Australia, China PR, Japan and Korea DPR have secured qualification for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2026™. The quartet booked their tickets to the global youth showpiece courtesy of reaching the semi-finals at the ongoing AFC U-17 Women’s Asian Cup in China.
Korea DPR have won this tournament an unmatched four times, and are out to become the first nation to win it three times in a row. Japan, champions at Costa Rica 2014, continued their perfect tournament attendance record with a tenth consecutive qualification. China have reached the tournament for fifth time, while the Junior Matildas are set to feature at the global finals for the first time.
Australia responded to a mixed group stage outing by making light work of Vietnam to qualify for the global youth showpiece for the first time. First-half goals from Frideriki Karaberis and Leyla Hussein powered Michael Cooper’s side to a 2-0 victory in the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou.
Japan were emphatic in the group stage, winning all three games and scoring 21 unanswered goals, but didn’t have things all their own way as they edged their quarter-final 1-0 against Korea Republic. Ayaka Miyaji kept them in the game when she saved Han Gukhee’s penalty in the 70th minute though, and four minutes later Rara Higuchi struck the winning goal with a superb free-kick from 25 yards.
A fourth straight victory and clean sheet saw China PR ease to back-to-back tournaments for the first time since 2014. Qinyi Huang put China ahead before Liu Yuxi doubled the advantage from the penalty spot. That looked to be the end of the scoring until Li Qixian added another late on to ensure China continued their run of scoring at least three times in every Asian Cup match so far.
Four-time champions Korea DPR ensured they’ll be in Morocco to try and win a third straight title with a straightforward win over Thailand. Yu Jong-Hyang and So Ye-Rim hit a brace apiece, while Ri Kyong-Im also found the net and Tamsakul Arisa put through her own net.
Images courtesy of the AFC
