Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland kick off Euros qualifiers

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland football teams have kicked off their European Championship qualifying campaigns.

The seven best teams during these hotly contested play-off games will book their place in the finals in Switzerland in 2025.

England's Lionesses, who won the tournament in 2022, have already qualified through the group stage.

But how have the other home nations done so far on their journey to Euro 2025?

And how do the play-offs work?

Scotland v Hungary

Scotland have got their qualifying campaign off to a great start with a 1-0 win against Hungary.

Martha Thomas scored the winning goal in the second half ensuring her team have the edge when they meet Hungary for the second leg of the round one play-offs on Tuesday.

The striker said: "It was a difficult game. Hungary were organised, they put in a good block that was hard to break down, so we had to be patient."

Northern Ireland v Croatia

Northern Ireland clawed back a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their opening Euro 2025 play-off against Croatia.

Their opponents took the lead with an early penalty, but an own goal in the second half of injury time brought them equal.

It means it all comes down to the second leg at the National Football Stadium at Windsor Park on Tuesday.

Wales v Slovakia

Wales didn't have such a good night, coming away with a 2-1 shock defeat against Slovakia.

However, their one goal from Ffion Morgan does help towards their hopes of qualifying for their first major tournament.

It's likely that the winners from this semi-final will face the Republic of Ireland in the next play-off final.

Friendly: England v Germany

England have already qualified through to the group stage.

The Lionesses won the tournament in 2022 after a tense final against Germany, who they met again in a friendly on Friday night.

It didn't quite go the same way though, with England suffering a 4-3 defeat at Wembley Stadium.

Midfielder Georgia Stanway said they have things to work on:

"As a whole, I don't think we need to be disappointed too much. We have a long process to be right for the Euros.

"This is a step in the direction - whether it's a good one or a bad one. It's a way that we can learn."

How do the Euros play-offs work?

There will be 16 nations at the tournament next year.

Nine have already qualified. They are:

England, France, Spain, Denmark, Italy, Netherlands, Germany, Iceland and Switzerland (who automatically qualify as the host nation).

The other seven spots will be decided via the play-offs, and with 28 nations in the running, it's going to be highly competitive.

Each play-off game will be contested over two legs - a home and an away tie, to be played on the 25 and 29 October.

The 14 winners after those games will go through to a second round of matches.

The 14 losers will be out of the competition.

Round two will be played between 27 November and 3 December.

The triumphant teams after those games will be heading to Switzerland next year.