The FIFA Council has decided on new dates for the postponed u17 and u20 Women’s World Cup, previously planned for 2020 before the Covid-19 pandemic stopped all football.

The u-0 tournament will be played in Costa Rica and Panama from 20 January to 6 February 2021.

The eligibility criteria will not change and the tournament is open to players born after the 01 Jan 2000 but before 31 December 2004.

Arsenal’s Silvana Flores should be involved with Mexico and will probably be the only Arsenal players involved as England and Portugal did not make the final tournament.

The following countries have qualified so far:

Hosts (2): Costa Rica & Panama
UEFA (4): Spain, Germany, France, Netherlands
AFC (3): North Korea, South Korea, Japan
OFC (1): New Zealand
CONCACAF (2): USA, Mexico
CONMEBOL: 2
CAF: 2

The u17 tournament will take place in India from 17 February to 7 March 2021.

The eligibility criteria will also not change and the tournament is open to players born after the 01 Jan 2003 but before 31 December 2005.

Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Kolkata and Navi Mumbai were confirmed by FIFA as the five host cities for the tournament.

The following countries have qualified for the tournament so far:

Host India (AFC)
AFC (2):Japan, Korea DPR
CAF: 3
CONCACAF: 3
CONMEBOL: 3
OFC: 1
UEFA: 3

The England u17 team, led by Lydia Bedford, is set to play their Elite Round against Wales, Slovakia and France at St George’s Park at a date to be defined by UEFA.

They need to win the group to qualify for the finals which will be played in Sweden.

The top three teams from the finals will qualify for the Women’s World Cup in India.