On Sunday, the 2024 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup came to a close with the Third-Place Match and Final both being played on the same day. In the earlier match, the USA blanked England via a 3-nil scoreline that could have easily been more lopsided against the Young Lionesses.
Meanwhile, in the final, Spain looked to have the advantage over Korea DPR, at least in the first half. Spain briefly went ahead in the second half, but Korea DPR equalized a few minutes later. With the score level at the end of regulation, the match went straight to penalties, and Korea DPR prevailed 4:3.
As their Under-20 counterparts did in September, the Under-17 United States Women’s Youth National Team took home bronze medals. Two USA players also received individual tournament awards: Evan O’Steen was given the Golden Glove as the best goalkeeper, and Kennedy Fuller earned the Silver Boot as one of the top goalscorers.
Korea DPR won their third FIFA U-17 WWC title, after previously winning the inaugural edition in 2008 and again in 2016. This is also the second time that Korea DPR has won both the U-17 WWC and U-20 WWC in the same year, having previously done that feat in 2016, and was prevented from doing so in 2008 by the USA. Only one other country, Spain in 2022 has also won both FIFA women’s youth tournaments in the same year.
Third-Place Match: USA 3, England 0
USA goals: Kennedy Fuller (24′), Ainsley McCammon (72′), Maddie Padelski (90’+2)
From the start of the match, the USA created more threatening opportunities, and, with different luck, could have put away a few more goals beyond the three that they did score.
After some early chances, it took a somewhat flukey sequence for the Americans to get their breakthrough. After a throw-in, Katie Scott received the ball back and then sent a looping pass beyond England’s defensive line. Kennedy Fuller collected the ball in the box and after a touch, sent a low left-footed toward the back corner of the net. England ‘keeper Hope McSheffrey’s two-hand save rebounded into the area of Kimmi Ascanio and Mel Barcenas, with Ascanio powering a shot that rattled the crossbar. Barcenas headed the ball over toward Fuller, who then sent a low header beyond the reach of McSheffrey.
The USA’s second goal began with a long cross from Kiara Gilmore to Jaiden Rodriguez that broke England’s defensive line. Rodriguez headed the ball ahead of herself, then dribbled the ball to the endline before sending a diagonal pass toward the “D”. Kennedy Fuller stuck her foot out and claimed the ball, then sent a light pass into the path on an onrushing Ainsley McCammon, who sent a hard low shot that McSheppfrey was unable to completely save.
For the USA’s final score, goalkeeper Evan O’Steen got a rare assist by punting the ball from the top of her box to just beyond the center circle. Maddie Padelski ran onto the bouncing ball and dribbled into England’s box, starting at the left corner, diagonally dribbled and sent a low shot just to the right of substitute goalkeeper Rebekah Dowsett.
With her goal and assist in this match, Fuller finished the tournament with four goals and three assists.
Additional Links: FIFA Match Page, FIFA Highlights
Final: Korea DPR 1, Spain 1 (PSO 4:3)
Korea DPR goal: Jon Il Chong (66′)
Spain goal: Celia Segura (61′)
Korea DPR’s equalizer crossed the line at 63:34, but was not credited until 65:27 following a factual review by the fourth official under the Football Video Support protocol. Spain then challenged the call. The referee reviewed both a potential foul that happened during the turnover that eventually led to the goal as well as the onside decision.
For the penalty shootouts, both goalkeepers had one save, but Spain missed one kick, when Pau Comendador over-rotated on a hard rolling shot to the left corner of the goal that hit the outside of the goalpost and deflected away.
As in their semifinal against the USA, Korea DPR had significantly less possession, both in terms of time and passing. For this match, Spain dominated time of possession, 64% to 36%, and had almost twice as many passing attempts, 431 to 222, while completing 350 (81%), compared to just 135 completed passes (61%) for Korea DPR.
Additional Links: FIFA Match Page, FIFA Highlights
Individual Awards
Best Overall Players:
- Golden Ball: Jon Il Chong (Korea DPR)
- Silver Ball: Pau Comendador (Spain)
- Bronze Ball: Celia Segura (Spain)
Best Goalkeeper: Evan O’Steen (USA)
O’Steen only had one goal against in her five matches (Korea DPR semifinal) and had a rare goalkeeper assist on the USA’s final goal in the Third-Place Match.
Top Goalscorers:
- Pau Comendador (Spain)
- Kennedy Fuller (USA)
- Celia Segura (Spain)
Kennedy Fuller, Celia Segura, Shakirat Moshood (Nigeria), and Choe Rim Jong (Korea DPR) all finished the tournament with four goals, but Fuller had the most assists, which is the first tiebreaker (FIFA.com).
Women's Soccer Express 