Ireland will learn their 2027 Women’s World Cup playoff opponents when the draw is made later this week.
A thrilling qualifying group saw the Girls in Green claim a historic win over the Netherlands and ultimately finish third behind the Dutch and France, securing a seeded route through the playoffs.
We have all the info you need in one place on the route to the World Cup for Carla Ward’s Ireland ahead of this week’s draw.
When is the Women’s World Cup playoff draw?
The UEFA playoff draw for the 2027 Women’s World Cup will take place on Thursday, June 18th at 11am Irish time.
The draw will take place at UEFA HQ in Nyon, Switzerland, and will be streamed live on the UEFA website.
How the playoffs work
The World Cup playoffs will take place over two rounds, with two separate paths in Round One. Ireland are in Path 1, as a result of their strong League A performance in qualifying.
Here’s what you need to know about Ireland’s route through Round One of the playoffs:
16 teams will enter both Path 1 and Path 2
Ireland are seeded in Path 1
As a seeded team, Ireland will face a League C group winner or runner-up
Ireland will also enjoy home advantage for the second leg in Round One
Path 2 sees the League A 4th-placed teams and League B group winners seeded around the League B runners-up and 3rd-placed teams
Round Two of the playoffs will see the Path 1 winners seeded against the Path 2 winners.
This means, should Ireland come through Round One, they will again be seeded for the second round, meaning they could secure a World Cup place on home soil.
Ireland’s potential Round One opponents
Ireland’s seeded route through Round One is hugely advantageous, as it means the highest-ranked team they could face is 45th in the world, Hungary. Ireland are up to 21st.
Here are the eight teams Ireland could draw in Round One of the World Cup playoffs, sorted by their world rankings:
Hungary (45th)
Belarus (52nd)
Romania (53rd)
Greece (59th)
Croatia (63rd)
Kosovo (85th)
Lithuania (94th)
Kazakhstan (100th)
We’re not getting ahead of ourselves, but it’s a hugely favourable list of potential opponents for Ireland.
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Potential Round Two opponents
Should the Girls in Green overcome that test, they will face one of the Path 2 winners in the second round of the playoffs.
The seeded teams are expected to win out in Path 2, but shocks have occurred in previous years. Here’s every team entering Path 2.
Seeded: Serbia, Poland, Ukraine, Slovenia, Wales, Switzerland, Portugal, Scotland
Unseeded: Czechia, Albania, Turkiye, Northern Ireland, Finland, Slovakia, Belgium, Israel
Even if these games could pose a major challenge to Ireland, they are higher ranked than any team from Path 2, meaning they would still be favourites to win their second-round tie.
Best-case scenario
The best-case scenario would see Ireland play Kazakhstan in Round One, followed by a Round Two game against a surprise, unseeded winner from Path 2.
The worst-case scenario would likely be to draw Hungary in Round One, before a renewal of their battle with Poland in Round Two. Ireland beat Poland twice in qualifying, but they remain the strongest team in this section of the draw.
However, speaking to Balls.ie after last week’s defeat to France in Grenoble, Ireland centre-back Caitlin Hayes said that the team would fear no country in the upcoming playoffs.
What happens if Ireland win?
If Ireland win in both Round One and Round Two, they will qualify for the 2027 World Cup in Brazil.
It would mark just the second time Ireland would qualify for a major international tournament, and make it back-to-back World Cup qualifications after the historic trip to Australia in 2023.
Intriguingly, Ireland have already ruled out the possibility of a potential banana peel.
Of the eight Round Two winners, only seven will qualify automatically for the World Cup. The eight winners will be sorted according to their final position in qualifying (according to the overall Nations League table), with the lowest-ranked placed in FIFA’s convoluted intercontinental playoff tournament for the final spot in Brazil.
However, Ireland’s strong qualifying performance sees them ranked 5th overall of all teams in the playoffs, meaning they cannot drop into the intercontinental playoff spot.
Key Women’s World Cup playoff dates
Playoff draw: Thursday, June 18th
Round One: 7th – 13th October, 2026
Round Two: 28th November – 5th December, 2026
It remains unclear where Ireland will play their
https://www.balls.ie/football/denise-osullivan-ireland-playoff-cork-656913
Ireland’s qualifying results thus far
MD1: Ireland 1-2 France (Tallaght)
MD2: Netherlands 2-1 Ireland (Utrecht)
MD3: Poland 2-3 Ireland (Gdansk)
MD4: Ireland 1-0 Poland (Aviva Stadium)
MD5: Ireland 3-2 Netherlands (Cork)
MD6: France 1-0 Ireland (Grenoble)