New Zealand women's national under-17 football team

The New Zealand women's Under-17 Football Team, informally known as the 'Young Football Ferns', is the representative team for New Zealand in international Under-17 association football tournaments. The Young Football Ferns were the host team for the 2008 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.

New Zealand Women's U-17

Nickname(s)	Young Football Ferns
Association	New Zealand Football
Confederation	OFC (Oceania)
Head coach	Leon Birnie
Captain	TBD
FIFA code	NZL
First colours Second colours
First international
Australia 4–0 New Zealand  (Auckland, New Zealand; 8 December 2007)[1]
Biggest win
Vanuatu 0–27 New Zealand  (Pirae, Tahiti; 20 September 2023)
Biggest defeat
New Zealand 0–6 Japan  (Scarborough, Trinidad and Tobago; 13 September 2010)
OFC U-17 Women's Championship
Appearances	6 (first in 2010)
Best result	Champions (2010, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2023, 2024)
FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup
Appearances	8 (first in 2008)
Best result	Third place (2018)

The Young Football Ferns compete in the OFC U-17 Women's Championship, the bi-annual confederation championship to decide who represents Oceania Football Confederation at the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. The inaugural tournament was held in 2010.

FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup Finals history

Legend

  Win   Draw   Lose

2008

New Zealand  v  Canada

28 October 2008	New Zealand	0–1	Canada	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
19:00		Report	Lamarre 53'	Attendance: 13,123 Referee: Kirsi Savolainen

New Zealand  v  Denmark

1 November 2008	New Zealand	1–2	Denmark	North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
16:00	Longo 13'	Report	Andreasen 29' Olsen 56'	Attendance: 11,170 Referee: Silvia Reyes

Colombia  v  New Zealand

4 November 2008	Colombia	1–3	New Zealand	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
19:00	Ariza 82'	Report	White 44', 81', 87'	Attendance: 3,546 Referee: Etsuko Fukano

2010

New Zealand  v  Venezuela

6 September 2010	New Zealand	1–2	Venezuela	Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva
19:00	Loye 10'	Report	Viso 24', 67'	Attendance: 1,364 Referee: Thalia Mitsi (Greece)

New Zealand  v  Spain

9 September 2010	New Zealand	1–3	Spain	Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva
16:00	Loye 15'	Report	Gili 4' Merida 48' Lazaro 86'	Attendance: 1,785 Referee: Cha Sung Mi (Korea Republic)

Japan  v  New Zealand

13 September 2010	Japan	6–0	New Zealand	Dwight Yorke Stadium, Scarborough
16:00	Yokoyama 24', 58' Y. Tanaka 59', 89' M. Tanaka 74' Honda 90+1'	Report		Attendance: 2,140 Referee: Kirsi Heikkinen (Finland)

2012

Mexico  v  New Zealand

23 September 2012	Mexico	1–0	New Zealand	Bayil Stadium, Baku
15:00	Pérez 36'	Report		Attendance: 1,900 Referee: Jana Adámková (Czech Republic)

New Zealand  v  Japan

26 September 2012	New Zealand	0–3	Japan	Eighth Kilometer District Stadium, Baku
20:00		Report	Hasegawa 60', 78' Sumida 90+3' (pen.)	Attendance: 7,000 Referee: Cardella Samuels (Jamaica)

New Zealand  v  Brazil

30 September 2012	New Zealand	3–4	Brazil	Eighth Kilometer District Stadium, Baku
14:00	Jensen 4' Clara 45+1' (o.g.) Puketapu 77'	Report	Byanca 10' Brena 26' Andressa 35' (pen.) Camila 55'	Attendance: 8,857 Referee: Ri Hyang-Ok (North Korea)

2014

New Zealand  v  Paraguay

16 March 2014	New Zealand	1–1	Paraguay	Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá, Tibas
11:00	Cleverley 69'	Report	Barrios 84'	Attendance: 2,250 Referee: Pannipar Kamnueng (Thailand)

New Zealand  v  Spain

19 March 2014	New Zealand	0–3	Spain	Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá, Tibas
17:00		Report	Hernández 3' Garrote 34' García 67'	Attendance: 2,364 Referee: Aissata Amegee (Togo)

Japan  v  New Zealand

23 March 2014	Japan	3–0	New Zealand	Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica, San José
17:00	Hasegawa 20' Kobayashi 71' (pen.) Matsubara 90+3'	Report		Attendance: 5,100 Referee: Ana Marques (Brazil)

2016

Mexico  v  New Zealand

30 September 2016	Mexico	5–0	New Zealand	Amman International Stadium, Amman
17:00	Espinosa 18' Ovalle 36' Lopez 68' Avalos 81' Torres 87'	Report		Attendance: 7,635 Referee: Yeimy Martinez (Colombia)

