Beijing Olympic Games

Updated: 2007-11-14

Forty became 16 in Europe over the weekend as the likes of Iceland, Finland, Scotland and Switzerland joined some more traditional women’s giants in the second round of the inaugural UEFA Women’s U-17 Championship.

Italy and Spain, on the other hand, numbered among the tournament’s more high-profile early casualties as some early contenders emerged for FIFA’s newest tournament: the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. The road to New Zealand began for the European hopefuls at the start of September, with ten groups of four battling it out for a place in the 11 December draw for the decisive second stage next April.

Germany, predictably, led the way, emerging from Group 9 with an unblemished record that showed thumping 8-0, 10-0 and 6-1 wins respectively over Israel, Bulgaria and, perhaps most surprisingly, Norway. The Norwegians still managed to scrape through as one of the six best-placed runners-up, but the emphatic manner of their defeat to the Germans will have been of considerable concern, with victorious coach Ralph Peters observing: “We were clearly superior from start to finish.”

Forwards Alexandra Popp and Jennifer Marozsan emerged as goalscoring heroines for Peters’ side, but the biggest goal rush came in Group 5, where France and Denmark made exceptionally light work of FYR Macedonia and Armenia. The French took 27 goals from the section’s also-rans, the Danes 28, with the decisive meeting between the top two ending in a 4-0 win for Les Bleuettes.

The situation was considerably tighter in Group 5, where three points stood between the formidable top trio of Czech Republic, Spain and Italy. In the end, a battling 3-2 win for the Czechs all but put paid to Italian dreams of winning the pool, and hopes that they might sneak through as one of the best-placed runners-up were ended by a 1-1 draw against Spain that also served to seal the fate of their opponents.

There were no such problems for old rivals Scotland and England, both of whom emerged from difficult sections with maximum points. The prevailing strength of the Nordic nations in women’s football was also underlined when Iceland and Finland both took three wins from three to top their respective groups, seeing off the likes of Belgium, Ukraine and Slovenia along the way.

Sweden made similarly light work of claiming top spot in Group 6, while the remaining sections were won by Switzerland and Netherlands. These ten group winners will now take their places along with Poland, Belgium, Denmark, Republic of Ireland, Norway and Russia in next month’s Nyon-held draw for the tournament’s second qualifying round in April.

With four places at New Zealand 2008 up for grabs, the teams will be divided into four groups of four, with only the section winners going on to do battle at the first-ever FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.

UEFA Women’s U-17 Championship, qualified teams

Group 1: Switzerland

Group 2: Netherlands, Poland*

Group 3: Finland, Belgium*

Group 4: Iceland

Group 5: France, Denmark*

Group 6: Sweden, Republic of Ireland*

Group 7: Czech Republic

Group 8: Scotland

Group 9: Germany, Norway*

Group 10: England, Russia*

* Best runners-up

(Credit: FIFA. Click here for further information.)