Lionesses World Cup qualifying campaign begins: Everything you need to know

The Lionesses journey to Brazil starts now, with their first World Cup 2027 qualifiers taking place in March.

Sarina Wiegman's back-to-back European champions find themselves in a tough qualifying group alongside Spain - the side who defeated England in the 2023 World Cup final.

With England competing for one of 11 European spots at next year's tournament, here is everything you need to know.

How does qualification work?

Seven months after England's European triumph, they are beginning their Brazil 2027 journey in the form of World Cup qualifiers.

Eleven European nations (plus one who enters the inter-continental play-offs) can ultimately book their place at the 32-team finals in two years’ time.

The 2025 Women’s Nations League dictated the European qualifiers.

This saw 52 teams divided into three leagues.

There are 16 teams (four groups of 4) in League A, 16 (four groups of 4) in League B and 21 (seven groups of 3) in League C.

England find themselves in League A, Group 3, alongside world champions Spain, 16th-world ranked Iceland and 34th-ranked Ukraine.

Each country will play one home match and one away match against the other countries in their group.

Fixtures

What happens next?

After every team has played their six matches, the four winners of League A groups will qualify automatically for the 2027 World Cup.

The remaining seven European places will be decided through two rounds of play-offs in October and November 2026

All League A teams are guaranteed at least a place in the play-offs.

The 32 teams taking part in the play-offs are comprised of: 12 League A teams who didn't win their group, the top three teams in each of the League B groups and the six group winners and two best runners-up in League C.

In the first round, the format is as follows:

• The second and third-placed teams from League A groups face the six winners and two best runners-up from League C
• The fourth-placed League A teams and the four League B group winners play the second and third-placed sides from League B.
• League A teams and League B group winners are seeded and play the second leg at home.

The eight winners from these ties move into the second round of play-offs. In the second round, there will be eight fixtures:

• The seven best-ranked winners (based on qualification rankings) qualify directly for the World Cup, making up the 11 teams.
• The lowest-ranked winner advances to the intercontinental play-offs in February 2027.

March qualifiers

England travel to Turkey to face Ukraine in the opening match of their 2027 World Cup qualifying campaign before hosting Iceland at Nottingham Forest's City Ground.

Captain Leah Williamson returns to the squad for the first time since Euro 2025. She is joined by several others from last summer's squad, including Chelsea's Hannah Hampton and Lauren James and Manchester City's Alex Greenwood who missed the previous camp through injury.

Notable absentees include Manchester United's Ella Toone, sidelined with a hip injury, and Arsenal's Beth Mead who is recovering from a fractured shin.

London City Lionesses forward Freya Godfrey retains her place in the squad after an impressive Women's Super League campaign, while her teammate defender Poppy Pattinson has earned her first senior call-up for England. Both could make their senior debuts during this window.

Wiegman’s side will be relieved not to face Spain, who they defeated on penalties in the Euro 2025 final, until the next international window in April.