Spain’s women’s national football team will begin its defense of the UEFA Women’s Nations League against Norway, the Republic of Ireland, and Switzerland in Group A1 of the 2027 tournament, following the official draw held on Tuesday at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, according to EFE.

The reigning world champions entered the draw as top seeds alongside Germany, France, and Denmark, securing a path that avoided heavyweight opponents such as England, the Netherlands, and Sweden, as reported by elcorreo.com. Head coach Sonia Bermúdez leads the squad into the third edition of the competition, where Spain aims to extend a domestic reign that captured titles in both 2024 and 2025.

Norway Leads Group A1 Opponents in FIFA Rankings

Among the group stage opponents, Norway enters as the highest-ranked challenger outside of Spain, occupying the 13th spot in the FIFA world rankings, cope.es reported. The Nordic side features prominent talent including Barcelona midfielder Caroline Graham Hansen and veteran forward Ada Hegerberg. Historical fixtures show Spain winning their last two meetings—a 4-2 friendly victory in Ibiza in 2023 and a 3-0 win in Faro, Portugal, in 2017—though Spain dropped four prior encounters during an earlier era of the women’s game.

Switzerland joins Group A1 from pot four as a familiar rival. EFE noted that La Roja defeated the Swiss 2-0 in Bern during the quarterfinals of the 2025 European Championship, courtesy of goals from Athenea del Castillo and Claudia Pina. The Swiss side currently sits 26th in the FIFA rankings following a round-of-16 appearance at the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, alongside a quarterfinal run as tournament hosts in 2025.

The Republic of Ireland completes the group as the lowest-ranked team among the four, positioned 21st by FIFA, according to EFE. Ireland’s major tournament history includes a sole appearance at the 2023 World Cup. Previous competitive meetings between the two nations ended decisively for Spain, who secured 3-0 victories both in Dublin in 2015 and at Las Rozas in 2016 during European Championship qualifiers.

Olympic Qualification and Tournament Schedule

The league phase is scheduled to run across six matchdays from February 23 to June 15, 2027, just weeks ahead of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil, where Spain will also defend its 2023 Sydney crown. The four group winners in League A will advance to two-legged semifinals in October 2027, with the tournament concluding with the final and third-place playoff between late November and early December, according to elcorreo.com.

Beyond determining the Nations League champion, the competition serves as the primary European qualification route for the Los Angeles Olympic Games, awarding coveted spots to the tournament’s top performers. Meanwhile, the remaining League A groups were drawn as follows: Group A2 pairs France, England, Austria, and Portugal; Group A3 features Denmark, Italia, Iceland, and Wales; and Group A4 groups Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Scotland, as reported by cope.es.

Warm-up Friendlies Before the February Kickoff

Before competitive matches resume in early 2027, Sonia Bermúdez’s side will wrap up its 2026 international calendar with a pair of friendly fixtures on home soil. Spain will face Chile on Saturday, November 28, 2026, at the Reino de León stadium, followed by a match against Venezuela on Friday, December 4, 2026, at the Riazor stadium in A Coruña, as confirmed by elcorreo.com.