Which countries have qualified for the 2027 Women’s World Cup?: Countdown to Brazil
While the road to Canada, Mexico and the United States hosting in 2026 wasn’t smooth, when the first 48-team tournament got underway, the sheer brilliance of the soccer, the legends, the underdogs and the bombast of the fans still took center stage.
How does FIFA keep the momentum rolling?
The next hosts, Brazil, will have their work cut out for them to match the record-breaking stadium attendance (1,978,274 in total) that we saw in Australia and New Zealand during the 2023 Women’s World Cup. With next summer’s tournament staying in the Americas, there is also a much more appealing time zone to capitalize on when it comes to broadcast figures in North, Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean.
The 10th edition of the Women’s World Cup will, for just the second time, be a 32-team affair. Fourteen nations, including the hosts, have already booked their spots — Spain among them, too.
That leaves 18 spots still up for grabs, with 15 of those to be confirmed come the end of the year. The final three places will be determined by the results of the inter-confederation playoffs in February 2027.
Here is The Athletic‘s guide to how things stand in the qualification process. This article will continue to be updated until all 32 teams are confirmed.
How many teams from each confederation qualify for the World Cup?
FIFA is split into six confederations. Each one represents a different soccer region of the globe and has been allocated a different number of places at the 2027 World Cup, as well as berths for the inter-confederation playoffs.
AFC (Asia): Six direct places and two teams will compete in the inter-confederation playoffs.
CAF (Africa): Four direct places and two teams will compete in the inter-confederation playoffs.
Concacaf (North America, Central America & Caribbean): Four direct places and two teams will compete in the inter-confederation playoffs.
CONMEBOL (South America): Two direct places and two teams will compete in the inter-confederation playoffs. Hosts Brazil qualify automatically.
OFC (Oceania): One direct place and one team will compete in the inter-confederation playoffs.
UEFA (Europe): 11 direct places and one team will compete in the inter-confederation playoffs.
How do teams qualify?
AFC: The initial qualification has finished. Six teams have qualified automatically via their results at the 2027 Asian Cup, while two teams, Uzbekistan and Chinese Taipei, will head to the intercontinental play-off next year.
CAF: The 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, held from July 25 until August 16, will decide which teams qualify from Africa.
The tournament was originally set to start March 17; however, less than two weeks before, it was postponed “to ensure the success of this important women’s competition, in the light of certain unforeseen circumstances,” according to the confederation. The new dates fall a week after the men’s World Cup final on July 19 and three weeks into the second half of the 2026 National Women’s Soccer League season, which restarts after a summer pause on July 3.
Sixteen teams enter the competition at the group stage, with eight moving onto the quarterfinals. The four winning teams from the quarterfinals will qualify for the 2027 World Cup. The four losing quarterfinalists will face off, with the winning two teams snapping up the two spots at the inter-confederation playoff.
Concacaf: Twenty-nine teams began the preliminary group stage of Concacaf qualifying in November 2025. The first stage consists of five groups of five teams and one group of four. The first stage will conclude in April 2026 after each team has played the rest of their group once.
The six group winners will then advance to the Concacaf W Championship, to be held in a centralized location in November 2026. The United States and Canada have already received a bye based on FIFA rankings, so they will join the six group winners.
The eight teams at the Concacaf W Championship will be seeded by FIFA ranking and then play each other in a single-elimination quarterfinal bracket. The four quarterfinal winners will qualify for the World Cup. The four losing quarterfinalists face off to decide the two spots available for the inter-confederation playoff.
CONMEBOL: For the first time, the South American teams are using a league phase to decide World Cup qualifying. It is being contested between October 2025 and June 2026. Nine teams will face each other once, four home and four away, across eight matchdays to decide the league. The top two finishers will qualify for the 2027 World Cup, with the third and fourth-placed teams heading to the inter-confederation playoff.
OFC: New Zealand beat Papua New Guinea 1-0 in the OFC final, qualifying for the World Cup. Papua New Guinea will get a spot at the inter-confederation playoff.
UEFA: Europe opted for a Nations League format to decide the first round of qualifying, with 53 nations split into leagues A (16 teams), B (16 teams) and C (21 teams), and then divided into groups of four or three within those leagues. The league stage began on March 3 and concluded on June 9.
