Women’s World Cup playoffs: England land Greece, Scotland get Czechia in first round

England will need to overcome Greece and either Slovakia or Ukraine to qualify for the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil.

Scotland were handed a significantly tougher draw and will probably need to beat Sweden, if they first beat Czechia, to reach the finals.

Thursday’s playoff draw brought Wales a potential reunion with their former manager Gemma Grainger in a tricky tie against Norway. Northern Ireland’s path to a first Women’s World Cup could bring them a game against League A’s Iceland.

The first round of the European playoffs will be held over two legs between 7 and 13 October, with the second round – also over two legs – taking place between 26 November and 5 December.

England, who reached the 2023 final but have never won the World Cup, are heavy favourites to defeat Greece and either Ukraine – whom they beat 3-0 in June at Hill Dickinson Stadium during qualifying – or Slovakia. The Lionesses would be at home in the second leg of both rounds.

The draw was relatively kind to England, who avoided many of the higher-ranked sides from the Fifa rankings such as Belgium, Switzerland or Scotland.

By contrast, Scotland, unlike England, were not one of the top seeds and would need one of their finest results to get past Sweden, semi-finalists in three of the past four World Cups. Sweden start against Lithuania. Scotland’s only World Cup appearance came in 2019.

Round one, path one: Lithuania v Sweden, Romania v Norway, Greece v England, Croatia v Iceland, Kazakhstan v Republic of Ireland, Kosovo v Austria, Hungary v Netherlands, Belarus v Italy

Round one, path two: Albania v Wales, Turkey v Slovenia, Slovakia v Ukraine, Israel v Switzerland, Belgium v Poland, Czechia v Scotland, Northern Ireland v Portugal, Finland v Serbia

Round two: Slovakia/Ukraine v Greece/England, Finland/Serbia v Belarus/Italy, Northern Ireland/Portugal v Croatia/Iceland, Albania/Wales v Romania/Norway, Israel/Switzerland v Kosovo/Austria, Czechia/Scotland v Lithuania/Sweden, Belgium/Poland v Kazakhstan/Republic of Ireland, Turkey/Slovenia v Hungary/Netherlands

Wales, who have never qualified, will face Albania in round one, with the winners playing Romania or Norway. The Republic of Ireland, who defeated the Netherlands during an impressive qualifying campaign, were seeded and will meet Kazakhstan in round one, before a potential clash with Belgium or Poland. They are chasing a second consecutive World Cup appearance.

England had to settle for a place in the playoffs despite taking 15 points from 18 in their qualifying group. They finished second behind Spain by virtue of the defending world champions’ superior head-to-head record.

Tottenham are in advanced talks to sign the Norway goalkeeper Selma Panengstuen from SK Brann. The 23-year-old, who has played twice for Norway, is understood to be keen on the move and all parties are confident the deal will be concluded soon.

Spurs have signed Shekiera Martinez from West Ham, Caitlin Dijkstra from Wolfsburg and Kirsty Hanson from Aston Villa in this window, after finishing fifth in the Women’s Super League.

Panengstuen would be reunited with Martin Ho, who coached her briefly at Brann before his switch to Tottenham last summer. She is understood to have six months on her contract. Tom Garry

England beat Spain 1-0 at Wembley in April, but lost June’s reverse fixture in Mallorca 4-0, with those matches being a repeat of last summer’s Euros final and the last World Cup final.

Europe had nine automatic qualifiers for the last tournament, but only four for 2027’s edition after a revamp of the format and a large expansion to the playoff process.