Uzbekistan's women's national team now knows its road to the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup, after Tuesday's draw pitted the side against Papua New Guinea, Ghana, and South Africa in the preliminary round of a new intercontinental play-off tournament, the Uzbekistan Football Association announced.

The draw is the latest milestone in a rapid rise for Uzbek football on both the men's and women's side. It comes roughly a year after the women's team ended a 22-year absence from the AFC Women's Asian Cup finals, edging Nepal on penalties, 4-2, to secure a return to the continental tournament — and just months after Uzbekistan's men made history of their own by qualifying for their first-ever men's World Cup.

How the path to Brazil works

The preliminary round will be staged at a single, centralized venue in November and December 2026, with two of the four competing nations advancing.

Those two survivors will then be thrown into a decisive play-off round in February 2027, also held at one location. There, they'll be joined by two teams from CONCACAF and one apiece from CONMEBOL and UEFA — bringing the field to six national teams in total. A separate draw will split those six sides into three head-to-head paths, each settled by a single knockout match. The winner of each path claims one of the final three spots at the World Cup.

Part of a broader surge

The push comes amid a broader expansion of women's sport in Uzbekistan, which has accompanied wider social reforms in the country over the past decade. Uzbekistan has already been tapped to host the AFC Women's Asian Cup in 2029, making it the first Central Asian nation to stage the tournament.

Whether Tuesday's draw ultimately delivers Uzbekistan's women a first-ever World Cup berth will become clearer once the preliminary round kicks off later this year. The 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup will be held in Brazil from June 24 to July 25.