The 2024 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup (Spanish: Copa Mundial Femenina Sub-17 de la FIFA República Dominicana 2024) was the 8th edition of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, the biennial international women's youth football championship contested by the under-17 national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It was hosted by the Dominican Republic, the first FIFA tournament hosted by the country.[1] This was the final edition to feature 16 teams before expanding to 24 teams in 2025.[2] It was also the final edition to be held biannually.
Spain were the two-time defending champions. They were beaten in the final by North Korea on penalties.
Host selection
Dominican Republic was announced as the 2024 Women's U-17 World Cup hosts following the FIFA Council meeting on 23 June 2023 in Zürich, Switzerland.[1]
Qualified teams
A total of 16 teams qualified for the final tournament. In addition to Dominican Republic who qualified automatically as hosts, the other 15 teams qualified from six separate continental competitions.
The official draw took place on 22 June 2024 at the Monument to Fray Anton de Montesinos in Santo Domingo.[4] The teams were allocated based on their performances in the five previous U-17 Women's World Cups, five bonus points added to the qualifying tournament winners (for this cycle).[5]
The hosts team, Dominican Republic, was automatically seeded and assigned to position A1. Teams of the same confederation were drawn so as to not meet in the group stage.
Players born between 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2009 were eligible to compete in the tournament.
Match officials
A total of 12 referees, 24 assistant referees and 2 support referees were appointed officially by FIFA for the tournament on 16 August 2024.[6]
The Football Video Support (FVS) system was utilized for the first time in a FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.[7]
Originally, Milagros Arruela (Peru) was selected for the tournament, but she was later replaced by Bolivia's Alejandra Quisbert. Olatz Rivera [es] (Spain) was originally only assigned as support referee. However, she was assigned as principal referee during the tournament.
In the knockout stage, if a match was level at the end of normal playing time, no extra time was played and a penalty shoot-out was held to determine the winner.[9]
On September 25th, the release of the song En la isla ("On the Island") sung by Manny Cruz who also performed the official song of the 2026 Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo. The genere is "half-merengue-half-pop". The combination of merengue and pop represents the passion for football and the Caribbean rhythms of the host country. The song is produced by Daniel Santacruz, Elizabeth Mena and the artist himself, and is produced by Antonio González. It was heard over and over again in the stadiums of Santo Domingo and Santiago de los Caballeros, the two host cities. It also served as the background for the official music video, directed by Freddy Vargas and Óscar Nolasco, which features players from the U-17 teams that will participate in the competition, specially Taní, the event's mascot, who makes a special appearance.
Mascot
Later, the mascot was revealed in both cities. Her name is Taní and she is a Bayahibe flower (Leuenbergeria quisqueyana). The mascot's name refers to the Taíno people, indigenous to the Caribbean island, and is combined with another name, "Ana," which in their language means "flower." This unique character represents the country's exuberant natural beauty. It is also intended to evoke the emerging natural talent and spirit of the players and the friendship and rights of girls of every age. She was presented several times in the tournament stadiums.
