Wales to face France in World Cup qualifying

WALES will meet France in Group I of European qualifying for the 2023 World Cup, which is set to be held in Australia and New Zealand.

Under new boss Gemma Grainger, Wales will also face Slovenia, Greece, Kazakhstan and Estonia

Northern Ireland, who made history by reaching the Euro 2022 finals, face England plus Austria, North Macedonia, Latvia and Luxembourg.

Scotland, who qualified for the tournament for the first time in 2019, will face Spain and Ukraine in Group B.

The Republic of Ireland are in Group A and will take on Sweden, who beat England to finish third in 2019.

There are a record number of 51 entrants for the competition, with matches set to be played between September 2021 and September 2022.

The finals tournament will take place between July and August 2023 and involve 32 teams, extended from 24 in 2019.

The winners of the nine qualifying groups will progress directly to the finals with the runners-up taking part in play-offs in October 2022.

The full draw

Group A: Sweden, Finland, Republic of Ireland, Slovakia, Georgia

Group B: Spain, Scotland, Ukraine, Hungary, Faroe Islands

Group C: Netherlands, Iceland, Czech Republic, Belarus, Cyprus

Group D: England, Austria, Northern Ireland, North Macedonia, Latvia, Luxembourg

Group E: Denmark, Russia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Azerbaijan, Malta, Montenegro

Group F: Norway, Belgium, Poland, Albania, Kosovo, Armenia

Group G: Italy, Switzerland, Romania, Croatia, Moldova, Lithuania

Group H: Germany, Portugal, Serbia, Israel, Turkey, Bulgaria

Group I: France, WALES, Slovenia, Greece, Kazakhstan, Estonia

Fixtures

Group stage: 13–21 September 2021; 18–26 October 2021; 22–30 November 2021; 4–12 April 2022; 29 August–6 September 2022.

UEFA play-offs: 3–11 October 2022.