Black Queens learn play-off fate as FIFA sets 2027 Women’s World Cup draw date

FIFA has confirmed the draw procedures for the preliminary phase of the FIFA Women's World Cup 2027 Play-Off Tournament, setting the stage for Ghana's Black Queens to discover their path toward a place at next year's global showpiece in Brazil.

• FIFA’s play-off draw is set for August 20, 2026, in Zurich.

• Ghana is in Pot 3 alongside Ecuador for the draw.

• The play-offs run from November 24, 2026, to March 2027, with three World Cup spots at stake.

The draw will be held at the Home of FIFA in Zurich on Thursday, 20 August 2026, beginning at 14:00 local time (CEST), with live coverage streamed on FIFA.com, TikTok and YouTube.

Beyond determining Ghana's play-off opponents, the Zurich event carries added significance for the wider football world. FIFA will use the same broadcast to unveil the first version of the match schedule for the FIFA Women's World Cup Brazil 2027, revealing which of the eight host venues will stage which fixtures, along with the group-stage matches assigned to host nation Brazil.

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Ghana secured its place in the six-team play-off pool as one of two representatives from the Confederation of African Football (CAF), alongside South Africa.

The Black Queens will be joined in Zurich's draw by four other nations chasing a route to Brazil 2027: Chinese Taipei and Uzbekistan from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Ecuador from CONMEBOL, and Papua New Guinea from the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC).

Under FIFA's seeding system, the six teams have been split into three pots based on the FIFA/Coca-Cola Women's World Ranking as updated on 16 June 2026.

Chinese Taipei and Uzbekistan headline Pot 1 as the two highest-ranked sides.

South Africa and Papua New Guinea occupy Pot 2, while Ghana has been drawn into Pot 3 alongside Ecuador as the two lowest-ranked teams in the pool.

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Ghana's placement in Pot 3 means the Black Queens will be assigned as one of the final teams slotted into the draw's nine pre-defined match fixtures, following the allocation of teams from Pot 1 and Pot 2.

FIFA's draw procedures include a safeguard ensuring that teams from the same confederation cannot be drawn against each other, meaning Ghana will not face South Africa, its fellow CAF representative, in the preliminary phase.

Each of the six competing nations will play three matches during the preliminary phase, with the top two teams overall advancing to the tournament's final phase.

For Ghana, progressing through the play-off tournament represents a critical opportunity to reach a FIFA Women's World Cup for just the second time in the country's history.

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The play-off pathway to Brazil 2027 unfolds across two distinct windows. The preliminary phase, involving Ghana and the five other qualified nations, will be contested during the international window running from 24 November to 5 December 2026.

FIFA has indicated that exact match dates and host venues for this phase will be confirmed at a later date.

The two teams that finish first and second in the preliminary phase will then advance to the final phase, scheduled for the international window between 23 February and 6 March 2027.

There, they will be joined by four teams that have already secured direct qualification to the final play-off round: two from the Concacaf region, Venezuela from CONMEBOL, and one representative from UEFA.

The final phase will be decided through single-match knockout ties, with the winner of each fixture claiming one of the last three available places at the FIFA Women's World Cup Brazil 2027. For Ghana, that means the road to Brazil runs through two knockout-style hurdles, starting with Thursday's draw in Zurich.

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The draw will be conducted with the assistance of Jill Ellis, FIFA's Chief Football Officer and a two-time FIFA Women's World Cup-winning coach, alongside former France international Laura Georges, who recently joined FIFA as Head of Strategic Football Development.

Their involvement underscores the significance FIFA is placing on the play-off process as part of the build-up to the tenth edition of the Women's World Cup.

The FIFA Women's World Cup 2027 will run from 24 June to 25 July 2027, staged across eight host cities in Brazil.

The tournament will mark the first time the competition has been held in South America and the tenth edition of the world's largest women's football tournament.

For Ghana, securing one of the final three places on offer through the play-off route would deliver a historic return to the global stage and a significant boost for women's football development in the country.

Ghanaian football followers will be watching closely on 20 August as the draw determines exactly which opponents stand between the Black Queens and a place in Brazil.