Wales clinched a historic World Cup play-off berth in front of a record crowd with a gritty goalless draw against Slovenia, inching them ever closer to a first-ever major tournament.
A positive result against Slovenia was required to secure Wales their runners-up status in Group I and a subsequent place in the 2023 Women's World Cup play-offs.
With a play-off position now confirmed, here is how the road to the 2023 Women’s World Cup could look like for Gemma Grainger’s side:
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How do the play-offs work?
The runners-up from all nine qualifying groups will compete in a two-round play-off series.
The three best runners-up (based on results against the sides ranked first, third, fourth and fifth in their section) will be seeded directly to round two of the play-offs.
The remaining six runners-up will compete across three single-leg ties in round one of the play-offs. Ties will be decided via a draw, with no seeding. The first team drawn in each tie will play at home.
The three winners of the first round will then contest the three teams originally seeded directly to round two. Again, ties will be decided via a draw, with no seeding. The first team drawn in each tie will play at home.
The two play-off winners with the highest ranking (based on results in the qualifying group stage and round two play-offs) will qualify for the World Cup.
The play-off winner with the third-highest ranking will compete in a separate 10-team inter-confederation play-off series in New Zealand next year.
When are the Women's World Cup play-offs and play-off draw?
Round one of the play-offs will be staged on October 6, with round two following swiftly on October 11.
The play-off draw will be streamed live at 1.30pm CET on Friday, September 9, or 12.30pm UK time.
Who are Wales’ play-off competition?
The three runners-up seeded directly to round two of the play-offs are Republic of Ireland, Iceland and Switzerland.
The six teams who will compete in round one of the play-offs are the Scotland, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Portugal, Belgium and Wales.
Wales' draw with Slovenia saw them slip to eighth in the group rankings with 14 points.
How does the inter-confederation tournament work?
The 10 remaining teams bidding for the remaining World Cup spots will be split across three groups with two groups of three and one of four, with seeding decided by FIFA ranking. All three groups will be played out as separate knockout competitions, with the winner of each group qualifying for the Women’s World Cup.
In the two three-team groups, the seeded team will go straight to the final and meet the winner of a semi-final between the other two teams in their group.
The inter-confederation play-offs will be played from February 17-23, 2023.
The teams listed to play are: Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Cameroon, Senegal, Haiti, Panama, Chile, Paraguay, Papua New Guinea and Uefa’s third-best play-off finisher.
(All information correct at time of publishing)
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