2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification (UEFA)

international football competition

The European qualifying competition to decide which women's football teams from Europe would go to the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand happened. There were eleven spots available for European teams to go directly to the World Cup, and one team had a chance to go through more matches in the inter-confederation play-offs.[1]

2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification (UEFA)
Tournament details
Dates16 September 2021 – 11 October 2022
Teams51 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played242
Goals scored1,086 (4.49 per match)
Top scorer(s)Belgium Tessa Wullaert (17 goals)
2019
2027

Out of the 55 European countries that are part of UEFA, 51 of them took part in this competition.[2] It was the first time Cyprus tried to qualify for the World Cup, and Luxembourg played in a group stage for the first time ever.

Group stage

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  The nine group winners qualify directly for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.
  The nine group runners-up advance to the play-offs.

Group A

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification          
1   Sweden 8 7 1 0 32 2 +30 22 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup 1–1 2–1 3–0 4–0
2   Republic of Ireland 8 5 2 1 26 4 +22 17 Play-offs 0–1 1–0 1–1 11–0
3   Finland 8 3 1 4 14 12 +2 10 0–5 1–2 2–1 6–0
4   Slovakia 8 2 2 4 9 9 0 8 0–1 0–1 1–1 2–0
5   Georgia 8 0 0 8 0 54 −54 0 0–15 0–9 0–3 0–4
Source: UEFA

Group B

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification          
1   Spain 8 8 0 0 53 0 +53 24 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup 8–0 5–0 3–0 12–0
2   Scotland 8 5 1 2 22 13 +9 16 Play-offs 0–2 1–1 2–1 7–1
3   Ukraine 8 3 1 4 12 20 −8 10 0–6 0–4 2–0 4–0
4   Hungary 8 3 0 5 19 19 0 9 0–7 0–2 4–2 7–0
5   Faroe Islands 8 0 0 8 2 56 −54 0 0–10 0–6 0–3 1–7
Source: UEFA

Group C

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification          
1   Netherlands 8 6 2 0 31 3 +28 20 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup 1–0 1–1 3–0 12–0
2   Iceland 8 6 0 2 25 3 +22 18 Play-offs 0–2 4–0 6–0 5–0
3   Czech Republic 8 3 2 3 25 10 +15 11 2–2 0–1 7–0 8–0
4   Belarus 8 2 1 5 7 26 −19 7 0–2 0–5 2–1 4–1
5   Cyprus 8 0 1 7 2 48 −46 1 0–8 0–4 0–6 1–1
Source: UEFA

Group D

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   England 10 10 0 0 80 0 +80 30 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup 1–0 4–0 10–0 8–0 20–0
2   Austria 10 7 1 2 50 7 +43 22 Play-offs 0–2 3–1 5–0 10–0 8–0
3   Northern Ireland 10 6 1 3 36 16 +20 19 0–5 2–2 4–0 9–0 4–0
4   Luxembourg 10 3 0 7 9 45 −36 9 0–10 0–8 1–2 2–1 3–2
5   Macedonia 10 2 0 8 10 62 −52 6 0–10 0–6 0–11 2–3 3–2
6   Latvia 10 1 0 9 8 63 −55 3 0–10 1–8 1–3 1–0 1–4
Source: UEFA

Group E

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On 28 February 2022, FIFA and UEFA announced that Russia was suspended from all competitions.[3] On 2 May 2022, UEFA announced that Russia would no longer be allowed to take part in the competition, that their previous results were nullified, and that Group E would continue with five teams.[4][5]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   Denmark 8 8 0 0 40 2 +38 24 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup 8–0 5–1 2–0 7–0 3–1
2   Bosnia and Herzegovina 8 3 2 3 9 17 −8 11 Play-offs 0–3 2–3 1–0 1–0 0–4
3   Montenegro 8 3 0 5 9 17 −8 9 1–5 0–2 2–0 0–2 Canc.
4   Azerbaijan 8 2 1 5 5 16 −11 7[a] 0–8 1–1 1–0 1–2 0–4
5   Malta 8 2 1 5 6 17 −11 7[a] 0–2 2–2 0–2 0–2 Canc.
6   Russia[b] 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Disqualified Canc. Canc. 5–0 2–0 3–0
Source: UEFA
Notes:
  1. 1.0 1.1 Tied on head-to-head points (3). Head-to-head goal difference: Azerbaijan +1, Malta −1.
  2. On 28 February 2022, FIFA and UEFA suspended Russian national teams from all competitions due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[6] On 2 May 2022, UEFA announced that all their results were considered null and void.[4]

Group F

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   Norway 10 9 1 0 47 2 +45 28 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup 4–0 2–1 5–0 5–1 10–0
2   Belgium 10 7 1 2 56 7 +49 22 Play-offs 0–1 4–0 7–0 7–0 19–0
3   Poland 10 6 2 2 28 9 +19 20 0–0 1–1 2–0 7–0 12–0
4   Albania 10 3 1 6 14 30 −16 10 0–7 0–5 1–2 1–1 5–0
5   Kosovo 10 2 1 7 8 35 −27 7 0–3 1–6 1–2 1–3 2–1
6   Armenia 10 0 0 10 1 71 −70 0 0–10 0–7 0–1 0–4 0–1
Source: UEFA

Group G

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   Italy 10 9 0 1 40 2 +38 27 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup 1–2 2–0 3–0 7–0 3–0
2   Switzerland 10 8 1 1 44 4 +40 25 Play-offs 0–1 2–0 5–0 4–1 15–0
3   Romania 10 6 1 3 21 11 +10 19 0–5 1–1 2–0 3–0 3–0
4   Croatia 10 3 1 6 6 18 −12 10 0–5 0–2 0–1 0–0 4–0
5   Lithuania 10 1 2 7 7 35 −28 5 0–5 0–7 1–7 0–1 4–0
6   Moldova 10 0 1 9 1 49 −48 1 0–8 0–6 0–4 0–1 1–1
Source: UEFA

Group H

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   Germany 10 9 0 1 47 5 +42 27 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup 3–0 5–1 8–0 7–0 7–0
2   Portugal 10 7 1 2 26 9 +17 22 Play-offs 1–3 2–1 4–0 4–0 3–0
3   Serbia 10 7 0 3 26 14 +12 21 3–2 1–2 2–0 4–0 3–0
4   Turkey 10 3 1 6 9 26 −17 10 0–3 1–1 2–5 3–2 1–0
5   Israel 10 3 0 7 7 25 −18 9 0–1 0–4 0–2 1–0 2–0
6   Bulgaria 10 0 0 10 1 37 −36 0 0–8 0–5 1–4 0–2 0–2
Source: UEFA

Group I

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   France 10 10 0 0 54 4 +50 30 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup 2–0 1–0 5–1 11–0 6–0
2   Wales 10 6 2 2 22 5 +17 20 Play-offs 1–2 0–0 5–0 4–0 6–0
3   Slovenia 10 5 3 2 21 6 +15 18 2–3 1–1 0–0 6–0 2–0
4   Greece 10 4 1 5 12 28 −16 13 0–10 0–1 1–4 3–0 3–2
5   Estonia 10 2 0 8 7 43 −36 6 0–9 0–1 0–4 1–3 4–2
6   Kazakhstan 10 0 0 10 4 34 −30 0 0–5 0–3 0–2 0–1 0–2
Source: UEFA

Ranking of second-placed teams

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Since some groups had six teams and others had five, matches against the sixth-placed team in the groups with six teams were not counted.

Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 G   Switzerland 8 6 1 1 23 4 +19 19 Play-offs round 2
2 C   Iceland 8 6 0 2 25 3 +22 18
3 A   Republic of Ireland 8 5 2 1 26 4 +22 17
4 D   Austria 8 5 1 2 34 6 +28 16 Play-offs round 1
5 F   Belgium 8 5 1 2 30 7 +23 16
6 B   Scotland 8 5 1 2 22 13 +9 16
7 H   Portugal 8 5 1 2 18 9 +9 16
8 I   Wales 8 4 2 2 13 5 +8 14
9 E   Bosnia and Herzegovina 8 3 2 3 9 17 −8 11
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Counting only matches against teams ranked first to fifth in the group, 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Away goals scored; 5) Wins; 6) Away wins; 7) Lower disciplinary points total; 8) UEFA national team coefficient ranking.

Qualified teams

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Here is a list of twelve teams from Europe (UEFA) that made it to the World Cup.

Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in FIFA Women's World Cup1
  Sweden Group A winners 12 April 2022 8 (1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019)
  Spain Group B winners 12 April 2022 2 (2015, 2019)
  Netherlands Group C winners 6 September 2022 2 (2015, 2019)
  England Group D winners 3 September 2022 5 (1995, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019)
  Denmark Group E winners 2 May 2022[a] 4 (1991, 1995, 1999, 2007)
  Norway Group F winners 2 September 2022 8 (1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019)
  Italy Group G winners 6 September 2022 3 (1991, 1999, 2019)
  Germany Group H winners 3 September 2022 8 (1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019)
  France Group I winners 12 April 2022 4 (2003, 2011, 2015, 2019)
  Switzerland Best play-off winners 11 October 2022 1 (2015)
  Republic of Ireland Second best play-off winners 11 October 2022 0 (debut)
  Portugal Inter-confederation play-offs Group A winners 22 February 2023 0 (debut)
1 Bold shows champions for that year. Italic shows hosts for that year.
  1. On 2 May 2022, UEFA announced that Russia were removed from Women's World Cup qualification due to their country's invasion of Ukraine, with all their earlier results considered null and void.[4] Denmark therefore qualified for the Women's World Cup, as no other teams could surpass them.

Top goalscorers

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There were 1086 goals scored in 242 matches, for an average of 4.49 goals per match.

17 goals

15 goals

13 goals

11 goals

10 goals

9 goals

8 goals

7 goals

6 goals

Source: UEFA.com

References

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  1. "Australia and New Zealand selected as hosts of FIFA Women's World Cup 2023". FIFA.com. FIFA. 25 June 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  2. "Women's World Cup qualifying group stage draw". UEFA.com. UEFA. 20 April 2021.
  3. "FIFA/UEFA suspend Russian clubs and national teams from all competitions". FIFA. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 "UEFA decisions for upcoming competitions relating to the ongoing suspension of Russian national teams and clubs". UEFA. 2 May 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  5. "Uefa announces further sanctions on Russian clubs and national teams amid Ukraine invasion". BBC Sport. 2 May 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  6. "FIFA/UEFA suspend Russian clubs and national teams from all competitions". FIFA. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.