By Amaechi Agbo
Ghana’s Black Queens and South Africa will discover their opponents in the preliminary phase of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 Play-Off Tournament when the draw is held in Zurich on Thursday, August 20.
The draw will take place at the Home of FIFA at 14:00 local time and will determine how the six qualified teams are divided for the preliminary phase.
Ghana are among the six teams in the play-off tournament, alongside South Africa, Chinese Taipei, Uzbekistan, Ecuador and Papua New Guinea.
For the draw, the teams have been placed into three pots based on the FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking as of June 16, 2026.
Pot 1 contains Chinese Taipei and Uzbekistan, Pot 2 has South Africa and Papua New Guinea, while Ghana and Ecuador are in Pot 3.
Teams from the same confederation cannot be drawn against each other.
The preliminary phase will take place during the international window from November 24 to December 5, 2026.
Each team will play three matches, with the top two teams advancing to the final phase.
The two teams that advance will join four teams that qualify directly for the final phase. The final phase will determine the last three teams to qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil.
The tournament will be played from June 24 to July 25, 2027.
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