New Zealand and Samoa have become the first nations to qualify for next year’s FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Morocco 2025™. The Oceanian duo secured their tickets for next year’s youth showpiece by qualifying for the final of the OFC Women’s U-16 Championship on Wednesday 18 September.
Samoa’s achievement is the more eye-catching of the two as, by beating New Caledonia 2-0 in their semi-final, they qualified for the first FIFA tournament of their history.
The Samoans got the job done early, scoring their two goals in the third and sixth minutes through Holly Leapai and Kealia Nansen. In a match largely dominated by Juan Chang Urrea’s team, those goals proved decisive, although the woodwork was struck on another three occasions.
Watch New Zealand-Samoa in the OFC final on FIFA+
New Zealand, for their part, have never failed to qualify for the U-17 Women’s World Cup and will be taking part for the nine time in a row. They beat Tonga 8-0 to reach the final of the OFC U-16 Championship.
There were seven goalscorers in this match. Grace Duncan was the only player to net twice, this after Laura Bennett opened the scoring after just six minutes. Katie Pugh, captain Pia Vlok, Charley March, Kara McGillivray and Derelle Avery also got on the scoresheet.
In 2025, the U-17 Women’s World Cup will be expanded from 16 to 24 teams, with New Zealand and Samoa joining hosts Morocco on the list of confirmed participants. In a few weeks’ time, from 16 October to 3 November, the Kiwis’ current hopefuls will take part in the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Dominican Republic 2024™.