Germany, Denmark, reigning World Cup champions Spain and France qualified by finishing atop their groups. The other 12 teams from League A, including England, are heading into the playoff phase of UEFA qualifying. The top three teams in each of the four League B groups also advance to the playoff phase, along with the six group winners and two best runners-up in League C.
In total, 32 teams will enter the playoff phase of UEFA qualifying. There will then be a seeded draw to decide the matches in round one and round two of the UEFA playoff phase, to be held October 7-13 and November 26-December 5.
The UEFA playoff phases will see teams play two-legged elimination matches, with the higher seed at home in the second leg. Once the field has been whittled down from 32 to 16, and then from 16 to eight, the seven highest-ranked teams remaining will qualify for the World Cup. The lowest-ranked team that won both of its ties in the UEFA playoff phase will take the final spot at the inter-confederation playoff.
Inter-confederation playoff:
First phase:
Uzbekistan and Chinese Taipei (Asia)
Two CAF teams
Papua New Guinea (Oceania)
One CONMEBOL team (whichever is lower in the FIFA rankings)
The first phase of the inter-confederation playoff will be held in a “centralized” location in November/December 2026. Two teams will advance to the second phase.
Second phase:
Two Concacaf teams
One CONMEBOL team (whichever is higher in the FIFA rankings)
One UEFA team
Two winning teams from the first phase
The second phase of the inter-confederation playoff will be held in a centralized location in February 2027. Three teams will advance to win a place at the 2027 World Cup.
Which countries have qualified?
Brazil (South America)
Previous World Cup appearances: Nine
Best performance: Runner-up in 2007
Head coach: Arthur Elias
Brazil will be the first South American country to host a Women’s World Cup. After being eliminated at the group stage of the previous tournament in Australia and New Zealand, the pressure is on for Brazil to bounce back. They qualified automatically as hosts.
Brazil has since reached the final of the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup and the 2024 Paris Olympics. They were defeated 1-0 by the U.S. on both occasions.
Australia (Asia)
Previous World Cup appearances: Eight
Best performance: Semifinals in 2023
Head coach: Joe Montemurro
Australia became the first non-host nation to qualify for the 2027 World Cup by advancing to the semifinals of the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup. The Matildas will head to Brazil with the intention of following up their best-ever performance at a World Cup, when they went to the semifinals as the co-hosts and were defeated by England in 2023.
China (Asia)
Previous World Cup appearances: Eight
Best performance: Runners-up in 1999 (lost to U.S.)
Head coach: Ante Milicic
The Steel Roses look to bounce back after their worst World Cup performance in Australia and New Zealand in 2023. China exited at the group stage for the first time in their history, losing to England and Denmark. The 2022 Asian Cup champions have only ever missed the World Cup once, in 2011.
South Korea (Asia)
Previous World Cup appearances: Four
Best performance: Round of 16 in 2015
Head coach: Shin Sang-woo
After qualifying for just one of the first six World Cups (1991 – 2011), South Korea has made it to four consecutive World Cups (2015 – 2027). National hero Ji So-yun will be 36 when the 2027 edition gets underway in Brazil, and the tournament could serve as one last serenade for their most-capped player and all-time leading goalscorer.
Japan (Asia)
Previous World Cup appearances: Nine
Best performance: Winners in 2011
Head coach: Nils Nielsen
One of just five nations to have ever lifted the Women’s World Cup, Japan is also the only former champion from Asia. For the first time since the glory days of the 2010s, when Japan won the World Cup in 2011 and finished runner-up in 2015, there is an expectation that the Nadeshiko, ranked eighth in the world, could challenge for the trophy once again.
Philippines (Asia)
Previous World Cup appearances: One
Best performance: Group Stage in 2023
Head coach: Mark Torcaso
The Philippines secured a spot at the 2027 World Cup after advancing from the group stage at the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup and then defeating Uzbekistan 2-0 in the play-off, following a 7-0 loss to Japan in the quarterfinals. That’s now two consecutive World Cups the Filipinas have qualified for, after making their debut in Australia & New Zealand in 2023.
