How can home nations reach Women's World Cup?

England must get through two rounds of home and away ties to qualify for the Women's World Cup in Brazil.

Sarina Wiegman's European champions will play Greece in Crete in round one of the play-offs, with the first leg on Friday, 9 October at 17:30 BST.

The second leg will be played at home, at King Power Stadium in Leicester, on Tuesday, 13 October at 19:30 BST.

Commentary for both England matches will be on BBC Radio 5 Live.

Should England beat Greece over two games, they will face the winners of Slovakia v Ukraine, with the away fixture played first.

The exact dates of the potential second-leg fixtures are to be confirmed, although they will take place between 26 November and 5 December 2026.

England head coach Wiegman named her initial squad last month, with Ella Toone and Chloe Kelly notable absentees.

When asked why they were left out, Wiegman said: "They have not been playing to their full potential.

"Of course, I still believe in these players. They are really good and have shown so much for us."

Wiegman told BBC Radio 5 Live: "That is also why I didn't pick them this time, because they have not played to their potential in my opinion in the last couple of weeks.

"I had those conversations with them and that was very hard to take. They took it well and, of course, they want to work on that."

England did not want to go through the play-offs but were given an unkind draw in the qualifying groups when they met world champions Spain.

However, Wiegman's side are in a strong position for the play-offs and will fancy their chances against Greece, who sit 55 places beneath them in the Fifa world rankings.

England also beat potential round two opponents Ukraine in both matches in the qualifying group stage, with an aggregate 9-1 score.

Northern Ireland face a tricky tie against a talented young squad from Portugal in round one. Portugal twice beat Northern Ireland in Euro 2025 qualifying.

Their task gets even harder if they make it through to round two, with potential opponents Iceland proving to be difficult to break down in their matches against England this year.

Scotland are hoping to reach just their second Women's World Cup finals, after a 2019 appearance. They failed to qualify in 2023 but have performed well this year, including drawing with Belgium, showing that they can compete with Europe's strongest teams.

They would need to produce their best in round two if they meet big-hitters Sweden, who have been semi-finalists in the past two Women's World Cups.

Wales have never beaten a top-20 ranked nation in a competitive fixture and are likely to need to do so to qualify.

There is optimism, though, as Rhian Wilkinson's side thrashed play-off opponents Albania 4-0 in their qualifying group.

Elsewhere, having performed superbly in qualifying, the Republic of Ireland have a tough play-off route with Belgium potentially waiting in round two.

First, Carla Ward's side will have to navigate a 3,100-mile trip to Kazakhstan, to tackle relatively unknown opposition.