Sarina Wiegman’s England face a tricky Qualifying Group in their bid to reach the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Wiegman will take charge of the Lionesses from September but her new team face a tricky Group D containing fellow home nation – Northern Ireland, who they thrashed in a friendly in February.
England will also face Austria, North Macedonia, Latvia and Luxembourg in their group, with Austria looking to reach their first Women’s World Cup after qualifying for the last two UEFA Euros.
Scotland have been drawn into a five team Group B where they will face Spain, Ukraine, Hungary and Faroe Islands, with the Tartan Army looking to qualify for a second consecutive World Cup after exiting the 2019 tournament at the Group Stage.
Gemma Grainger’s Wales have been placed in Group F alongside 2019 hosts, France and will also play Slovenia, Greece, Kazakhstan and Estonia in their bid to qualify for their first Women’s World Cup.
Republic of Ireland will play in Group A against Sweden, Finland, Slovakia and Georgia as they look to qualify for their first World Cup, having failed in seven previous qualification campaigns.
Elsewhere, 2019 finalists – Netherlands will take on Iceland, Czech Republic, Belarus and Cyprus in Group C as the Oranje look to qualify for their third consecutive World Cup.
Qualifying will begin from 13 September 2021 and conclude on 6 September 2022 with the nine group winners all qualifying directly for the main tournament and all second-placed teams will feature in the Play-Offs from 3-11 October 2022.
Out of the nine second-placed teams, the top three ranked teams will get a pass through to the Play-Off Finals, where they will be joined by the three winners of the Play-Off Semi-Finals involving the six remaining clubs.
Once the play-off winners are known, the top two ranked teams will advance to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, whilst the remaining winner will qualify for the inter-confederation playoffs.
Here is the UEFA Qualifying Draw for 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in full.
Groups A-C (Contain Five Teams)
| Group A | Group B | Group C |
| Sweden | Spain | Netherlands |
| Finland | Scotland | Iceland |
| Republic of Ireland | Ukraine | Czech Republic |
| Slovakia | Hungary | Belarus |
| Georgia | Faroe Islands | Cyprus |
Groups D-I (Contain Six Teams)
| Group D | Group E | Group F | Group G | Group H | Group I |
| England | Denmark | Norway | Italy | Germany | France |
| Austria | Russia | Belgium | Switzerland | Portugal | Wales |
| Northern Ireland | Bosnia | Poland | Romania | Serbia | Slovenia |
| North Macedonia | Azerbaijan | Albania | Croatia | Israel | Greece |
| Latvia | Malta | Kosovo | Moldova | Turkey | Kazakhstan |
| Luxembourg | Montenegro | Armenia | Lithuania | Bulgaria | Estonia |

Leave a Reply