NEWS

The Japan women's Under-17 side will play France, Paraguay and the CONCACAF qualifying winners in the inaugural FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup, slated for October 28 to November 16 in New Zealand, it was determined at the draw on Sunday.

Japan will open their campaign in Group C against the CONCACAF qualifiers on October 30, and meet France on November 2, both in Hamilton. They will then play Paraguay on November 5 in Christchurch.

Japan women's Under-17 coach Hiroshi Yoshida said, "Whoever our opponents will be, we will focus on playing our brand of football in the tournament."

Hosts New Zealand will compete in Group A along with Denmark, Colombia and the runners-up of the CONCACAF qualifiers.

Group B features Germany, DPR Korea and the third-placed CONCACAF qualifier as well as the African qualifying runners-up.

Group D consists of Brazil, England, Korea Republic and the African qualifying winners.

The top two finishers will advance to the quarterfinals on November 8 in Wellington and November 9 in Hamilton. The semifinals will take place on November 13 in Christchurch, and the final and the third-place playoff will both be staged on November 16 in Auckland.

The CONCACAF qualifiers will be decided July 17-26 in Trinidad and Tobago, while the African qualifiers will be determined in early July through home-and-away qualifying matches involving Nigeria, Cameroon and Ghana.

Draw:
Group A – New Zealand, CONCACAF runners-up, Denmark, Colombia
Group B – CONCACAF third-placed finishers, Germany, DPR Korea, African runners-up
Group C – Japan, CONCACAF winners, France, Paraguay
Group D – Brazil, England, Korea Republic, African winners