Germany Women remain unbeaten - Imade and Harder score in decisive matches

While Germany qualified early for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup, Edna Imade and Georgia Stanway were involved in a close-fought contest for a World Cup spot with Spain and England. There was also tension until the end between Pernille Harder’s Denmark and Italy with Arianna Caruso. fcbayern.com rounds up the action from the final group games in qualifying.

Germany complete unbeaten qualifying campaign

Even without the injured Giulia Gwinn and Franziska Kett, Germany finished World Cup qualifying unbeaten and comfortably top of Group A4, ensuring their place in Brazil in 2027. Linda Dallmann starred in the 2-0 win over Norway on Friday, setting up both goals for Marie Müller (17’) and Carlotta Wamser (27’) to help the DFB-Frauen book their World Cup ticket on the penultimate matchday. Then in the final match against Slovenia in Ljubiliana, head coach Christian Wück rotated heavily. FCB forward Klara Bühl started again, while goalkeeper Ena Mahmutovic lined up between the posts and kept a clean sheet in her second senior international.

Imade going to World Cup after goal against Iceland 

Imade and Spain have qualified automatically for the World Cup finals thanks to a better goal difference after two impressive wins against rivals England and Iceland. The odds were against them ahead of the meeting with England as the Lionesses were three points clear at the top with two matches left. However, the Spaniards triumphed emphatically 4-0 thanks to a brace from Alexia Putellas (37’, 55’) as well as goals from Claudia Pina (78’) and Patri (19’), which moved them above the European champions on goal difference. That meant a win against Iceland would be enough for Sonia Bermudez’s side regardless of England’s result against Ukraine. Spain took an early lead in Reykjavic through Vicky (6’), before FCB forward Imade made it 2-0 in the 37th minute. Further goals from Paralluelo (45’), Vicky with her second (50’), Pina (68’) and Aitana Bonmati (84’) made it a 6-1 scoreline. Despite a 3-0 victory against Ukraine, including a goal for Stanway, the Lionesses had to settle for second place in Group A3 and will now have to go through the play-offs.

The same goes for Bayern captain Glódís Viggósdóttir and Iceland. The 1-0 victory over bottom-of-the-table Ukraine confirmed third place and meant the heavy defeat to Spain didn’t matter.

Harder and Ballisager safely through – Caruso in play-offs with Italy

In Group A1, Harder and Stine Ballisager with Denmark went into the final two matches as favourites for automatic qualification ahead of Italy and Caruso. Although the Italians gained ground with a 3-0 win against Serbia in their first game – with Caruso scoring in the 81st minute – Denmark beat Sweden 2-1 to restore the three-point lead at the top, with Harder netting the winning goal. Denmark therefore needed just a point to make sure of top spot in the group, while the Azurre had to win against Sweden and required help from elsewhere. In the end, Harder was on the scoresheet again as the Danes comfortably beat Serbia 4-1, while Caruso and Italy could only manage a 2-2 draw, leaving them in the play-offs.

Naschenweng and Dunst in play-offs

Meanwhile in Group A4, Austria duo Babara Dunst and Katharina Naschenweng met Slovenia and Norway. After Naschenweng’s powerful strike fired the Austrians to a 1-0 win on Matchday 5, Dunst’s goal was not enough to prevent a 2-1 loss to Norway. That result meant Austria finished third in the group and still have a chance of qualifying for the World Cup through the play-offs.

Tanikawa scores against South Africa, Gilles with 6-0 win in Costa Rica

While some of her teammates are still fighting for a place at the World Cup, Momoko Tanikawa and Japan already have their spot secured thanks to their victory at the Women's Asian Cup earlier this year. As a result, a friendly double-header against South Africa was on the programme in this international window. The first ended in a comfortable 5-0 win for the Japanese, with Tanikawa netting the third goal in the 29th minute. In the second encounter, a much-changed Japan side went down 1-0.

Vanessa Gilles and Canada have to wait until the CONCACAF W Championship in November for their World Cup place to be decided. In order to go into that as best prepared as possible, the Canadians used the international break to play a friendly against Costa Rica – and with success. With Gilles at the heart of the defence, Canada eased to a 6-0 win away from home. 

Grohs in action for U23s

Goalkeeper Mala Grohs was again called up for the German U23 team, who had two friendlies against Denmark. Grohs played 90 minutes in the first encounter and kept a clean sheet in a 2-0 success. In the second match, which finished 2-2, Grohs was an unused substitute.

All international results involving FCB Women:

European World Cup qualifiers

Austria 1-0 Slovenia (Naschenweng, Dunst)

Ukraine 0-1 Iceland (Viggósdóttir)

Italy 3-0 Serbia (Caruso)

Denmark 2-1 Sweden (Harder, Ballisager)

Germany 2-0 Norway (Bühl, Dallmann)

Spain 4-0 England (Imade, Stanway)

Slovenia 0-2 Germany (Bühl, Mahmutovic)

Sweden 2-2 Italy (Caruso)

Serbia 1-4 Denmark (Ballisager, Harder)

Norway 2-1 Austria (Dunst, Naschenweng)

Iceland 1-6 Spain (Viggósdóttir, Imade)

England 3-0 Ukraine (Stanway)

U23 international season

Germany U23 2-0 Denmark U23 (Grohs)

Germany U23 2-2 Denmark U23

International friendlies

 Japan 5-0 South Africa (Tanikawa)

 Japan 0-1 South Africa

Costa Rica 0-6 Canada (Gilles)

The key info on FC Bayern Women’s summer schedule: