Wiegman: 'It’s an exciting group'

The Lionesses were placed in League A, Group 3 at the European qualifying draw on Tuesday afternoon, as the road to Brazil begins.

And it will see a renewal of the recent rivalry with Spain, following their meeting in the EURO 2025 Final and the last UEFA Nations League campaign, while the last meeting with Ukraine came back in 2014 in Lviv and Iceland were visitors to Colchester for an international in 2009.
 
On Spain, the head coach said: "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.”

The qualification phase will begin in February 2026, with six group games to be played over three international windows [February/March, April and June] and only the nation who finishes top of the group automatically sealing their place in Brazil.

And Wiegman says her squad will be fully prepared for the new campaign as they approach the upcoming internationals in their 'Homecoming Series' against China [Saturday 29 November] and Ghana [Tuesday 2 December].

“We’ve already started our World Cup cycle and with the four games this year, it will be very, very helpful to give us information about ourselves against some very different opponents,” she added.

“We want to be challenged at the highest level and that's what we have in front of us with the next window against China and Ghana, and then of course, it's also a preparation for the World Cup qualifiers.

“It's not easy to qualify for the World Cup, you have to top the group to qualify straight away or then it’s in the play-offs. 

“So you have to perform every single time, every single day. You can't afford to not be not be at your best in this set up.

“We never take for granted that we’ll qualify, but I think we have a very good team and we're planning to do everything we can to be at our best in the short term to win games and hopefully after that, we’ll be getting ready for the World Cup.”