England drawn against Greece in Women's World Cup play-off after Spain deny automatic qualification

England must navigate two rounds of play-offs to reach the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil after the draw, made on Thursday, paired the Lionesses with Greece in the first round this October.

Sarina Wiegman’s side won five of their six qualifying matches but were pipped to the automatic spot by reigning champions Spain, who topped the group. A 3-0 victory over Ukraine in their final qualifier was not enough to displace Spain, who had thrashed England 4-0 in the second meeting between the two sides — a result that proved decisive after England had won the first fixture 1-0 in April.

Should England beat Greece, they will face the winner of Slovakia vs Ukraine in the second round, scheduled for November and December. England, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales will all play their second-leg ties at home, while Northern Ireland will travel away for their second match.

The other home nations also learned their fates in the draw. The Republic of Ireland face Kazakhstan, Wales play Albania, Scotland take on the Czech Republic, and Northern Ireland have been drawn against Portugal. Potential second-round opponents include Belgium or Poland for the Republic of Ireland, Croatia or Iceland for Northern Ireland, Romania or Norway for Wales, and Lithuania or Sweden for Scotland.

Spain qualified automatically alongside Denmark, France and Germany as the four group winners across UEFA’s qualifying rounds. The play-offs will determine seven of the eight remaining UEFA places at the Brazil tournament, with the final spot decided through an inter-confederation play-off. The seven best-ranked winners from round two qualify directly, while the remaining winner will still need to win that inter-confederation play-off, with European teams entering at the second round in February 2027.

England, who reached the final of the 2023 Women’s World Cup before losing to Spain, face a more arduous path to Brazil than they would have hoped for after their group-stage stumble.