NYON, Switzerland (AP) — European champions England The path to the 2027 Women’s World Cup will go through Greece, followed by either Slovakia or Ukraine in the second division. qualifying playoff draw on Thursday.
England is Losing to a finalist in the 2023 World Cup In the qualifying group that ended this month, they faced defending champion Spain again.
Spain, along with Denmark, France and Germany, have qualified directly for the 2027 finals tournament in Brazil, leaving 32 teams in Thursday’s play-off draw to decide the seven remaining spots.
Europe has secured 11 spots for next year’s 32-team finals tournament, with eight playoff spots ending in December, with the top seven teams qualifying for the World Cup. The winner of the eighth bracket will advance to the intercontinental playoffs in February.
Sweden defeated Americawere two-time defending champions at the 2023 World Cup before losing to Spain in the semifinals, and will face Lithuania in the playoffs. The winner will face either the Czech Republic or Scotland.
Italy had unfortunately lost to England They will face Belarus in the Euro 2025 semi-finals, with the winner facing either Finland or Serbia.
The first round will be held in October, and the second round in November and December.
Italy and Belarus were originally paired with the winner of Slovakia vs. Ukraine, so they had to drop to the bottom of the table with a draw. UEFA has blocked potential matches between teams from Ukraine and Russia’s military ally Belarus since the war began in February 2022.
UEFA also required Belarus to play its home games in empty stadiums in neutral countries, with Georgia hosting the team’s qualifying group matches.
Israeli teams have also played in neutral countries since October 2023, when the conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip began. Israel will hold their group qualifying round in Hungary before playing their first match against Switzerland, the next venue. The winner will play Kosovo or Austria.
___
AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
