Next year is set to be a massive one for women’s football in the UK with England hosting the Euro 2021 finals from 7 July to 1 August.

Qualifying for the tournament is well underway and the positive news for Wales is that manager Jayne Ludlow’s side are in good shape to reach the play-offs at the very least.

With a record 47 teams competing for 15 places alongside hosts England, the task ahead of Ludlow’s women is a big one with just the nine group winners assured of a place alongside the Lionesses for the finals draw.

That leaves six further places up for grabs, three going to the runners-up with the best record against the sides first, third, fourth and fifth in their section.

The nine qualifying groups are comprised of five or six teams, with the remaining six runners-up playing off for the three remaining slots.

Wales are paired with Norway, Belarus, Northern Ireland and the Faroe Islands in Group C.

With three of the sides having played four games Wales are currently in second spot behind Norway, who have a perfect record so far of four wins out of four.

Wales are four points behind after being held for the second time in the group by Northern Ireland on 12 November when the sides drew 0-0.

Wales began the qualification process with a resounding 6-0 win against the Faroes in Torshavn last August, which was followed up by a 2-2 draw with Northern Ireland at Rodney Parade in September.

Ludlow’s side then produced a fantastic 1-0 win against Belarus in Borisov in October to keep themselves well on course for a spot in the play-offs, if not an automatic route to the finals as one of the three best runners-up.

Ludlow’s side welcome Norway to Rodney Parade on 14 April four days after facing the Faroe Islands at the same venue. That will leave them with a home tie against Belarus in June before concluding their qualifying campaign in Norway on 22 September.

Belarus are currently in third place five points adrift of Wales but with a game in hand. They next face Northern Ireland in Minsk on 14 April, which will be followed by the return fixture two months later on 5 June.

Belarus then have to contend with a three further away games, starting for days later with Wales, followed by Norway and the Faroe Islands in September.

Group C
29 August 2019: Faroe Islands 0 Wales 6
3 September: Wales 2 Northern Ireland 2
8 October: Belarus 0 Wales 1
12 November: Northern Ireland 0 Wales 0
10 April 2020: Wales v Faroe Islands
14 April: Wales v Norway
9 June: Wales v Belarus
22 September: Norway v Wales

Everything you need to know about Euro 2021