CREDIT: FIFA
Costa Rica is ready to welcome the future stars of women’s football. The country is hosting the 10th FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup™, which will see 32 matches played across 19 days.
Sixteen nations are vying for the title in a competition sure to be illuminated by some breathtaking talents. Three of the contenders have won the trophy before, with the rest all looking to get their hands on it for the first time.
The groups
Group A: Costa Rica, Australia, Spain, Brazil
Group B: Germany, Colombia, New Zealand, Mexico
Group C: France, Nigeria, Canada, Korea Republic
Group D: Japan, Netherlands, Ghana, USA
The dates
Costa Rica 2022 kicks off on Wednesday, 10 August at 11:00 (local time) with the Group B match between Germany and Colombia. The final will be played at the Estadio Nacional, in the capital San Jose, on Sunday, 28 August.
The group phase will run for a week, until 17 August, with four matches each on two consecutive matchdays and a rest day after every second matchday. The quarter-finals will be held on Saturday, 20 and Sunday, 21 August, with the semi-finals taking place on Thursday, 25 August. The third place match will be played on the same day as the final, Sunday, 28 August.
Where to watch Costa Rica 2022
All 32 matches will be streamed live on FIFA+.
The stadiums
Estadio Nacional
Estadio Nacional is the country’s largest stadium and the home of its national teams. Refurbished and reopened in 2011, it is one of the most modern grounds in the Concacaf region. The senior national teams of Argentina, Spain, Brazil, USA and Mexico have all played there, and it was the main venue of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Costa Rica 2014™, when it hosted several games, including the opening match and the final. On this occasion, the stadium will provide the venue for 18 contests, including Las Ticas’ three group matches and the final.
Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto
Known locally as the Cathedral of Football and located 20 kilometres from San Jose, the Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto will stage the remaining 14 matches at Costa Rica 2022: 12 in the group phase and two quarter-finals. The stadium is the home of Alajuelense’s men’s and women’s teams and also hosted matches at Costa Rica 2014. An environmentally sustainable stadium, it is entirely powered by solar energy, making it one of the few in the world to be supplied by renewable energy and the only one of its kind in Concacaf.
The players
While this is the last chance for several players born in 2002 and 2003 to take part in the tournament, a sizeable contingent born in 2004 and 2005 will be on duty. The competition will even feature five players born in 2006: Australia duo Alexia Apostolakis and Daniela Galic, Costa Rica’s Sheika Scott, Alice Soto of Mexico, and Oluchi Ohaegbulem of Nigeria.
Female presence in the dugout
More and more women are taking up positions as national-team coaches. There will be nine of them at Costa Rica 2022, accounting for 56 per cent of the total: Leah Blayney (Australia), Cindy Tye (Canada), Sonia Haziraj (France), Kathrin Peter (Germany), Hwang In-sun (Korea Republic), Ana Galindo (Mexico), Jessica Torny (Netherlands), Gemma Lewis (New Zealand), and Tracey Kevins (USA).
Five FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup facts
Germany and USA share the tournament record of three trophies. Victorious at France 2018, Japan are looking to become the first team to retain the title.
All 16 participants have all played at the U-20 Women’s World Cup before. Brazil, Germany, USA and Nigeria are the only ever-presents and are all making their tenth consecutive appearance in the competition.
All but one of the 16 teams have won an U-20 Women’s World Cup match before. The odd ones out are hosts Costa Rica, who lost all six of the matches they played on their two previous appearances.
Germany have contested four finals, more than any other team, winning three of them. The Germans also hold the competition record for number of matches played (48) and most wins (35).