UEFA finalised its qualifying process, and Russia were excluded from European qualification.[5]
Congo withdrew prior to playing any matches, citing a lack of preparation.[6]
Chad withdrew prior to playing any matches, citing delays in the disbursement process of the funds needed for match preparations and a lack of funding.[7]
Confederation qualification
FIFA retained the slot allocation from the previous edition. Brazil automatically qualified as hosts, and they took one of the slots allocated to CONMEBOL.
AFC
As in 2023, the AFC Women's Asian Cup serves as the qualifying competition to determine the Asian representatives at the Women's World Cup. The qualifying process is:
- Qualifying stage: Nations were drawn into eight groups of four or five teams to determine the eight nations joining the three top-ranked teams from the 2022 edition (China, South Korea and Japan) and hosts Australia for the final tournament. Groups B–H competed from 23 June – 5 July 2025, while Group A was postponed until 7–19 July due to the Twelve-Day War.[8][9]
- Final tournament: The final tournament took place from 1–21 March 2026. Twelve nations were drawn into groups of four teams each to play single round-robin matches. The group winners and runners-up and the two best-ranked third-place teams advanced to the knockout phase. The four quarter-final winners qualified directly for the 2027 Women's World Cup, while the four quarter-final losers competed to determine the final two direct qualifiers, and the two Asian representatives in the inter-confederation play-offs.
Final positions (Women's Asian Cup knockout stage)
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| 14 March – Sydney (SA) | ||||||||||
| South Korea | 6 | |||||||||
| 18 March – Sydney (SA) | ||||||||||
 Uzbekistan | 0 | |||||||||
| South Korea | 1 | |||||||||
| 15 March – Sydney (SA) | ||||||||||
| Japan | 4 | |||||||||
| Japan | 7 | |||||||||
| 21 March – Sydney (SA) | ||||||||||
| Philippines | 0 | |||||||||
| Japan | 1 | |||||||||
| 14 March – Perth (PRS) | ||||||||||
| Australia | 0 | |||||||||
| China (a.e.t.) | 2 | |||||||||
| 17 March – Perth (PS) | ||||||||||
 Chinese Taipei | 0 | |||||||||
| China | 1 | |||||||||
| 13 March – Perth (PRS) | ||||||||||
| Australia | 2 | |||||||||
| Australia | 2 | |||||||||
| North Korea | 1 | |||||||||
| 19 March – Gold Coast | ||||||||||
| Uzbekistan | 0 | |||||||||
| Philippines | 2 | |||||||||
| 19 March – Gold Coast | ||||||||||
| Chinese Taipei | 0 | |||||||||
| North Korea | 4 | |||||||||
CAF
As in 2023, the Women's Africa Cup of Nations serves as the qualifying competition to determine the African representatives at the Women's World Cup. The qualifying process is:
- Qualifying stage: Qualification for the 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations took place over two rounds during the international windows of 19–26 February 2025 and 22–28 October 2025. Eleven nations advanced to join hosts Morocco in the final tournament.[10] After the conclusion of qualifying, CAF announced four teams defeated in the second round had advanced based on the FIFA Women's World Ranking.[11]
- Final tournament: The final tournament will be held 26 July – 16 August 2026.[2] Sixteen nations were drawn into four groups of four teams each to play single round-robin matches. The group winners and runners-up will advance to the knockout phase, with the four quarter-final winners qualifying directly for the 2027 Women's World Cup, while the four quarter-final losers will compete to determine the two African representatives in the inter-confederation play-offs.
