Ireland draw France, Netherlands, and Poland in Women's World Cup draw
Eva Osborne
Ireland Women's National Team will go up against France, the Netherlands, and Poland in Group A2 of the Women's World Cup Qualifiers.
The Irish Examiner's John Fallon said it was good Ireland avoided the "group of death" which includes world champions Spain and back-to-back Euro holders England.
League A pools:
- A1: Sweden, Italy, Denmark, Serbia.
- A2: France, Netherlands, Poland, Ireland.
- A3: Spain, England, Iceland, Ukraine.
- A4: Germany, Norway, Austria, Slovenia.
Ireland are aiming to make it to back-to-back FIFA Women's World Cups tournaments after making their debut in 2023.
After finishing second in Group B2 - only behind Slovenia on goal difference - Ireland were drawn against Belgium in a two-legged Play-Off, which they won 5-4 on aggregate.
This means that they were promoted into League A for these FIFA Women's World Cup Qualifiers and it secures a Play-Off spot should Ireland not qualify automatically.
In the FIFA Women's World Rankings, Ireland are 27th but for these League Allocations they are 16th, which is the final spot in League A and means that they were in Pot 4, alongside Slovenia, Serbia and Ukraine.
How does qualification work?
In qualifying, as per the Nations League league stage, teams compete in groups of four or three (League C) and over six match days between February and June 2026, with each team playing one home match and one away match against all the other teams in their group
For qualifying itself, the winners of each League A group will gain automatic places in Brazil.
The remaining seven direct spots in Brazil, and a further berth in the Inter-confederation Play-Offs in February 2027, will be decided by two rounds of Play-Offs in October and November/December 2026.
The details on which opponent Ireland will play on specific dates and in which venue will be announced in due course.
