Junior Ferns to play three-time winners Germany at U-20 Women’s World Cup

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New Zealand will play Germany, Colombia and Mexico in their group at August’s FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup tournament in Costa Rica.

The Junior Football Ferns were drawn in Group B of the 16-team competition scheduled for August 10-28.

Germany have won the U-20 World Cup three times before.

New Zealand head coach Gemma Lewis was in Costa Rica for the draw and told NZ Football’s website she was pleased she could start preparing.

“Now we know who we’ll be up against in the group stage, our preparations can really get started.

“Germany, Colombia and Mexico each offer unique challenges, and we’re looking forward to taking them on in August.”

The tournament will be New Zealand’s eighth appearance at U-20 level since first qualifying in 2006.

New Zealand’s best finish was in 2014 when the Junior Ferns reached the quarter-finals.

Group B match schedule

v Mexico – Wednesday August 10 (local time)
v Germany – Saturday August 13 (local time)
v Colombia – Tuesday August 16 (local time)

Other groups

Group A:  Costa Rica, Australia, Spain and Brazil
Group C: Canada, France, Nigeria and South Korea
Group D: Japan, the Netherlands, Ghana and the United States

Broadcast coverage

Sky New Zealand have exclusive broadcast rights to match coverage from the Costa Rica tournament.

About the tournament

Only four countries —Germany, Brazil, USA and Nigeria — have played in the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup tournaments since it was launched as a U-19 competition in Canada 20 years ago.

Germany have won three times (2004, 2010 and 2014); the US have won three times (2002, 2008 and 2012).

This year’s tournament will be played at two venues used to host the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2014.

The stadia are Estadio Nacional in San José and the Morera Solo Stadium in Alajuela.

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