The journey to the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011™ begins at 1.30 pm on 17 March at UEFA headquarters in Nyon with the draw for the European qualifying groups. Forty-one national teams will do battle for four places at the 2011 finals, with the fifth-best country contesting a play-off against the team finishing third in CONCACAF qualifying.

"I’ve personally experienced the intense and hard-fought battle for places at the Women’s World Cup. I believe we’ll see the most attractive qualifying competition of all time, because European women’s football has come a very long way in recent years. More and more teams are breaking into the elite ranks," commented Organising Committee (OC) President Steffi Jones.

Up to now, five places at the finals have been allocated to UEFA. This was reduced to 4.5 in October 2008. Host nation Germany qualify automatically for the 2011 event. "The OC is aiming to be a good host to all 16 participating teams," Jones continued.

I believe we’ll see the most attractive qualifying competition of all time, because European women’s football has come a very long way in recent years.
Steffi Jones on European qualifying

The first phase of FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011 qualifying in Europe begins on 19/20 September 2009, and ends on 25 August 2010. The 41 UEFA hopefuls will be drawn into seven groups of five teams and one of six. The eight group winners contest play-offs on 11-12 and 15-16 September 2010. Play-off winners earn a place at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011 in Germany. The losers enter another round of play-offs to determine which nation will take on the third-placed finishers from the CONCACAF region.

The 16 starting places at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011 are distributed among the FIFA confederations as follows: AFC: 3, CAF: 2, CONCACAF: 2.5, CONMEBOL: 2, OFC: 1, UEFA: 4.5, Host nation: 1.

The AFC, CAF, CONMEBOL and OFC qualifying tournaments are required to end by November 2010 at the latest. The Final Draw takes place in December 2010 in Germany.