Defending champions England have been drawn into a tough group with the Republic of Ireland, France and Sweden in Group A3 of the Women's Euro 2025 qualifiers.
Scotland will face Serbia, Slovakia and Israel in Group B, while Northern Ireland will play alongside Portugal, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Malta in Group B.
The draw pitted Wales against Croatia, Ukraine and Kosovo in Group Four.
The qualifiers will be held between April and July, with the tournament being held in July 2025 in Switzerland.
France, England and Sweden are ranked third, fourth and fifth respectively in the FIFA rankings, while the Republic of Ireland is ranked 24th.
Spain, the world champion and winner of the Nations League, will play Denmark, Belgium and the Czech Republic.
Germany, which lost to England in the Euro 2022 final at Wembley Stadium, will face Austria, Iceland and Poland.
The draw placed Switzerland, which will participate despite automatically qualifying as the host country, against Hungary, Turkey and Azerbaijan.
The top two teams from League A groups will automatically qualify, while the other two teams will qualify for the playoffs.
Countries compete in Leagues B and C to reach the playoffs.
Entire groups
League A
Group A1: Netherlands, Italy, Norway, Finland
Group A2: Spain, Denmark, Belgium, Czech Republic
Group A3: France, EnglandSweden, Republic of Ireland
Group A4: Germany, Austria, Iceland, Poland
League B
Group B1: Switzerland, Hungary, Türkiye, Azerbaijan
Group B2: Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Israel
Group B3: Portugal, Bosnia and Herzegovina, northern Ireland, Malta
Group B4: Wales, Croatia, Ukraine, Kosovo
League C
Group C1: Belarus, Lithuania, Cyprus, Georgia
Group C2: Slovenia, Latvia, North Macedonia, Moldova
Group C3: Greece, Montenegro, Andorra, Faroe Islands
Group C4: Romania, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Armenia
Group C5: Albania, Estonia, Luxembourg
analysis
Defending the England title may not be as easy as many assume.
In front of them is a difficult group that includes Sweden, the Olympic runner-up, in addition to France, which is participating in the major tournaments.
In the Republic of Ireland, they will face Arsenal's Katie McCabe, who helped the team to its first appearance at the 2023 Women's World Cup.
Sweden has been a hotbed of talent for several years, and the Women's Super League has attracted large numbers from the Scandinavian region, so there will be familiar faces at that match too.
England were strong favorites to win Euro 2022, but since then the quality of competition across Europe has improved significantly.
Sarina Wegman's side will need to be at their best and will hope to have key players back from injury – including Chelsea duo Fran Kirby and Millie Bright.
They will be boosted by their performances at the recent international camp in Spain, where they recorded big wins over Austria and Italy, and the new players impressed on their debut.
Northern Ireland will be determined to make the most of a draw that gives them a real chance of qualifying.
Portugal, with several exciting young players, are expected to be their strongest opponents, but NI will stand a chance against lower-ranked opponents in Malta and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Scotland, who narrowly missed out on qualifying for the Women's World Cup, are the highest-ranked team in their qualifying group, so will feel confident too.
However, the Scots will be without starting midfielder Caroline Weir, who suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury last year.
Wales, under the new management of coach Ryan Wilkinson, faces a difficult match with Ukraine, but is capable of topping its group if its key players remain fit and perform well.
How will the UEFA Women's European Championship 2025 qualifiers take place?
The qualifiers will witness each team facing the other teams in its group at home and away.
The group winners and runners-up from each group qualify into League A automatically, while the remaining seven spots are occupied by the best-ranked teams from all three leagues.
All third and fourth placed teams from League A will qualify for the play-offs.
The top three teams in each League B group will also participate in the playoffs. If Switzerland finishes in the top three of their group, the best fourth-placed team in League B will advance to the play-offs.
From League C, the five group winners and the best three runners-up will qualify for the play-offs.
The 28 teams participating in the qualifiers will be reduced to seven, with the first round split into two tracks.
The eight teams from League A will be drawn against the eight teams from League C. The top six teams from League B will face the six lowest-ranked teams from League B. Both sets of matches are home and away.
In the second playoff round, the remaining 14 teams will be divided across classification. The seven best-ranked countries will be drawn against the other seven teams. The winners of those matches will advance to the finals.
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