The UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifying competition is a women's football competition that determines the 15 teams joining the automatically qualified host Switzerland in the UEFA Women's Euro 2025 final tournament.[1]
Format
Spain - Belgium match.
The European Qualifiers started on 5 April 2024, following the conclusion of the 2023–24 Women's Nations League. The qualifiers are composed of a league stage and final tournament play-offs.[2][3]
The league stage is played in the same format as the UEFA Women's Nations League, with teams split into three leagues: League A with 16 teams, League B with 16 teams and League C with 19 teams. Each team's starting league position is determined based on the results of the preceding Women's Nations League. In February 2024, promotion/relegation matches were played to determine the final composition of each league.
Again, teams compete in groups of four (Leagues A and B) and four or three teams (League C) and over six matchdays, with each team playing one home match and one away match against all the other teams in their group.
If two or more teams in the same group are equal on points on completion of the league phase, the following tie-breaking criteria are applied:[2]
Higher number of points obtained in the matches played among the teams in question;
Higher goal difference in matches played among the teams in question;
Higher number of goals scored in the matches played among the teams in question;
If, after having applied criteria 1 to 3, teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 3 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams in question to determine their final rankings.[a] If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 5 to 11 apply;
Higher goal difference in all group matches;
Higher number of goals scored in all group matches;
Higher number of away goals scored in all group matches;
Higher number of wins in all group matches;
Higher number of away wins in all group matches;
Lower disciplinary points total in all group matches (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card).
^When there are two or more teams tied on points, criteria 1 to 3 are applied. After these criteria are applied, they may define the position of some of the teams involved, but not all of them. For example, if there is a three-way tie on points, the application of the first three criteria may only break the tie for one of the teams, leaving the other two teams still tied. In this case, the tiebreaking procedure is resumed, from the beginning, for those teams that are still tied.
Criteria for league ranking
Individual league rankings are established according to the following criteria:[2]
Position in the group;
Higher number of points;
Higher goal difference;
Higher number of goals scored;
Higher number of goals scored away from home;
Higher number of wins;
Higher number of wins away from home;
Lower disciplinary points total (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card).
In order to rank teams in League C, which is composed of different sized groups, the results against the fourth-placed teams are not taken into account when comparing teams placed first, second, and third in their respective groups.[2]
Criteria for overall ranking
The overall UEFA Nations League rankings are established as follows:[2]
The 16 League A teams are ranked 1st to 16th according to their league rankings.
The 16 League B teams are ranked 17th to 32nd according to their league rankings.
The League C teams are ranked 33rd onwards according to their league rankings.
Teams
Teams league positions:
League A
League B
League C
All 55 UEFA national teams were able to submit an entry for the competition by 23 March 2023 at the latest.[4] This involved participation in the qualifying competition for Euro 2025 as well as the preceding 2023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League.
Teams were divided into four pots of four in Leagues A and B, and three pots of five and one pot of four in League C.[2] The seedings, pots, and draw procedure were confirmed by UEFA on 1 March 2024.[7]
Key
Promoted after 2023–24 Women's Nations League league phase
Relegated after 2023–24 Women's Nations League league phase
^ abcdefgh Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Hungary, Iceland, Norway, Serbia, and Sweden participated in the League A vs League B promotion/relegation matches in February 2024 to determine each team's league allocation.
The draw for the UEFA Women's European Qualifiers took place in Nyon, Switzerland on 5 March 2024 at 13:00 CET.[7] For political reasons, Kosovo could not be drawn into the same group as either Bosnia and Herzegovina or Serbia. In addition, the teams in League C that previously played in three-team groups in the 2023–24 Women's Nations League (Bulgaria and North Macedonia), were drawn into four-team groups for this competition.[7]
Schedule
Below is the schedule of the UEFA Women's European Qualifiers 2025 campaign.[3][8]
Source: UEFA (H) Hosts of final tournament; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated Notes:
^Since Switzerland (who qualified as hosts) finished in the top three places in their group, the best-ranked fourth-placed team qualified for the play-offs.[9]
Due to unequal group sizes in League C, results against fourth-placed teams were not considered when comparing teams finishing first, second, or third in their groups.[2]
The play-offs determine the final seven teams that qualify for the final tournament and are played over two rounds.[2]
28 teams compete in the play-offs: the 8 worst-ranked teams in League A, the top 12 teams in League B (excluding hosts Switzerland), and the top 8 teams in League C.[3]
In the first round, the eight worst-ranked teams in League A were seeded and drawn into ties against the eight best-ranked teams in League C. The eight winners progress to the second round. In addition, the six best-ranked teams in League B (except Switzerland) were seeded and drawn into ties against the next six best-ranked teams in League B. The six winners progress to the second round.[3][11]
In the second round, the teams from both paths came together and were drawn into seven ties. The winners of those ties progress to the final tournament.[11]
Teams
The following teams qualified for the first round of the play-offs, and were seeded as shown.[11]
The first round matches will take place on 25 and 29 October 2024. Each tie will be played over two legs, with the seeded teams playing the second leg at home.[8]
The second round matches will take place from 22 November to 3 December 2024. Each tie will be played over two legs, with the seeded teams playing the second leg at home.[8]
1Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.
Overall ranking
The results of each team's league rankings were used to calculate the overall ranking of the competition, using the ranking criteria,[2] and will be used for seeding in the Euro 2025 final tournament draw and the upcoming 2025–26 Women's Nations League. Teams will be promoted or relegated for the next Nations League as indicated.
Key
Promotion to higher league for 2025–26 Women's Nations League
Relegation to lower league for 2025–26 Women's Nations League
^Due to unequal group sizes in League C, results against fourth-placed teams were not considered when comparing teams finishing first, second, or third in their groups.[2]
Top goalscorers
There were 438 goals scored in 148 matches, for an average of 2.96 goals per match.
