18 Teams Qualify for 2027 Women’s World Cup as Race Continues
The race to next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil is gathering pace, with 18 of the tournament’s 32 places now secured, as five of football’s six confederations have already produced their confirmed representatives ahead of the tournament kicking off on June 24, 2027.
Brazil qualified automatically as hosts, marking the first time the Women’s World Cup will be staged in South America and only the second time it has been held in the Southern Hemisphere since the 2023 edition in Australia and New Zealand. The tournament will run from June 24 to July 25, 2027, across eight host cities, and will retain its 32-team format, featuring eight groups of four with the top two sides from each group advancing to the knockout stage.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has already filled all six of its available places, the most of any confederation so far. Australia and Japan secured direct qualification after contesting the final of the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup, which Australia won 1-0 to claim their third continental title. They will be joined by China PR, North Korea, South Korea, and the Philippines, whose qualification marks a significant milestone as the nation continues to establish itself among Asia’s leading women’s football sides.
Africa’s qualifying campaign has produced four confirmed representatives: Algeria, Cameroon, Malawi, and Morocco, whose places were determined through the ongoing Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, doubling as the continent’s World Cup qualifying route. Their qualification marks a major moment for the growth of women’s football across the continent, with Malawi in particular making history as tournament debutants at WAFCON before securing their World Cup berth.
Europe has produced four qualifiers so far, with Denmark, France, Germany, and Spain, the reigning World Cup champions, all confirming their places through UEFA’s qualifying process. Denmark sealed their spot with a 4-1 win over Serbia to top their qualifying group unbeaten, while France and Germany secured their tickets as group winners in their respective sections.
South America’s CONMEBOL federation, hosting a standalone qualifying tournament for the first time, produced two direct qualifiers in Argentina and Colombia, who finished as the top two sides in a nine-team round-robin competition, with Brazil exempted as hosts. New Zealand completed their qualification by winning the Oceania Football Confederation’s first-ever standalone qualifying tournament.
With 18 teams now confirmed and 14 places still up for grabs, the final line-up is beginning to take shape. Europe has seven places left to fill, while CONCACAF, whose region includes the United States, Canada, and Mexico, still has four direct places available; the United States Women’s National Team will pursue its own berth at the CONCACAF W Championship in Texas between November 27 and December 5, 2026. A further three places will be decided through an inter-confederation play-off tournament involving teams from multiple confederations, with all remaining qualification matches scheduled to conclude by February 2027.
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