Wales will face Norway in the Women's World Cup play-off final knowing that even a famous victory may not be enough to send them to Brazil next summer. After Tuesday's semi-final success against Albania, Wales will play the home leg of the final at the Cardiff City Stadium on Tuesday, 1 December before the return in Norway four days later. A triumph against the Norwegians would be among Wales' greatest achievements – yet Rhian Wilkinson's players do not know if it would be enough to book a place at a first Women's World Cup.
The complex nature of the qualification process means that even if they upset Norway, Wales may have to negotiate inter-confederation play-offs next February to claim a tournament place. Wales' encounter with Norway is one of eight play-off finals in the European branch of World Cup qualifying. Seven of the eight winners will progress directly to the tournament and one - the lowest-ranked nation from the group stage of qualifying – will be consigned to the inter-confederation play-offs.
The frustration for Wilkinson's side is that if they can upset Norway, they may well be the team who miss out on an automatic route to South America. There is a ray of hope, however, after the play-off semi-final results. Of the European nations, only the four League A group winners in this qualifying campaign – Denmark, France, Germany and reigning champions Spain – are already sure of World Cup places.
Therefore, there are a number of heavyweight sides - such as England, Sweden and the Netherlands - involved in the play-off finals. Before the semi-final stage, there appeared a decent chance that Wales would be the lowest-ranked team to reach the last 16. However, Finland's semi-final victory against Serbia has changed the picture.
As a League B runner-up, Finland were below Wales - who topped their League B pool - in the group stage rankings. The Finns, ranked 22nd in the world, now face Italy – who are 14th in the Fifa rankings – in their play-off final. Should Finland win, a Welsh triumph against Norway would send Wilkinson's team directly to the World Cup.
If Finland are eliminated, however, Wales will know success against Norway would mean the inter-confederation play-offs await. Results in the six other European play-off finals are irrelevant because no other side is ranked below Wales. The European nation who ends up in the inter-confederation play-offs will enter at the second stage, meaning they would need to win a single knockout game.
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