Host country Costa Rica Venue(s) 4 (in 4 host cities) Runners-up Spain | Dates 15 March–4 April Champions Japan (1st title) | |
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Teams 16 (from 6 confederations) | ||
The 2014 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup was the fourth edition of the youth association football tournament for women under the age of 17. The final tournament was hosted in Costa Rica.
Contents
- Host selection
- Mascot
- Qualified teams
- Venues
- Match officials
- Squads
- Final draw
- Group stage
- Knockout stage
- Awards
- Goalscorers
- References
The competition was played from 15 March to 4 April 2014. Japan beat Spain in the final 2–0, the same score the same match ended in the group stage. Japan emerged as the fourth different champion in four editions.
The opening match of the tournament set a new tournament record with 34,453 spectators. In total 284,320 supporters attended matches averaging 8,885 per match beating the 2012 record.
Host selection
On 3 March 2011, FIFA announced that the tournament would be held in Costa Rica. There were six official bids.
Hosting rights were then stripped on 28 February 2013 due to problems in stadium construction. After receiving guarantees from both CONCACAF and the Costa Rican government, they were re-instated as hosts at an executive committee meeting in Zurich on March 21, 2013. The final was originally scheduled on 5 April, but was brought forward one day due to government elections.
Mascot
The official mascot of the 2014 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup was Juna, a Blue Morpho butterfly. The name “Juna” means “to fly” in the Cabécar language.
Qualified teams
The slot allocation was approved by the FIFA Executive Committee in May 2012. The Oceania Football Confederation qualifying tournament was scheduled for January 2014, FIFA however decided that it would be hosted too late then. Eventually FIFA and OFC in agreement with all member nations agreed to award the confederation spot to New Zealand. Just as New Zealand, Nigeria qualified without playing a match because two opponents withdrew their respective qualifying games. Defending champions France did not qualify.
In total 103 nations took part in the qualifying, three less than for the 2012 World Cup.
1.^ Teams that made their debut.Venues
Four stadiums are to be used across Costa Rica.
Match officials
A total of 14 referees, 4 reserve referees, and 28 assistant referees were appointed by FIFA for the tournament.
Squads
Each team must name a squad of 21 players (three of whom must be goalkeepers) by the FIFA deadline. The squads were announced on 6 March 2014.
Final draw
The group stage draw was held on 17 December 2013 in Pueblo Antiguo. Confederation champions Germany, Japan and Mexico were put in Pot 1 alongside the hosts Costa Rica, who were automatically assigned to Position A1. The draw then made sure no teams of the same confederation could meet in the group stage.
Group stage
The winners and runners-up of each group advance to the quarter-finals. The rankings of teams in each group are determined as follows:
- points obtained in all group matches;
- goal difference in all group matches;
- number of goals scored in all group matches;
If two or more teams are equal on the basis of the above three criteria, their rankings are determined as follows:
- points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned;
- goal difference in the group matches between the teams concerned;
- number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned;
- drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee.
All times are local, Central Standard Time (UTC−6).
Knockout stage
In the knockout stages, if a match is level at the end of normal playing time, the match is determined by a penalty shoot-out (no extra time is played).
Awards
The following awards were given for the tournament: