FIFA announce allocations for expanded Women's World Cup

FIFA have announced the slot allocations for the 32-team Women's World Cup set to take place in Australia and New Zealand in 2023.

World football's governing body confirmed a total of 29 direct slot allocations, with the other three nations to receive qualification via a 10-team play-off tournament.

The decision to expand the number of teams came off the back of a successful 2019 edition and FIFA hope the larger offering will only increase the growth of women's football.

Direct slot allocation (29 of the 32 participation slots)

  • 6 direct slots for the AFC
  • 4 direct slots for CAF
  • 4 direct slots for Concacaf
  • 3 direct slots for CONMEBOL
  • 1 direct slot for the OFC
  • 11 direct slots for UEFA

Play-off tournament slot allocation (3)

  • 2 play-off slots for the AFC
  • 2 play-off slots for CAF
  • 2 play-off slots for Concacaf
  • 2 play-off slots for CONMEBOL
  • 1 play-off slot for the OFC
  • 1 play-off slot for UEFA
The play-off tournament will be used as a test event for the Women's World Cup and host nations Australia and New Zealand will be allowed to participate in a friendly capacity.

Play-off tournament format

  • The 10 teams will be divided into three groups (three, three and four)
  • Four teams will be seeded based on their world ranking, with a maximum of one seeded team per confederation
  • In Group 1, seed one will play for a place in the Women’s World Cup against the winners of the knockout game between the two unseeded teams
  • In Group 2, seed two will play for a place in the Women’s World Cup against the winners of the knockout game between the two unseeded teams
  • In Group 3, seeds three and four will play against the two unseeded teams in the group, with the two winners then playing for a place in the Women’s World Cup
FIFA also announced the cancellation of the Under-17 and Under-20 World Cups in 2021 due to the lasting impacts of the coronavirus.

The next editions are now set to be staged in 2023, with Indonesia still hosting the U-20s and Peru the U-17s.


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2 min read
Published 26 December 2020 12:01pm
By SBS The World Game
Source: SBS


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