Big scorelines, one-sided games - are Women's World Cup play-offs working?

What the report says

BBC Sport reports that England’s 8-1 aggregate defeat of Greece in the first round of the Women’s World Cup qualifying play-offs has renewed questions about whether Uefa’s current European qualification format is delivering too many mismatches. England, the two-time European champions, were far stronger than Greece, who were ranked far lower, and similar heavy wins were recorded by other leading European sides forced into the play-offs after finishing behind stronger teams in their groups.

The article says the issue stems from only one team in the league-phase groups earning automatic qualification, leaving several major nations to face lower-ranked opposition in the next stage. Netherlands beat Hungary 11-0 on aggregate, Norway overcame Romania 8-0, while Sweden and the Republic of Ireland also produced one-sided overall victories. England manager Sarina Wiegman said Uefa should review whether the system works, though she stressed her focus is on the next tie against Ukraine.

England now meet Ukraine over two legs on 1 December and 5 December, with the return match at Wembley. BBC Sport notes England already beat Ukraine twice in the league phase and had also faced Greece in a tie that underlined the gap in quality. More broadly, the piece argues that European women’s football is becoming more competitive, but that the qualification structure can still produce repeated, uneven fixtures. Fifa’s planned expansion of the Women’s World Cup to 48 teams in 2031 is mentioned as part of the wider context, though it remains unclear whether that will address the issue.