Dates, qualification process signed off for 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup

Key dates and the qualification process have been confirmed for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil.

The FIFA council, after consultation with hosts Brazil, have announced the tournament will be played from June 25 till July 26, 2027 (NZT).

“This historic tournament will have a massive impact not only in South America, but around the whole world, taking the women’s game to the next level in terms of participation and popularity,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said.

Main photo: Brazil will host the 32-team tournament. Photo credit: FIFA.

Thirty-two teams will participate in the tournament.

Of those, 29 will receive direct slots as follows:

• OFC (Oceania): 1 direct slot.
• AFC (Asia): 6 direct slots.
• CAF (Africa): 4 direct slots.
• Concacaf (North America, Centra America, Caribbean): 4 direct slots.
• CONMEBOL (South America); 3 direct slots, with host country Brazil qualifying automatically and their slot being taken directly from the quota allocated to CONMEBOL.
• UEFA (Europe): 11 direct slots.

The three remaining slots will be decided through a ten-team play-off tournament comprising two phases, with the following slot allocation:

• One play-off slot for the OFC.
• Two play-off slots for the AFC.
• Two play-off slots for CAF.
• Two play-off slots for Concacaf (both slots to qualify automatically for the second phase based on sporting performance at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup play-off tournament)
• Two play-off slots for CONMEBOL (top-ranked team according to the FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking to qualify automatically for the second phase because of Brazil qualifying as hosts for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup)
• One play-off slot for UEFA (to qualify automatically for the second phase based on sporting performance at the FIFA 2023 Women’s World Cup play-off tournament)

The first phase of the play-off tournament will take place in November-December 2026 in a centralised venue featuring six teams ranked based on the latest FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking prior to the play-off draw.

The top two teams will qualify for the final play-off phase to be played in a centralised location in February 2027, in which they will be joined by two teams from Concacaf, one from CONMEBOL and one from UEFA.

The six teams will be drawn into three paths, with a direct knockout match to determine the final three teams qualifying for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Teams from the same confederation would not be permitted to be drawn in the same pathway.

Meanwhile, FIFA have confirmed that the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup tournament will take place from November 6-27, 2025 (NZT).

The tournament will take place in Qatar and will be the first to comprise 48 teams, and be played annually.

This story was first published on December 14, 2024.

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