Preview: Women’s World Cup qualifying second legs in UEFA

Our newest addition, Muhammed Asad, previews the upcoming Women’s World Cup qualifiers.

England Hold the Cards as the World Cup Play-Off Second Legs Decide
Everything

The October women’s international window reaches its decisive night on
Tuesday. The first legs of the European play-offs for the 2027 FIFA
Women’s World Cup are in the books, and while the seeded sides mostly
did their jobs, nobody is through yet. Ninety minutes — in some cases
less — stand between a dozen teams and a winter in the balance.

England: Job half done

England travel home with a 3-1 lead from Friday’s first leg in Crete.
Georgia Stanway broke the deadlock late in the first half, Maya Le
Tissier and Alessia Russo struck twice in four minutes after the hour,
and only a late Kallisti Brouksair reply kept Greece in the tie.
Sarina Wiegman was candid afterwards: her side made it harder than it
needed to be.

The equation at Leicester’s King Power Stadium on Tuesday (7:30pm UK time) is
simple — win, draw or lose by a single goal and England advance to a
second play-off round in the November-December window, where Slovakia
or Ukraine await. The danger is complacency: Greece’s late goal in
Crete is exactly the kind of lifeline that keeps a tie alive, and
Wiegman knows a play-off exit ends a World Cup campaign outright.

The other home nations

Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all played their first legs on
Friday — Wales in Albania, Scotland at home to the Czech Republic,
Northern Ireland hosting Portugal — with the returns all on Tuesday.
The format rewards the seeded sides with the home second leg, but as
England’s night in Crete showed, the away goals of the underdogs
travel too. Every one of these ties is live.

Elsewhere in Europe

Friday’s other first legs followed the seedings with few alarms:
Sweden put five past Lithuania, Norway won 2-0 in Romania, Iceland won
4-0 in Croatia. The second legs on Tuesday should confirm the expected
names — but play-off football has a habit of punishing the word
“should”.

Beyond the play-offs

The friendlies carry a different weight. Brazil beat Argentina 3-1 in
Porto Alegre on Saturday ahead of tonight’s second meeting in Recife,
with head coach Arthur Elias treating the window as a key step in
finalizing his squad for a home World Cup. Australia, under Joe
Montemurro, met Germany in Karlsruhe on Saturday and face Haiti in
France on Wednesday, blooding uncapped players with Brazil 2027 in
mind. India’s women hosted Russia in Kolkata for the second of two
friendlies on Sunday.

What Tuesday decides

Only the European play-off ties carry direct qualification
consequences, and for the winners the reward is immediate: a Round 2
draw in November-December, one step from Brazil. For England and the
home nations, Tuesday night is the whole window. Everything else was
preparation.