Here we come! Young Ferns qualify for 2027 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup

New Zealand have qualified for next year’s FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco after beating Papua New Guinea 3-0 in Honiara.

The win, in the semi-finals of the OFC U-16 Women’s Championship, ensures New Zealand will be one of Oceania’s two representatives at the 2027 global tournament. It will be New Zealand’s 11th consecutive appearance at the U-16 World Cup.

The second qualifying spot at the World Cup will go to either New Caledonia or Fiji, due to meet in Wednesday’s second semi-final.

Reaching the OFC final also means New Zealand are one win away from an eighth OFC U-16 Women’s Championship title.

In Wednesday’s semi-final, the Young Football Ferns cruised past Papua New Guinea.

It took New Zealand 27 minutes to find the opening goal, though, the longest they’ve ever had to wait for a goal in a semi-final in OFC U-16 Women’s Championship history.

Mila Clark got the breakthrough, nodding the ball past goalkeeper Roselyn Joses at the back post, following a corner delivery off the left flank from Saunders.

Called into the championship as a late replacement, Papua New Guinea’s return to the last four in 2026 drove them on, and they fought tooth and nail to frustrate New Zealand for as long as they could.

The second goal came in the 62nd minute, with Madeleine Dwyer scoring her second of the tournament after Joses failed to hold out her left-footed effort.

Substitute Ruby Barber then rounded out the win for the Young Football Ferns in the 77th minute, picking out the bottom-left corner after being left unmarked from a Saunders delivery into the box from the right.

Barber and Saunders both had further opportunities to add to the lead in the closing stages, but could only strike the woodwork.

Main photo: New Zealand … heading to a World Cup. Photo credit: OFC Media / DJ Mills / Phototek.

Acknowledgement

We thank OFC Media for providing information for this story.

Results

Games played on Wednesday September 16, 2026

Semi-final 1

New Zealand 3 (Mila Clark 27′, Madeleine Dwyeer 62′, Ruby Barber 77′)
Papua New Guinea 0

Semi-final 2

New Caledonia
Fiji
*Result to come, kick-off 8pm (NZT)

Fixtures

Games to be played on Thursday September 17, 2026

Play-off for 7th place

Cook Islands v Tonga
National Stadium, Honiara, Solomon Islands, 5pm (NZT)

Play-off for 5th place

Solomon Islands v Samoa
National Stadium, Honiara, Solomon Islands, 8pm (NZT)

Games to be played on Saturday September 19, 2026

Play-off for 3rd place

Papua New Guinea 1 v losers semi-final 2
National Stadium, Honiara, Solomon Islands, 5pm (NZT)

New Zealand v winners semi-final 2
National Stadium, Honiara, Solomon Islands, 8pm (NZT)

This story was first published on September 16, 2026.

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