England’s 8-1 aggregate victory over Greece in the opening round of the European play-offs for the 2027 Women’s World Cup underlined just how inefficient the current qualification structure is. Greece, ranked 55 places below England, stood little realistic chance across a two-legged tie, even if they performed well in their 3-1 home defeat. The two-time European champions were superior in every sense.
The scale of the win was no one-off. Only one team from each league phase group earned automatic qualification, which pushed a string of Europe’s leading nations into the play-offs against lower-ranked opposition. The Netherlands, European champions in 2017, finished second in their group behind France, the world’s sixth-ranked side, and went on to beat Hungary 11-0 on aggregate. Norway, World Cup winners in 1995 and six-time European finalists, lost out to Germany in their group and then thrashed Romania 8-0. Sweden and the Republic of Ireland, also dropping out of League A, won their ties 15-0 and 12-0 respectively. England’s heavy win over League C opposition fitted the pattern, and the evening did not reflect the growth of European women’s football, which has become more competitive than ever in recent years.
Sarina Wiegman was reluctant to reopen the debate about the format after the Greece tie. “Of course we wanted to qualify straight away, that’s not the case,” the England manager said. “For us now, the facts are that we are in the play-offs, we have played Greece, now we’re through, and now we’re going to play Ukraine. That’s what my focus is on.” On the prospect of a review, she added: “Uefa will review how things are set up and see whether they think it works or it should be better, or different. I don’t think it’s my place now to review that.”
England’s route into the play-offs was a strange one. Drawn in the same group as world champions Spain, they finished runners-up in League A3 only on head-to-head record, having beaten Spain 1-0 at Wembley. Their 15-point tally in the league phase was bettered by just three other teams — Germany, Switzerland and Hungary. Switzerland and Hungary topped League B and League C groups that did not include a single side from the world’s top 45 ranked nations, whereas England, seeded in League A, had Iceland, ranked 13th, alongside the world’s number one team in their four-team group.
England have won seven of their last eight qualifying matches, scoring 21 goals and conceding six, with their only defeat coming away to Spain. They now face Ukraine for a place at the tournament, with the first leg away from home on 1 December and the return fixture at Wembley Stadium on 5 December. England have already played Ukraine twice in the league phase, winning 9-1 on aggregate, meaning they could be asked to beat the same opponent on at least three occasions as part of their qualification process.
Wiegman has already expressed her frustration at the situation. After June’s costly 4-0 defeat by Spain, she said: “The competition in Europe is really high. What I’m disappointed about is that we win five games, we have 15 points and we’re in a group with the world champions and then you can’t qualify. I’m happy with the performances but not the result of us having to go into the play-offs. That’s just the way it is.”
While England were picking up a routine win over Greece, several of their likely World Cup rivals were testing themselves against top-tier opposition. Germany and Japan, two of the tournament favourites, met in a friendly on Tuesday night, Brazil and Argentina played out a 2-2 draw, and the four-time world champions USA faced Spain twice in five days.
The wider picture is mixed. When qualifying for the 2023 Women’s World Cup, England beat Latvia 20-0 and 10-0, yet the tournament itself — expanded from 24 to 32 teams — was a far tighter affair, with England pushed by debutants Haiti in a 1-0 group win and by Colombia in the quarter-finals. Competition across Europe has grown too: England failed to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games on behalf of Team GB after finishing second to the Netherlands in their Nations League group, drew with Portugal and lost to Belgium the following year, and had to overcome two penalty shootouts at Euro 2025.
Fifa has announced that the 2031 Women’s World Cup will expand from 32 to 48 teams, and it is too early to know whether that is the right decision. But while lopsided scorelines persist, they appear to be a direct result of a European qualification process that does not benefit the majority.