2027 World Cup: ÖFB Women must hope for external help

With their victory against Kosovo, the Austrian women's national team has taken a big step towards the 2027 World Cup.

In December, Lars Söndergaard's team will fight for their first-ever World Cup participation. However, should the ÖFB eleven win the duel against Switzerland, the ticket to Brazil might not yet be directly secured.

Extra hurdle on the road to Brazil

In the worst-case scenario, Austria would have to go an extra round: The lowest-ranked winner of the eight European play-offs must enter the inter-confederation play-off in February 2027.

If the favourites prevail in all duels, this would affect Austria.

Most likely, underdogs could cause an upset in the duels of Portugal vs. Iceland, Finland vs. Italy, and Poland vs. Ireland. In the other duels, surprises are very unlikely.

If Austria prevails against Switzerland and at least one of the lower-ranked teams wins its duel, this could be decisive for the ÖFB women: The nation concerned would end up behind Austria in the ranking.

This would secure Austria's first-ever World Cup participation.

Inter-confederation Play-off

The inter-confederation play-off will be played in two phases. In the first, six nations (Uzbekistan, South Africa, Papua New Guinea, Taiwan, Ghana, and Ecuador) will compete for two spots in the second round in February 2027.

Four more teams will join there, including one team from Europe. In three knockout duels, the final three World Cup tickets will ultimately be awarded.

The venue for this play-off has not yet been announced. However, the ÖFB team might potentially embark on a world trip.