For Wales, despite winning their qualification group – and earning promotion back to League A of the Nations League – it is still a tough route to qualify for a first major finals.
The women’s game has not followed the men’s in expanding the tournament from 16 to 24 teams, so Wales are still four games away from securing their dream.
Wales will be seeded for the draw, which takes place at 12:00 BST and will face a team that finished second or third in League B, meaning they will play one of Turkey, Croatia, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovakia or Azerbaijan, with the first leg away on Friday, 25 October, before the return match at Cardiff City Stadium on Tuesday, 29 October.
Should Wales advance – and they will be favourites to do so – they will then face the winner of a League A v League C play-off pairing.
Wales are more likely to face a daunting game with a League A side, with Sweden, Norway, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Czechia, Republic of Ireland or Poland their potential foes.
The potential opponents from League C are Slovenia, Romania, Belarus, Greece, Albania, Luxembourg, Montenegro or Georgia.
A pairing with Norway would certainly be interesting for Wales, with the former World Cup winners managed by Gemma Grainger, who left her post with Wales to manage Norway.
With several Wales players disappointed by Grainger’s decision, being paired with Norway would add an extra spice to the clash.
Should Wales reach the play-off finals, they would host one of those sides on Friday, 29 November, before an away game on Tuesday, 3 December.
The Nations League draw, where Wales will learn their League A opponents for 2025-26, takes place on Thursday, 7 November.
