Beijing: The Play-offs of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup kicked off in Auckland and Hamilton, New Zealand, and will run until Feb. 23 to fill the last three berths of the 32-team finals, to be played from July 20 to Aug. 20 in Australia and New Zealand.
The play-offs witness 10 teams divided in three groups, and only the group winners will attend the global finals.
The play-offs will not be played on the round-and-robin format. Instead, Portugal will face off against the winner between Cameroon and Thailand to fight for the berth in Group A.
In Group B, Senegal and Haiti will vie for the right to challenge Chile, while in Group C, the winners from Chinese Taipei vs Paraguay and Papua New Guinea vs Panama will square off for the ticket.
Ten venues across nine host cities in Australia and New Zealand will hold the first-ever 32-team women’s World Cup.
China were drawn into Group D alongside tough opponents England and Denmark. The last team of Group D will be the winner of the play-offs Group B.
Following is the draw for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup:
Group A: New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Switzerland
Group B: Australia, Ireland, Nigeria, Canada
Group C: Spain, Costa Rica, Zambia, Japan
Group D: China, England, Denmark, Group B play-off winner
Group E: United States, Vietnam, the Netherlands, Group A play-off winner
Group F: France, Jamaica, Brazil, Group C play-off winner
Group G: Sweden, South Africa, Italy, Argentina
Group H: Germany, Morocco, Colombia, South Korea
