England Draws Greece in Women's World Cup 2027 Play-offs with Tough Matches Ahead

England Draws Greece in Women's World Cup 2027 Play-offs with Tough Matches Ahead

England has been drawn to face Greece in the first round of the 2027 Women's World Cup play-offs. The Lionesses must navigate two rounds of home and away ties to secure their spot in Brazil. If England triumphs over Greece, they will meet the winner of Slovakia versus Ukraine, beginning with an away match. Other nations also learned their opponents: Wales will take on Albania Scotland faces the Czech Republic Northern Ireland squares off against Portugal Republic of Ireland competes against Kazakhstan Fixture dates are yet to be confirmed but will take place in October, November, and December. Despite England's impressive record of five wins in six qualifying matches, they finished second in their group, with Spain claiming the automatic qualification. Manager Sarina Wiegman expressed satisfaction with the draw but emphasized the need for thorough preparation. "We want to dominate games and have a lot of the ball," she stated. The full draw for Round 1 includes: Lithuania vs. Sweden Romania vs. Norway Greece vs. England Croatia vs. Iceland Kazakhstan vs. Republic of Ireland Kosovo vs. Austria Hungary vs. Netherlands Belarus vs. Italy Northern Ireland faces a challenging matchup against a strong Portugal team, while Scotland aims for their second World Cup appearance after missing out in 2023. Wales seeks to overcome their historical struggles against top-20 ranked nations, and Republic of Ireland must tackle a long journey to face Kazakhstan before possibly meeting Belgium in the next round.

Source: BBC Sport - 2026-06-18