Most recent stage (second round qualifying)
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Angola  | 0–2 |  Malawi | 0–0 | 0–2 |
DR Congo  | 1–2 |  South Africa | 1–1 | 0–1 |
Tanzania  | 3–0 |  Ethiopia | 2–0 | 1–0 |
Namibia  | 2–7 |  Zambia | 2–4 | 0–3 |
Burkina Faso  | 3–0 |  Togo | 2–0 | 1–0 |
Algeria  | 3–1 |  Cameroon | 2–1 | 1–0 |
Egypt  | 0–7 |  Ghana | 0–3 | 0–4 |
Kenya  | 4–1 |  Gambia | 3–1 | 1–0 |
Benin  | 1–3 |  Nigeria | 0–2 | 1–1 |
Cape Verde  | 4–3 |  Mali | 0–1 | 4–2 |
Senegal  | 0–0 (5–4 p) |  Ivory Coast | 0–0 | 0–0 |
- Teams advancing via FIFA ranking
The best four second round losers chosen by repechage according to the FIFA Women's World Ranking (as of 7 August 2025) below:
Next stage (Women's Africa Cup of Nations group stage)
| Legend |
|---|
|
First match(es) will be played: 26 July 2026. Source: CAF |
First match(es) will be played: 27 July 2026. Source: CAF |
First match(es) will be played: 27 July 2026. Source: CAF |
CONCACAF
As in 2023, the CONCACAF W Championship serves as the qualifying competition to determine the North American, Central American, and Caribbean representatives at the Women's World Cup. The qualifying process is:[12]
- Qualifying stage: Twenty-nine nations were drawn into five groups of five teams each and one group of four teams to play matches during the international windows in November/December 2025, and February/March and April 2026. The six group winners advanced to join the top two CONCACAF teams in the FIFA Women's World Ranking[13] – Canada and the United States – for the final tournament.
- Final tournament: Eight nations will compete in a single-elimination knockout tournament in November 2026. The four quarter-final winners will qualify directly for the 2027 Women's World Cup, and the four quarter-final losers will compete to determine the two CONCACAF representatives in the inter-confederation play-offs.
Most recent stage (CONCACAF W Championship qualification)
| Legend |
|---|
Source: CONCACAF |
Source: CONCACAF |
Source: CONCACAF | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source: CONCACAF |
Source: CONCACAF |
Source: CONCACAF |
Next stage (CONCACAF W Championship)
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| 27 November 2026 – Mansfield | ||||||||||
 United States | ||||||||||
| 1 December 2026 – Mansfield | ||||||||||
 El Salvador | ||||||||||
| 27 November 2026 – Mansfield | ||||||||||
 Jamaica | ||||||||||
| 5 December 2026 – Houston | ||||||||||
 Costa Rica | ||||||||||
| 28 November 2026 – Mansfield | ||||||||||
 Canada | ||||||||||
| 1 December 2026 – Mansfield | ||||||||||
 Panama | ||||||||||
| 28 November 2026 – Mansfield | ||||||||||
| Third place | ||||||||||
| Mexico | ||||||||||
| 5 December 2026 – Houston | ||||||||||
 Haiti | ||||||||||
| 2 December 2026 – Mansfield | ||||||||||
| 2 December 2026 – Mansfield | ||||||||||
CONMEBOL
For the first time, CONMEBOL will host a stand-alone tournament for FIFA Women's World Cup qualification. Nine teams will compete in a round-robin tournament playing four matches at home and four matches away; Brazil qualified as hosts and will not participate in qualifying. This tournament will be held from 24 October 2025 to 9 June 2026. Two teams will qualify for the Women's World Cup and two teams will advance to the inter-confederation playoffs.[14]
| Legend |
|---|
Source: CONMEBOL
(E) Eliminated;
(X) Assured of at least inter-confederation play-offs, may still qualify directly;
(Y) Cannot qualify directly, may still advance to inter-confederation play-offs
OFC
The OFC will also hold its first stand-alone qualification tournament. The qualification format was announced on 8 August 2025:[15]
- The four lowest-ranked teams competed in a single-elimination tournament in the Cook Islands on 28 November and 1 December 2025. The winner advanced to the second round.
- The first round winner joined the seven highest-ranked teams in the second round. In August 2025, the eight teams were divided into two groups of four teams to play a single-leg round-robin tournament between 27 February and 8 March 2026. The group winners and runners-up advanced to the third round.
- The four teams advancing from the second round will compete in a single-elimination tournament between 12 and 15 April 2026. The winners will qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup, and the runners-up will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.
