Why are European champions England in pot 2 for Women’s World Cup qualifying? | OneFootball

England will discover their path to the 2027 Women’s World Cup as the qualifying draw is made on Tuesday.

Having successfully defended their European crown by beating Spain to win Euro 2025 in the summer, the Lionesses will be looking to go one step further at the World Cup after losing to Spain in the 2023 final in Sydney.

However, the European champions find themselves in pot 2 ahead of the qualifying draw - with the revamped qualifying format, also used ahead of the Euros, following the same style of the Uefa Nations League.

(The FA via Getty Images)

Seeding for the draw was determined by the results of the previous edition of the Nations League, which saw England finish runners-up to Spain just a few weeks before the start of Euro 2025.

The four group winners in League A - Spain, Germany, France and Sweden - are therefore top seeds ahead of qualifying, with the Lionesses set to play one of them in a four-team qualifying group.

Only the four group winners from the European qualifiers will advance automatically for the 2027 World Cup, with remaining teams in League A going into the play-offs.

The Republic of Ireland will enter League A, too, but Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will need to advance via the play-offs from League B if they are to appear at the 2027 World Cup in Brazil.

Women’s World Cup qualifying seedings

League A

Pot 1: France, Germany, Spain, Sweden

Pot 2: Netherlands, England, Italy, Norway

Pot 3: Denmark, Austria, Iceland, Poland

Pot 4: Slovenia, Serbia, Ukraine, Republic of Ireland

League B

Pot 1: Belgium, Portugal, Wales, Switzerland

Pot 2: Scotland, Czechia, Finland, Northern Ireland

Pot 3: Albania, Türkiye, Slovakia, Israel

Pot 4: Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, Latvia

League C

Pot 1: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Romania, Belarus, Croatia, Greece

Pot 2: Cyprus, Kosovo, Azerbaijan, Faroe Islands, Kazakhstan, Estonia

Pot 3: Lithuania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Moldova, North Macedonia, Georgia

When will World Cup qualifying take place?

The league phase of the qualifiers will take place across three international windows from February to June 2026. The play-offs will then take place across October and December 2026.