World Cup 2027 qualifying draw live: England face Spain rematch as group opponents revealed

Sarina Wiegman has reacted to England’s World Cup qualifying group, with the Football Association releasing these quotes after the Lionesses were drawn to face Spain, Iceland and Ukraine.

"We seem to meet up all the time, either in tournaments or in draws such as the Nations League now and you can see both teams are very, very competitive and close and so here we go again."

“I think it's also nice to play Iceland and Ukraine. We haven't played them for a long time. “Of course, they [Ukraine] got promoted to League A, which was very good for them and it's a team that we don't know very well at the moment but I find it nice to play a team that we don't know yet, to have that challenge.

“Iceland, of course, had to play against Northern Ireland in the play-offs which was was a tough team to play. I haven't played them with England, but they have some very good players in their squad too.

“I think it’s an exciting group and when we were drawn with Spain, you could tell in the room at the draw that it gave some excitement.”

England are set to renew their fierce rivalry with world champions Spain after being drawn together in qualifying for the 2027 World Cup.

The highly anticipated league stage draw pits the reigning global champions against the European title holders.

The Lionesses, who were defeated 1-0 by Spain in the 2023 World Cup final, secured a measure of revenge against their rivals this summer by beating them in the final of the Euros.

The two teams could not be separated after extra time as they played out a 1-1 draw, before England secured a 3-1 penalty shootout victory.

There’s plenty of respect between England and Spain, but there’s a growing edge to their rivalry too - with some Spain fans jumping on comments made by Hannah Hampton after the penalty shoot-out victory where the goalkeeper joked that she had thrown Cata Coll’s ‘cheat sheet’, printed on her water bottle, into the crowd.

It could be spicy.

League A2: France, Netherlands, Poland, Republic of Ireland

League A3: Spain, England, Iceland, Ukraine

League B1: Wales, Czechia, Albania, Montenegro

League B2: Switzerland, Northern Ireland, Turkey, Malta

League B4: Belgium, Scotland, Israel, Luxembourg

The World Cup qualifiers will take place across three windows in February/March, April and June.

The fixtures will be confirmed in due course.

So Iceland and Ukraine join England and Spain in League A3. England should not face too many problems against the other two teams in the group, but the Lionesses will face to battle it out with Spain for the only automatic qualification spot. The other teams in the group will go through to the play-offs.

So A3 is the one to avoid... but that’s exactly where England land! It’s England v Spain again! There will be a rematch of the World Cup final and Euro 2025 final in World Cup qualifying.

League A1: Sweden, Italy, Denmark, Serbia

League A2: France, Netherlands, Poland, Republic of Ireland

League A3: Spain, England, Iceland, Ukraine

League A4: Germany, Norway, Austria, Slovenia

League A is next: England will face one of Spain, France, Germany or Sweden... will we get a rematch of the Euro 2025 final?

So Wales will play Czechia, a good draw for the Dragons. Northern Ireland will play a Switzerland side who reached the quarter-finals of the Euros. And Scotland are with a dangerous Belgium side who beat England earlier this year! Scotland also draw Israel.

League B1: Wales, Czechia, Albania, Montenegro

League B2: Switzerland, Northern Ireland, Turkey, Malta

League B3: Portugal, Finland, Slovakia, Latvia

League B4: Belgium, Scotland, Israel, Luxembourg

League C is done. The six group winners and two-best runners-up will advance to the play-offs, where they would face League A opposition across two legs in the first round. Liechtenstein, Gibraltar and Andorra, as the lowest-ranked sides in the draw, had to be allocated into the four-team groups.