Final positions (third round)
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 11 April 2026 | ||||||
 Papua New Guinea | 1 | |||||
| 15 April 2026 | ||||||
 American Samoa | 0 | |||||
| Papua New Guinea | 0 | |||||
| 11 April 2026 | ||||||
| New Zealand | 1 | |||||
| New Zealand | 5 | |||||
 Fiji | 0 | |||||
UEFA
As in 2023, UEFA will hold a stand-alone qualification tournament to determine the European representatives at the Women's World Cup. The qualifying process is:
- League phase: Fifty-three nations were divided into three leagues based on the 2025 UEFA Women's Nations League overall phase ranking. Each league consists of groups of three or four teams playing a league format from 3 March to 9 June 2026. Four teams will qualify directly for the 2027 Women's World Cup and 32 will advance to the play-off phase.
- Play-off phase: Thirty-two teams will play two rounds of home-and-away elimination matches to determine the final seven European nations qualifying directly for the Women's World Cup and the European representative in the inter-confederation play-offs. Round 1 matches will be held between 7 and 13 October 2026 and round 2 matches will be held between 26 November and 5 December 2026.
Current stage (league phase)
| Legend |
|---|
Possibly advance to the UEFA play-offs |
Updated to match(es) played on 18 April 2026. Source: UEFA (A) Advance to a further round; (X) Cannot be relegated |
Updated to match(es) played on 18 April 2026. Source: UEFA (A) Advance to a further round; (X) Cannot be Relegated |
Updated to match(es) played on 18 April 2026. Source: UEFA (A) Advance to a further round; (X) Cannot be relegated |
Updated to match(es) played on 18 April 2026. Source: UEFA (A) Advance to a further round; (X) Cannot be relegated | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Updated to match(es) played on 18 April 2026. Source: UEFA (A) Advance to a further round; (X) Cannot be relegated; (Y) Cannot be promoted |
Updated to match(es) played on 18 April 2026. Source: UEFA (A) Advance to a further round; (E) Eliminated; (R) Relegated; (X) Cannot be relegated |
Updated to match(es) played on 18 April 2026. Source: UEFA (A) Advance to a further round; (X) Cannot be relegated; (Y) Cannot be promoted |
Updated to match(es) played on 18 April 2026. Source: UEFA (A) Advance to a further round; (E) Eliminated; (R) Relegated | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Updated to match(es) played on 18 April 2026. Source: UEFA (E) Eliminated; (Y) Cannot be promoted; may advance to play-offs |
Updated to match(es) played on 18 April 2026. Source: UEFA (E) Eliminated; (Y) Cannot be promoted; may advance to play-offs | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Updated to match(es) played on 18 April 2026. Source: UEFA (A) Advance to a further round; (P) Promoted; (Y) Cannot be promoted; may advance to play-offs |
Updated to match(es) played on 18 April 2026. Source: UEFA (A) Advance to a further round; (P) Promoted; (Y) Cannot be promoted; may advance to play-offs |
Updated to match(es) played on 18 April 2026. Source: UEFA |
| League C runners-up table legend |
|---|
| Pos | Team[a] | Pld | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Kazakhstan |
3 | 6 |
| 2 |  Estonia |
3 | 4 |
| 3 |  Azerbaijan |
2 | 3 |
| 4 |  Croatia |
2 | 3 |
| 5 |  Faroe Islands |
3 | 3 |
| 6 |  Moldova |
2 | 1 |
Source: UEFA
- Due to differing group sizes, results against fourth-place teams are not considered when ranking runners-up.
Inter-confederation play-offs
Ten teams will advance to a play-off tournament to determine the final three teams to qualify for the Women's World Cup: two teams each from AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, and CONMEBOL, and one team each from OFC and UEFA. Two rounds of matches will take place, with the teams from CONCACAF and UEFA receiving a bye based on the results of the 2023 play-offs and the CONMEBOL team ranked higher in the FIFA Women's World Ranking receiving a bye based on Brazil hosting the final tournament. The lower-ranked team from CONMEBOL and the teams from AFC, CAF, and OFC will play a series of matches in November–December 2026 with the top two teams advancing to the second round. The second round will consist of three single-elimination matches in February 2027 with teams from the same confederation barred from facing each other. The winners of these matches will qualify for the final tournament.[1]
Top goalscorers
There have been 1,276 goals scored in 332 matches, for an average of 3.84 goals per match (as of 18 April 2026). Players highlighted in bold are still active in the competition.
13 goals
12 goals
10 goals
Myong Yu-jong
9 goals
7 goals
6 goals
Below are goalscorer lists for all confederations: