Now we know 29 of the 32 countries coming to next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup

Switzerland and the Republic of Ireland are the latest countries to qualify for next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup to be co-hosted in New Zealand and Australia.

Portugal will also be coming to New Zealand to take part in the February intercontinental play-off series.

This follows overnight games in Europe which saw Switzerland and Ireland gain qualification to the World Cup finals with dramatic wins in the final games of UEFA’s play-off series.

Main photo: Switzerland … jubilant after their win against Wales.

Switzerland beat Wales 2-1 with a winner in extra time in Zurich.

Ireland pipped Portugal for the automatic qualification when they beat Scotland 1-0 at Glasgow’s Hampden Park, after the home side missed an early penalty.

The win lifted Ireland just above Portugal on the play-off table, after Portugal had beaten the higher-ranked Iceland 4-1.

The results of these games (played on Wednesday October 12, NZT) brings to 29 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)
Switzerland (UEFA qualifying play-offs; Second appearance)
Republic of Ireland (UEFA qualifying play-offs; First 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?

Ten teams will vie for three places in a qualifying tournament in New Zealand next February.

They are (with FIFA world rankings in brackets):

  • Portugal (27)
  • Cameroon (59)
  • Chinese Taipei (38)
  • Chile (39)
  • Haiti (56)
  • Panama (57)
  • Papua New Guinea (49)
  • Paraguay (51)
  • Senegal (84)
  • Thailand (41)

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 >>>>

Volunteers needed

Applications are open for volunteers who want to help make next February’s FIFA Women’s World Cup play-off tournament a success in Auckland and Hamilton.

The volunteers will help at the stadia, training sites, hotels, Auckland Airport and transport hubs.

For more information and to apply online, go to:

Tournament venues

FMG Waikato Stadium.
North Harbour Stadium.

Ferns fixtures

The Ferns will play three friendly internationals during the play-off tournament:

New Zealand v TBC (the first seeded team in Group A of the play-off tournament)
Friday February 17, 2023
FMG Waikato Stadium, Hamilton

New Zealand v Guest team (TBC)
Monday February 20, 2023
FMG Waikato Stadium, Hamilton

New Zealand v Guest team (TBC)
Thursday February 23, 2023
North Harbour Stadium, Albany, Auckland

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