World Cup Dreams Can Start

Gibraltar’s women’s national squad will make its debut in the European qualifiers this year, marking the first time since Gibraltar gained UEFA and FIFA membership that women’s football can officially dream of reaching a World Cup.
Almost twelve years in the making, and having only recently entered official competitive football after playing for the first time in the Women’s Nations League last year, Gibraltar’s women face a significantly challenging task ahead. Their debut campaign will see them start in League C of the qualifiers.
Unlike the men’s competition, the women’s qualifiers have adopted a Nations League format. This creates a more level playing field during qualifying, but at the same time makes progression more difficult for teams competing in the lower leagues.
Gibraltar have been drawn to face Croatia, Kosovo, and Bulgaria — a challenging group, with all three Eastern European sides possessing experience at this level and having previously competed in qualification campaigns.
The Women’s European Qualifiers will run from February to December 2026 and will determine the UEFA nations that earn places at the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil, as well as promotion and relegation ahead of the next edition of the UEFA Women’s Nations League.
The European Qualifiers league stage is played in the same format as the UEFA Women’s Nations League, with teams split into three leagues: League A with 16 teams, League B with 16 teams, and League C with 21 teams. The draw took place on Tuesday 4 November.
The Women’s European Qualifiers for the 2027 Women’s World Cup provide eleven UEFA places in the finals, with a further UEFA place available through the inter-confederation play-offs.

Women’s European Qualifiers – Direct Qualification
4 direct places: League A group winners
7 additional direct places: European Qualifiers play-off winners
1 team progresses to the inter-confederation play-offs

Qualifying Slots by Confederation

AFC: 6
CAF: 4
CONCACAF: 4
CONMEBOL: 3 (including hosts Brazil)
OFC: 1
UEFA: 11
Inter-confederation play-offs: 3

Inter-Confederation Play-Off Slots by Confederation

AFC: 2
CAF: 2
CONCACAF: 2
CONMEBOL: 2
OFC: 1
UEFA: 1

Both CONCACAF entrants, the best-ranked CONMEBOL entrant, and the UEFA entrant will enter at the second of the two play-off phases.
Gibraltar’s pathway into the qualifiers was determined by their participation in the 2025 UEFA Women’s Nations League.
During the qualifying league stage, teams compete in groups of four — or three in League C — over six matchdays between February and June 2026. Each team plays one home and one away match against every other team in their group.
For qualification, the winners of each League A group will gain automatic places at the finals in Brazil. The remaining seven direct spots, along with one berth in the inter-confederation play-offs scheduled for February 2027, will be decided through two rounds of play-offs held in October and November/December 2026.

Play-Offs
Round 1

Round 1 of the play-offs is split into two paths.

Path 1
Teams finishing second and third in League A groups will face the six League C group winners and the two best-ranked League C runners-up.

League A teams will be seeded and will play the second legs at home. The eight winners progress to Round 2.

Path 2
The four fourth-placed League A teams and the four League B group winners will be drawn against the teams finishing second and third in the League B groups.

The League A teams and League B group winners will be seeded and will play the second legs at home. The eight winners progress to Round 2.

Round 2

In Round 2, teams from both paths are drawn into eight ties, with the Round 1 Path 1 winners seeded and hosting the second legs.

The seven best-ranked Round 2 play-off winners, according to the 2026 Women’s European Qualifiers overall league rankings, will qualify directly for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The remaining Round 2 winner will qualify for the inter-confederation play-offs.

European representatives will enter the inter-confederation play-offs directly in the second phase, scheduled for February 2027.

The World Cup qualification pathway will also feed into the promotion and relegation process for the next UEFA Women’s Nations League cycle, which begins in 2027–29 and leads into UEFA Women’s EURO 2029.

Key Dates

Qualifying matchdays 1 & 2: 26 February – 7 March 2026
Qualifying matchdays 3 & 4: 9 – 18 April 2026
Qualifying matchdays 5 & 6: 3 – 9 June 2026
Play-off round 1 and round 2 draw: 24 June 2026
Play-off round 1 (two legs): 7 – 13 October 2026
Play-off round 2 (two legs): 26 November – 5 December 2026
Inter-confederation play-offs: February 2027
Finals: 24 June – 25 July 2027 (Brazil)

Women’s European Qualifiers – League Stage Draw
League A

Group A1: Sweden, Italy, Denmark, Serbia
Group A2: France, Netherlands, Poland, Republic of Ireland
Group A3: Spain, England, Iceland, Ukraine
Group A4: Germany, Norway, Austria, Slovenia

League B

Group B1: Wales, Czechia, Albania, Montenegro
Group B2: Switzerland, Northern Ireland, Türkiye, Malta
Group B3: Portugal, Finland, Slovakia, Latvia
Group B4: Belgium, Scotland, Israel, Luxembourg

League C

Group C1: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein
Group C2: Croatia, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Gibraltar
Group C3: Hungary, Azerbaijan, North Macedonia, Andorra
Group C4: Greece, Faroe Islands, Georgia
Group C5: Romania, Cyprus, Moldova
Group C6: Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia