Lionesses will face Greece in World Cup play-offs

Image source, PA Media Image caption, England won five of their six World Cup qualifiers but missed out on automatic qualification by losing 4-0 to Spain earlier this month By Sally Freedman BBC Sport senior journalist Published 18 June 2026, 12:10 BST Updated 16 minutes ago England have been drawn to play Greece in round one of the 2027 Women's World Cup play-offs. The Lionesses must get through two rounds of home and away ties to qualify for the tournament in Brazil. Should England beat Greece, they will face the winners of Slovakia v Ukraine with the away fixture played first. Fixture dates are to be confirmed, but matches will take place in October, November and December. Despite England securing five wins from their six qualifying matches, Spain finished top of the group and secured the one automatic spot. Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland also found out who they will be playing for a place at the World Cup. In round one, Wales face Albania, Scotland play the Czech Republic and Northern Ireland take on Portugal. Meanwhile, the Republic of Ireland will play Kazakhstan. The full draw is: Round 1, path 1 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 1, path 2 Albania v Wales Turkey v Slovenia Slovakia v Ukraine Israel v Switzerland Belgium v Poland Czech Republic v Scotland Northern Ireland v Portugal Finland v Serbia Round 2 Slovakia or Ukraine v Greece or England Finland or Serbia v Belarus or Italy Northern Ireland or Portugal v Croatia or Iceland Albania or Wales v Romania or Norway Israel or Switzerland v Kosovo or Austria Czech Republic or Scotland v Lithuania or Sweden Belgium or Poland v Kazakhstan or the Republic of Ireland Turkey or Slovenia v Hungary or Netherlands Analysis: What are the home nations' chances? By Emma Sanders BBC Sport women’s football news reporter England did not want to go through the play-offs but were given an unkind draw in the qualifying groups when they met world champions Spain. It does mean, however, that Sarina Wiegman's side are in a strong position for the play-offs and will fancy their chances with a kind trip to Greece in October. They beat potential round two opponents Ukraine in both matches in the qualifying group stage, which will give them confidence too. There is a tricky tie for Northern Ireland, who come up against a talented young squad from Portugal in round one. Portugal twice beat Northern Ireland in Euro 2025 qualifying. Their task gets trickier if they make it through to round two with potential opponents Iceland proving to be difficult to break down in their matches against England this year. Scotland are hoping to reach just their second Women's World Cup finals having failed to qualify in 2023. They performed well in this year's qualifying group stages, including draws with Belgium that showed they can compete with Europe's strongest teams