The FIFA Women's World Cup qualification is the process a national women's association football team goes through to qualify for the FIFA Women's World Cup.
Qualifying tournaments are held within the six FIFA continental zones (Africa, Asia, North and Central America and Caribbean, South America, Oceania, Europe), and are organized by their respective confederations. For each tournament, FIFA decides beforehand the number of berths awarded to each of the continental zones, based on the relative strength of the confederations' teams. The hosts of the World Cup receive an automatic berth in the finals. For the 2015 and 2019 FIFA Women's World Cups, the number of finalists increased from 16 to 24. Since 2023, the number is 32.
All confederations, except for CONMEBOL, OFC, and UEFA, hold qualification process throughout continental tournaments. The UEFA organises its own qualification phase since 1999, as do CONMEBOL and OFC for 2027. Starting from 2031, the AFC will also organise its own qualification.
Qualification berths by continent
The table below lists the numbers of berths allocated by FIFA for each continent in each tournament.
Intercontinental play-offs are played as two home-and-away matches. The team that scores a greater aggregate number of goals qualifies for the World Cup. Away goals rule applies. If these rules fail to determine the winner, extra time and penalty shootouts are used.
"H" denotes an automatic spot for the host. Places in intercontinental play-offs are represented as fractions, with a place in a direct play-off being counted as 0.5 spots.
+Places allocated for continentsContinental zone199111995199920032200720112015201920232027Africa1122223344Asia3232.5+H2.5+H3555+H6Oceania111111110+H1Europe54+H6554.5+H88+H1111North and Central Americaand Caribbean121.5+H2.52.52.53.5+H3.544South America111.52222.52.532+HPlay-off tournamentDid not exist33Total12121616161624243232
1 In 1991, China hosted the tournament, but the location was determined after Asian qualifying had been completed. 2 Originally to be held in China, the tournament was moved to the United States. China retained its automatic qualifying status as original host.
Qualification competition entrants over time
+Entrants in continental qualifying tournamentsContinental zone1991(12)1995(12)1999(16)2003(16)2007(16)2011(16)2015(24)2019(24)2023(32)2027(32)Africa881522352426244339Asia941118171720242738Oceania33610108411911Europe18301611612514146465153North and Central Americaand Caribbean85112223322628283231South America351010101010101010Total49556998129126134143172182Teams played45526684109119130136155184Matches played111135152195263355406392505Goals scored4456558038671,0321,4361,6861,5622,143
1 Only teams in European Class A could qualify for the Women's World Cup finals. Other sides could at best be promoted to Class A for subsequent tournament. 2 A second Guatemalan side also competed, but their matches are not included in the list. 3 The United States (eventual hosts of the finals) competed in the qualifying tournament.
First appearance in qualification by team Listed are the first appearance in the qualifying stages by a national team. Teams that entered for the first time but withdrew are written in italics.
WCEuropeSouth AmericaNorth, Central America and CaribbeanAsiaAfricaOceaniaTotal1991441995NoneNoneNone211999242003None212007None282011None212015NoneNoneNone112019NoneNone92023NoneNoneNone102027NoneNoneNone10
National teams results in World Cup preliminary competition (1991–2023) Legend Team has won the World Cup Team has qualified for the main tournament through a qualifying process Team has not qualified for the main tournament Team is not a member of FIFA and is not eligible for the main tournament (Martinique and Guadeloupe)
The table is updated after 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification in all continents except for Asia (AFC), which was already updated after the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification.