Only five more teams can qualify for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup to be to be co-hosted in New Zealand and Australia.
After the conclusion of latest qualifying games in Europe, the names of England, Germany, Norway, Italy and the Netherlands can be added to those already confirmed as participants.
This brings to 27 the number of teams now confirmed for the 32-team tournament.
Teams confirmed
Australia (Host nation; Eighth appearance)
New Zealand (Host nation; Sixth appearance)
Japan (AFC Asian Cup semifinalist; Ninth appearance)
Philippines (AFC Asian Cup semifinalist; First appearance)
South Korea (AFC Asian Cup runner-up; Fourth appearance)
China (AFC Asian Cup winner; Eighth appearance)
Vietnam (AFC Asian Cup playoff winner; First appearance)
Sweden (UEFA World Cup qualifying Group A winner; Ninth appearance)
Spain (UEFA World Cup qualifying Group B winner; Third appearance)
Denmark (UEFA World Cup qualifying Group E winner; Fifth appearance)
England (UEFA World Cup qualifying Group D winner; Ninth appearance)
France (UEFA World Cup qualifying Group I winner; Fifth appearance)
Germany (UEFA World Cup qualifying Group H winner; Ninth appearance)
Italy (UEFA World Cup qualifying Group G winner; Fourth appearance)
Netherlands (UEFA World Cup qualifying Group C winners; Third appearance)
Norway (UEFA qualifying Group F winner; Ninth appearance)
United States (Concacaf W Championship semifinalist; Ninth appearance)
Canada (Concacaf W Championship semifinalist; Eighth appearance)
Costa Rica (Concacaf W Championship semifinalist; Second appearance)
Jamaica (Concacaf W Championship semifinalist; Second appearance)
Zambia (Africa Cup of Nations semifinalist; First appearance)
Morocco (Africa Cup of Nations semifinalist; First appearance)
Nigeria (Africa Cup of Nations semifinalist; Ninth appearance)
South Africa (Africa Cup of Nations semifinalist; Second appearance)
Argentina (Copa America Femenina bronze medalist; Fourth appearance)
Brazil (Copa America Femenina gold medalist; Ninth appearance)
Colombia (Copa America Femenina silver medalist; Third appearance)
Where they’ll play
Who else is coming?
Nine European teams remain in contention to qualify and will take part in UEFA play-offs on October 6 and 11.
In the play-offs, the three teams that had the strongest records as runners-up in their original qualifying group will be seeded to round two. The six remaining runners-up play three single-leg play-offs on October 6.
The three winners from the October 6 games and the three seeded teams then compete in single-leg play-off games on October 11.
The top two teams after the October 11 play-off games, qualify for the World Cup.
The third best will head to New Zealand for the intercontinental play-offs to be held next February (see below).
The seeded teams are:
- Iceland (runners-up Group C)
- Republic of Ireland (runners-up Group A)
- Switzerland (runners-up Group G)
The six teams that will go into the October 6 draw are:
- Austria (runners-up Group D)
- Belgium (runners-up Group F)
- Bosnia & Herzegovina (runners-up Group E)
- Portugal (runners-up Group H)
- Scotland (runners-up Group B)
- Wales (runners-up Group I)
Intercontinental play-offs
Ten teams will vie for three places in a qualifying tournament in New Zealand next February.
Two teams from Asia (Chinese Taipei, Thailand), Africa (Senegal, Cameroon), South America (Chile, Paraguay) and Concacaf (Panama, Haiti) and one representing Oceania (Papua New Guinea) and one from UEFA will take part,
The tournament will have two groups of three and one group of four, with each group winner qualifying for the World Cup.
The FIFA world ranking comes into play in that the top four-ranked teams will be seeded (there can only be one seeded team in each confederation), with the two highest seeds going into the groups of three. That’s significant, because it comes with byes through the semifinals and requires them to win just one more game to reach the World Cup.
By February 23, we’ll know the full list of 32 nations taking part in the World Cup.
The draw
The tournament draw will be conducted at Auckland’s Aotea Centre on October 22, 2022.
READ MORE: Click here for our earlier story about the draw >>>>
Main photo: Auckland celebrates one year to go to the start of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Source: NZ Football social media.
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