Having won the OFC U-19 Women’s Championship, New Zealand coach Leon Birnie is already thinking ahead to next year’s FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.
Beating Fiji 7-0 in the OFC tournament final means New Zealand gains automatic qualification to the World Cup to be held in Colombia from September 5-22, 2024.
Birnie said there were still opportunities for players not at the Fiji tournament to get into next year’s World Cup squad.
“We’re going to continue our scouting,” Birnie said in a pitchside interview after Saturday’s final.
“There’s players that aren’t here that have got every chance of coming to that World Cup.
“We’ve got a camp in October, a number of ID opportunities across the next 12 months as we … build towards the World Cup in Colombia.”
New Zealand has become the fifth team to qualify for the 16-team World Cup tournament.
Others already qualified are Colombia (hosts), Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Four European qualifiers will be determined in late July through the UEFA U-19 Women’s Championship, while four teams from Asia and two from Africa will not be known till qualifying tournaments next March.
Result
Game played on Saturday July 8, 2023
Final
New Zealand 7 (Manaia Elliott 13′, 30′, Ella McCann 40′, Ruby Nathan 52′, 66′, Charlotte Mortlock ’75, Emma Pijnenburg 78′ pen)
Fiji 0
More about the final
READ MORE: New Zealand qualify for next year’s FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup >>>>
PHOTO GALLERY: Images from New Zealand’s 7-0 against Fiji >>>>
VIDEO: Highlights from New Zealand’s OFC U-19 Women’s Championship final >>>>