North Korea (Asia)
Previous World Cup appearances: Four
Best performance: Quarterfinals in 2007
Head coach: Ri Song-ho
An easy 4-0 win over Chinese Taipei in the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup repêchage was enough for North Korea to qualify for the 2027 World Cup. After advancing out of the group stage, North Korea narrowly fell to Australia 2-1 in the quarterfinals. Come next summer, it will have 16 years since North Korea was at a World Cup. But the reigning U-20 and U-17 Women’s World Cup champions are certainly turning heads.
New Zealand (Oceania)
Previous World Cup appearances: Six
Best performance: Group Stage
Head coach: Michael Mayne
New Zealand triumphed in the Oceania Football Confederation World Cup qualifying league and knockout phases, climaxing in a hard-fought 1-0 win in their final match against Papua New Guinea. The co-hosts of the 2023 edition will be playing in their sixth consecutive World Cup. However, it will be just their second time competing in the tournament without former captain Ali Riley, who played at five World Cups for the Football Ferns between 2007 and 2023. Riley retired from football in 2025.
Argentina (CONMEBOL)
Previous World Cup appearances: Four
Best performance: Group Stage
Head coach: Germán Portanova
Argentina booked their ticket to Brazil by finishing second in CONMEBOL’s nine-team qualifying league format. La Albiceleste even went undefeated during the eight-match campaign. Argentina have been to four of the last six World Cups but are yet to win a World Cup match (0-9-3) in their history. With the 2027 edition being the first on South American soil, there is a strong belief that their unwanted record will come to an end.
Colombia (CONMEBOL)
Previous World Cup appearances: Three
Best performance: Quarterfinals 2023
Head coach: Ángelo Marsiglia
The rising star of the CONMEBOL region, Colombia, went undefeated and topped the standings in qualifying, winning six matches and tying the other two. Linda Caicedo and Las Cafeteras were the breakout stars of the 2023 World Cup, making headlines when they stunned Germany 2-1 in the group stage and defeated Jamaica 1-0 in the Round of 16. In Brazil next summer, can they do better than their record finish and go beyond the Quarterfinals?
Germany (UEFA)
Previous World Cup appearances: Nine
Best performance: Winners in 2003 and 2007
Head coach: Christian Wück
Germany have never missed a Women’s World Cup and booked their spot at the 2027 edition by pipping Norway, Austria and Slovenia to top their qualifying group in UEFA’s League Phase. In 2024, Christian Wück was hired off the back of Germany’s ignominious elimination in the Group Stage for the first time in their history at the 2023 World Cup. Next summer will be the two-time World Cup winners’ shot at redemption.
Denmark (UEFA)
Previous World Cup appearances: Five
Best performance: Quarterfinals 1991 and 1995
Head coach: Jakob Michelsen
The Danish team made headlines by going undefeated and topping their UEFA League Phase qualifying group ahead of Sweden and Italy. Thirty-three-year-old Pernille Harder, Denmark’s all-time leading scorer, has shown few signs of slowing down and remains the talisman for her country. She scored in both of Denmark’s 2-1 wins over Sweden that clinched a spot at next summer’s World Cup. This is the first time Denmark has qualified for consecutive Women’s World Cups since 1999.
Spain (UEFA)
Previous World Cup appearances: Three
Best performance: Winners in 2023
Head coach: Sonia Bermúdez
Having never qualified for a Women’s World Cup before 2015, the reigning champions are now off to their fourth successive edition of the tournament. Las Rojas had to be at their best in UEFA’s League Phase qualifying and, thanks to a 4-0 win over England in Mallorca, narrowly overcame the European Champions on goal difference to top their group and book their ticket to Brazil. The 2027 World Cup will be Spain’s first tournament under head coach Sonia Bermúdez, who replaced Montse Tome after Spain lost in the Euro 2025 final to England.
France (UEFA)
Previous World Cup appearances: Quarterfinals
Best performance: Fourth place in 2011
Head coach: Laurent Bonadei
Despite failing to beat the Netherlands in the UEFA League Phase, France took care of business against the Republic of Ireland and Serbia and edged out the Dutch and topped their group in qualifying. France has fallen at the quarterfinal stage at the last three World Cups: via a penalty shootout to Germany in 2011, to Australia in 2023, and to eventual winners the United States in 2019. French fans will hope this team has been practicing their penalties, as it was also via a penalty shootout that Germany overcame Les Bleus in the Quarterfinals of Euro 2025.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
US Women’s national team, Women’s Soccer, FIFA Women’s World Cup
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