FIFA increase Africa’s slot for Women’s World Cup

The Bureau of the FIFA Council has expanded the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ to 32 teams and increased allocation for each confederation. 

There will be 29 direct slots and three playoff slots distributed across confederations. Africa will have four direct slots and two playoff slots making the possible number of African teams at the World Cup to six from three (Nigeria, South Africa and Cameroon) at the 2019 World Cup.

Direct slots (29)  allocation;

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; and

11 direct slots for UEFA.

Playoff slots (3) allocation;

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; and

1 play-off slot for UEFA.

Play-off tournament format

Four teams will be seeded in the tournament based on the latest FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking prior to the play-off draw, with a maximum of one seeded team per confederation.

In Group 1, comprising three teams, seed 1 will play for a place in the FIFA Women’s World Cup against the winners of the knockout game involving the two unseeded teams in the group.

In Group 2, comprising three teams, seed 2 will play for a place in the FIFA Women’s World Cup against the winners of the knockout game involving the two unseeded teams in the group.

In Group 3, comprising four teams, seeds 3 and seed 4 will play against the two unseeded teams in the group, with the two winners then playing for a place in the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Teams from the same confederation will not be permitted to be drawn in the same group.

The two host countries, Australia and New Zealand, will automatically qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™, and their slots have been taken directly from the quotas allocated to their confederations, namely the AFC and the OFC respectively.