The qualifying group stage of the 2023 World Women’s Championship, which runs until September 6, 2022, has begun. The first games took place this week, and the match will resume on October 21st.

The record number of 51 members is divided into six groups of six and six of the five groups, competing for nine straight places in the finals, and the opportunity to compete for the other three European places and one place in the playoffs, with the finals taking place in Australia and New Zealand.

All games

Vivian Midema was late in the draw between the Netherlands and the Czech Republic in the first finalist match of 2019, led by Mark Parsons. UEFA via Getty Images

That’s how it works

• Winners from all nine groups will advance directly to the finals, which will be played in Australia and New Zealand from July 20 to August 20, 2023.
• The runners-up in each group will advance to the playoffs in October 2022.
• In the playoffs, the three runners-up will go straight to the second round of the playoffs as seeded. The remaining six runners-up in the first round of the “play-off”, through one game, are empowered to define the three who qualify.
• The three winners of the first round and the three seeds of the second round will then face off in a single match knockout defined by lottery.
• The top two playoff winners (based on qualifying results and second playoff round) advance to the final.
• The other play-off winners will play in the Inter-Confederation play-offs in Australia and New Zealand between 17 and 23 February 2023.

Eligibility groups

Group A: Sweden, Finland, Republic of Ireland, Slovakia, Georgia

Group B: Spain, Scotland, Ukraine, Hungary and the Faroe Islands

Group C: Netherlands, Iceland, Czech Republic, Belarus and Cyprus

Group D: England, Austria, Northern Ireland, Northern Macedonia, Latvia, Luxembourg

Pernille Harder set a record in Denmark’s inaugural victoryUEFA via Getty Images

Group E: Denmark, Russia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Azerbaijan, Malta, Montenegro

Group F: Norway, Belgium, Poland, Albania, Kosovo, Armenia

Group G: Italy, Switzerland, Romania, Croatia, Republic of Moldova, Lithuania

Group H: Germany, Portugal, Serbia, Israel, Turkey, Bulgaria

Group I: France, Wales, Slovenia, Greece, Kazakhstan and Estonia

Team facts

• Germany wants to repeat the trophies they won in 2003 and 2007.
• Norway is another European country that became world champions in 1995.
• In 2019, the Netherlands became the runner-up.
• Cyprus makes its debut in qualifying for the competition.
• Luxembourg is participating in a qualifying group stage for the first time
• Participants in UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 from July 6 to 31: Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, England (host), Finland, France, Iceland, Italy, Northern Ireland, Norway, Netherlands (champion), Russia, Sweden.

Dates

Norway started with a victory over ArmeniaUEFA via Getty Images

Eligibility Group PhaseSeptember 16–21, 2021
October 21–26, 2021
November 25-30, 2021
February 23, 2022
April 7-12, 2022
June 23–28, 2022
September 1–6, 2022

“Play-off” Dr. UEFA
October 3-11, 2022

Final step: Continental allocation

Hostess: 2 (Australia, New Zealand)
AFC: 5
CAF: 4
Concoff: 4
Coneball: 3
UEFA: 11
“Play-off” between Confederations: 3 “Play-off” between confederations

The ten-team tournament will be held in Australia and New Zealand between February 17 and 23, 2023 to determine the final three finalists.

Continental allocation
AFC: 2
CAF: 2
Concoff: 2
Conference: 2
OFC: 1
UEFA: 1

The selections will be divided into three groups, two to three teams and one to four teams, with the seeds defined in the FIFA rankings. All three groups will play in separate knockout matches, with each winner qualifying for the final. In the two groups of three, the seeded team will advance directly to the final (after playing a friendly match between Australia or New Zealand) and face the semi-final winner between the other two countries.