List of teams that have qualified for 2027 Women's World Cup play-offs

The 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup will be hosted by Brazil, but several nations have failed to secure an automatic spot at the global showpiece and will instead have to fight their way through an intercontinental play-off tournament for a place at the Mundial.

• Ghana and South Africa have secured Africa’s two play-off spots for the 2027 Women’s World Cup.

• They join Chinese Taipei, Uzbekistan, Ecuador, Venezuela and Papua New Guinea in the play-offs.

• Ten teams will compete for three final World Cup places, with the tournament set for November 2026 to February 2027.

Of the ten teams expected to make up the play-off field, seven have already secured their spot and now await the remaining three teams who will complete the line-up ahead of the 2027 tournament.

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In Africa, Ghana defeated Côte d'Ivoire 2-1, while South Africa beat Nigeria 2-1 in Morocco on Thursday to claim the two places allocated to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in the intercontinental play-offs.

Ghana came from behind to beat Côte d'Ivoire, with Princess Marfo and Josephine Bonsu overturning Ines Konan's early penalty to send the Black Queens through.

South Africa also recovered from the disappointment of missing out on an automatic World Cup place by seeing off Nigeria, with Banyana Banyana's victory ending Nigeria's hopes of appearing at the Women's World Cup for the first time since the competition began in 1991.

The results mean Ghana and South Africa will represent Africa at the FIFA Play-Off Tournament, joining five other nations who had already booked their places through their respective confederation pathways.

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The five other teams already confirmed for the play-off tournament are Chinese Taipei, Uzbekistan, Ecuador, Venezuela and Papua New Guinea. Chinese Taipei and Uzbekistan reached the play-offs after finishing as quarter-final losers at the AFC Women's Asian Cup, while Ecuador, Venezuela and Papua New Guinea secured their places through the CONMEBOL and OFC qualifying pathways.

FIFA's official qualification format confirms that ten teams will eventually contest the play-off tournament for the three remaining World Cup places, with the final three participants set to emerge from the UEFA, Concacaf and CONMEBOL qualifying processes later in the qualification cycle.

The seven teams already confirmed for the play-offs are:

• Ghana

• South Africa

• Chinese Taipei

• Uzbekistan

• Ecuador

• Venezuela

• Papua New Guinea

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The play-offs will be held across two windows between November 2026 and February 2027, with the ten participating teams eventually divided into three mini-tournaments.

The preliminary phase, scheduled for November and December 2026, will feature six teams, including the two CAF representatives, two from the AFC, one from CONMEBOL and one from the OFC. Two teams will progress from this stage to the final phase.

The final play-off phase will then be played at a centralised venue in February 2027, where the two qualifiers from the preliminary round will be joined by two teams from Concacaf, one from CONMEBOL and one from UEFA.

The six teams will be drawn into three separate paths, each decided by a single knockout match, with the winners of those three matches securing the final three places at the 2027 Women's World Cup.

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Ghana's progression to the play-off tournament keeps alive the Black Queens' hopes of reaching a first Women's World Cup since 2007, when they last featured at the tournament in China.

A place at the play-offs represents a significant opportunity for a Ghanaian side that has repeatedly come close to major tournament qualification in recent cycles without converting that promise into a finals appearance.

For South Africa, the two-time WAFCON champions will be looking to add a Women's World Cup appearance to their growing list of continental achievements, having already qualified for the tournament in 2019 and 2023.

Reaching Brazil 2027 via the play-off route would mark a third consecutive World Cup appearance for Banyana Banyana.

Nigeria's elimination, meanwhile, is a significant blow to a nation that has never missed a Women's World Cup since the competition's inception in 1991, and it leaves the Super Falcons facing an anxious wait to see whether they can rebuild in time for the next qualification cycle.

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With four African teams already through to Brazil 2027 automatically via their WAFCON 2026 semi-final finishes, Ghana and South Africa's play-off route offers a second chance for the continent to boost its representation at the finals.

Should either or both nations navigate the preliminary and final play-off phases successfully, Africa could send as many as six teams to next year's World Cup, its strongest showing at the tournament to date.

The 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup will run from June 24 to July 25 in Brazil, with the host nation already assured of its place. As the qualification picture continues to take shape over the coming months, all eyes in Ghana will remain fixed on the Black Queens' play-off draw and the fixtures that could determine whether the team returns to the World Cup stage for the first time in two decades.