Tough task for Ireland having drawn Sweden and Finland in Women's World Cup qualifiers

Vera Pauw's side have been drawn with Sweden, Finland, Slovakia and Georgia in a five-team group.

Fri, 30 Apr, 2021 - 12:53

John Fallon

Ireland face a daunting challenge to qualify for the 2023 Women’s World Cup after being drawn against Sweden and Finland in their qualifying group.

As third seeds for today’s draw in Nyon, Ireland were hoping for some luck but will instead need to separate two of Europe’s top sides to avoid elimination at the group stage.

Vera Pauw’s side will also face Slovakia and Georgia in a campaign that kicks off in September.

The Swedes have a remarkable World Cup record, qualifying for every tournament since its inception in 1991. Their best run came in 2003 by reaching the final, losing in extra-time to Sweden, and have recorded third-placed finishes on three occasions, most recently in the last tournament in 2019.

Finland have never reached the World Cup but next year’s Euros in England will mark their fourth qualification of the last five campaigns.

That success was achieved by topping their group ahead of Portugal and Scotland, recording seven wins and a draw along their unbeaten route.

The women's global showpiece will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand in 2023.

Due to the tournament expanding from 24 to 32 teams, Europe could see their representation jump by 50 percent from eight to 12.

Only the winners of the nine qualifying groups will be guaranteed direct progression to the finals, with the runners-up having to negotiate a complicated play-off system in October 2022 to join them.

Two will emerge from that process while another nation from Europe will get the chance to qualify through the Intercontinental route.

The 51 teams were divided into six pots based on Uefa’s women's national team coefficient ranking generation after the conclusion of the qualifying stage of the Euros in February.

Ireland were grouped in one of the five-nation pools during the Uefa draw made by David Gough, women’s football competitions manager, and Nadine Kessler, chief of women’s football and former German international.

The fixtures for the campaign will be confirmed later today.

World Cup Qualifying Group A (Fifa rankings):

Sweden (5) Finland (24) Ireland (34) Slovakia (46) Georgia (126

Complete Draw

Group A: Sweden, Finland, Republic of Ireland, Slovakia, Georgia

Group B: Spain, Scotland, Ukraine, Hungary, Faroe Islands (Five team group)

Group C: Netherlands, Iceland, Czech Republic, Belarus, Cyprus (Five team group)

Group D: England, Austria, Northern Ireland, North Macedonia, Latvia, Luxembourg

Group E: Denmark, Russia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Azerbaijan, Malta, Montenegro

Group F: Norway, Belgium, Poland, Albania, Kosovo, Armenia

Group G: Italy, Switzerland, Romania, Croatia, Moldova, Lithuania

Group H: Germany, Portugal, Serbia, Israel, Turkey, Bulgaria