On 24 September 2024, UEFA approved the initial regulations and tentative match schedule for qualification. Following FIFA's confirmation of qualification slots, UEFA finalized the regulations for qualification which will occur over two phases: •
League phase: The teams entering qualification were divided into three leagues based on the
2025 UEFA Women's Nations League overall phase rankings (Regulations Article 21): • League A consists of the teams ranked 1–16 drawn into four groups of four teams each. • League B consists of the teams ranked 17–32 drawn into four groups of four teams each. • League C consists of the teams ranked 33–53 drawn into three groups of four teams each and three groups of three teams each. :All groups will play a
league format, playing all other teams at home and away (Regulations Article 22). The League A group winners will qualify directly for the Women's World Cup, and two rounds of play-offs will determine the remaining direct qualification slots and the inter-confederation play-offs representatives (Regulations Articles 27.01–27.02). •
Play-off phase: Teams will be drawn into paths to play two rounds of home-and-away knockout matches (Regulations Articles 27.03–27.08): •
Round 1: • Path 1 will consist of the runners-up and third-place teams from League A competing against the group winners and two best-ranked runners-up from League C. The League A teams will be seeded and will play the second leg at home. • Path 2 will consist of the fourth-place teams from League A and League B group winners competing against the runners-up and third-place teams from League B. The League A fourth-place teams and League B group winners will be seeded and play the second leg at home. • The winners of each two-legged tie will advance to Round 2. •
Round 2: The path 1 winners will compete against the path 2 winners. The path 1 winners will be seeded and will play the second leg at home. :The seven round 2 winners with the best
overall league phase rankings will qualify directly for the Women's World Cup, and the remaining round 2 winner will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs. The league phase will also determine the composition of the
2027 UEFA Women's Nations League, which uses an identical league structure. The group winners of League B and League C will be promoted to the higher league for that competition, while the fourth-place teams in Leagues A and League B, as well as the two lowest-ranked third-place teams in League B, will be relegated to the lower league. ==Tiebreakers==