World football's governing body confirmed a total of 29 direct slot allocations, with the other three nations to receive qualification via a 10-team play-off tournament.
The decision to expand the number of teams came off the back of a successful 2019 edition and FIFA hope the larger offering will only increase the growth of women's football.
Direct slot allocation (29 of the 32 participation slots)
- 6 direct slots for the AFC
- 4 direct slots for CAF
- 4 direct slots for Concacaf
- 3 direct slots for CONMEBOL
- 1 direct slot for the OFC
- 11 direct slots for UEFA
Play-off tournament slot allocation (3)
- 2 play-off slots for the AFC
- 2 play-off slots for CAF
- 2 play-off slots for Concacaf
- 2 play-off slots for CONMEBOL
- 1 play-off slot for the OFC
- 1 play-off slot for UEFA
The play-off tournament will be used as a test event for the Women's World Cup and host nations Australia and New Zealand will be allowed to participate in a friendly capacity.
Play-off tournament format
- The 10 teams will be divided into three groups (three, three and four)
- Four teams will be seeded based on their world ranking, with a maximum of one seeded team per confederation
- In Group 1, seed one will play for a place in the Women’s World Cup against the winners of the knockout game between the two unseeded teams
- In Group 2, seed two will play for a place in the Women’s World Cup against the winners of the knockout game between the two unseeded teams
- In Group 3, seeds three and four will play against the two unseeded teams in the group, with the two winners then playing for a place in the Women’s World Cup
FIFA also announced the cancellation of the Under-17 and Under-20 World Cups in 2021 due to the lasting impacts of the coronavirus.
The next editions are now set to be staged in 2023, with Indonesia still hosting the U-20s and Peru the U-17s.
