England will have to come through two rounds of home-and-away play-off ties if they are to reach the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil, beginning with a first-round meeting with Greece in Crete on Friday, 9 October at 17:30 BST.
The second leg will be played on home soil at the King Power Stadium in Leicester on Tuesday, 13 October at 19:30 BST. Both matches will be broadcast with commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live.
Should Sarina Wiegman’s European champions beat Greece over the two games, they will meet the winners of Slovakia v Ukraine in round two, with the away fixture played first. The exact dates of the potential second-leg fixtures are still to be confirmed, though they will fall between 26 November and 5 December 2026.
Wiegman named her initial squad last month, with Ella Toone and Chloe Kelly the notable absentees. Asked about their omission, the England head coach said: “They have not been playing to their full potential. Of course, I still believe in these players. They are really good and have shown so much for us.” She added on BBC Radio 5 Live: “That is also why I didn’t pick them this time, because they have not played to their potential in my opinion in the last couple of weeks. I had those conversations with them and that was very hard to take. They took it well and, of course, they want to work on that.”
England reached the play-offs despite winning five of their six qualifying matches. World champions Spain finished top of their group and took the one automatic place on offer.
Wiegman said: “We knew what the play-offs would look like and, while we’re pleased with the draw against Greece, the focus now is on making sure we’re really well prepared. We want to dominate games and have a lot of the ball and that’s something we will prepare for carefully.”
The other nations are in action on the same day. Wales face Albania at 17:00 BST, with coverage on BBC Two Wales from 16:45 BST. Scotland play the Czech Republic at 18:00 BST, available to watch on BBC iPlayer and BBC Alba, while Northern Ireland take on Portugal at 19:00 BST on BBC iPlayer. The Republic of Ireland will play Kazakhstan at 12:00 BST.
England’s route is a favourable one on paper. Greece sit 55 places beneath them in the Fifa world rankings, and Wiegman’s side also beat potential round-two opponents Ukraine in both matches during the qualifying group stage, with an aggregate score of 9-1. England would not have chosen the play-offs, but their group draw was an unkind one in pitting them against the world champions.
Northern Ireland, by contrast, face a tricky first-round tie against a talented young Portugal squad. Portugal twice beat Northern Ireland during Euro 2025 qualifying. The task would grow harder still in round two, where Iceland are among the potential opponents, having proved difficult to break down in their matches against England this year.
Scotland are chasing only their second Women’s World Cup finals, after appearing in 2019. They missed out on qualification in 2023 but have performed well this year, including a draw with Belgium that suggests they can compete with Europe’s strongest teams. They would need to produce their best in round two if they come up against Sweden, semi-finalists at the past two Women’s World Cups.
Wales have never beaten a top-20 ranked nation in a competitive fixture and will likely need to do so to qualify. There is optimism, however, as Rhian Wilkinson’s side thrashed their play-off opponents Albania 4-0 during the qualifying group.
The Republic of Ireland performed superbly in qualifying but face a demanding route, with Belgium potentially waiting in round two. First, Carla Ward’s side must navigate a 3,100-mile trip to Kazakhstan to tackle relatively unknown opposition.
The final tournament, the 10th Fifa Women’s World Cup, will be staged in Brazil between 24 June and 25 July 2027.