By Hannah Blackwell
Wales will have to overcome Bosnia-Herzegovina and then Switzerland if they are to reach the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup finals.
The play-offs draw – which took place on Friday in Switzerland – is a favourable one for Wales, with a home tie first against the Bosnians on October 6.
Should they win that semi-final game, they would then travel to Switzerland for the final five days later to face the Swiss for a possible place at next year’s tournament in Australia and New Zealand.
Wales secured second place in their qualification group with Tuesday’s 0-0 draw against Slovenia and are potentially two wins from their first ever World Cup finals.
According to FIFA’s world rankings, Iceland, in 14th, are the strongest side involved in the European play-offs ahead of Belgium, who are 19th.
🏆 The @FIFAWWC draw has been confirmed!
Ein gemau ail-gyfle wedi’i gadarnhau.
Venues and KO times TBC.#BeFootball | #TogetherStronger pic.twitter.com/INTTnGmmh6
— Wales 🏴 (@Cymru) September 9, 2022
Austria are ranked 20th and Switzerland are 21st with Scotland, who are 23rd, coming next. The Republic of Ireland are ranked 26th, with Portugal 27th and Wales 30th, while Bosnia & Herzegovina are 63rd.
From the three final winners, the two highest seeded teams will qualify for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The third seeded side will be entered into an Inter-Confederation Play-Off, which will take place in New Zealand in February 2023.