Spain  v  New Zealand

3 October 2016	Spain	2–0	New Zealand	Al-Hassan Stadium, Irbid
16:00	Laia 80' Pina 85'	Report		Attendance: 698 Referee: Park Ji-Yeong (South Korea)

New Zealand  v  Jordan

7 October 2016	New Zealand	5–0	Jordan	Prince Mohammed Stadium, Zarqa
16:00	Tawharu 5', 90' Blake 28', 76', 90+2'	Report		Attendance: 4,493 Referee: Aissata Amegee (Togo)

2018

New Zealand  v  Finland

13 November 2018 (2018-11-13)	New Zealand	1–0	Finland	Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo
16:00	Brown 41'	Report		Attendance: 1,385 Referee: Yoshimi Yamashita (Japan)

Uruguay  v  New Zealand

16 November 2018 (2018-11-16)	Uruguay	1–2	New Zealand	Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo
19:00	Aquino 8'	Report	Wisnewski 26' Brown 36'	Attendance: 4,619 Referee: Salima Mukansanga (Rwanda)

Ghana  v  New Zealand

20 November 2018 (2018-11-20)	Ghana	2–0	New Zealand	Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo
17:00	Abdulai 61', 89'	Report		Attendance: 359 Referee: Sara Persson (Sweden)

Japan  v  New Zealand

24 November 2018 (2018-11-24)	Japan	1–1 (3–4 p)	New Zealand	Estadio Profesor Alberto Suppici, Colonia del Sacramento
17:00	Mackay-Wright 31' (o.g.)	Report	Abbott 17'	Attendance: 477 Referee: Ekaterina Koroleva (United States)
	Penalties
	Matsuda Kinoshita Tomioka Kamiya Yoshizumi		Hahn Wisnewski Brown Stewart Leat

New Zealand  v  Spain

28 November 2018 (2018-11-28)	New Zealand	0–2	Spain	Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo
16:00		Report	Pina 39' I. López 48'	Attendance: 369 Referee: Yoshimi Yamashita (Japan)

New Zealand  v  Canada

1 December 2018 (2018-12-01)	New Zealand	2–1	Canada	Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo
16:00	Wisnewski 1', 13'	Report	Kazandjian 64'	Referee: Riem Hussein (Germany)

2022

Chile  v  New Zealand

11 October 2022 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup GS	Chile	3–1	New Zealand	Margao, India
16:30	A. Figueroa 12' Rovner 22' (pen.) Cifuentes 64'	Report (FIFA)	Clegg 52'	Stadium: Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 4,064 Referee: Rebecca Welch (England)

New Zealand  v  Nigeria

14 October 2022 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup GS	New Zealand	0–4	Nigeria	Margao, India
16:30 UTC+5:30		Report (FIFA)	Bello 16' Usani 34' Afolabi 75' Etim 90+5'	Stadium: Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 2,191 Referee: Pansa Chaisanit (Thailand)

New Zealand  v  Germany

17 October 2022 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup GS	New Zealand	1–3	Germany	Margao, India
16:30 UTC+5:30	Clegg 10'	Report (FIFA)	Bender 5', 54' Şehitler 60' (pen.)	Stadium: Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 1,945 Referee: Bouchra Karboubi (Morocco)

Players

Current squad

Squad for the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.^[2]

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Club
1	1GK	Aimee Feinberg-Danieli	(2005-02-11)11 February 2005 (aged 19)	Auckland United FC
18	1GK	Madeleine Iro	(2005-10-24)24 October 2005 (aged 18)	Cashmere Technical
21	1GK	Sophie Campbell	(2007-02-23)23 February 2007 (aged 17)	New Plymouth Rangers
2	2DF	Suya Hearing	(2005-07-03)3 July 2005 (aged 19)	Northern Rovers
3	2DF	Ella McMillan	(2005-03-20)20 March 2005 (aged 19)	Wellington Phoenix FC
4	2DF	Marie Green	(2005-01-12)12 January 2005 (aged 19)	Ellerslie AFC
5	2DF	Manaia Elliott	(2005-04-21)21 April 2005 (aged 19)	Melville United AFC
16	2DF	Rebekah Trewhitt	(2005-12-13)13 December 2005 (aged 18)	Palmerston North Marist FC
17	2DF	Lara Smith	(2006-03-18)18 March 2006 (aged 18)	Wellington United
6	3MF	Charlotte Mortlock	(2006-03-09)9 March 2006 (aged 18)	Cashmere Technical
8	3MF	Helena Errington	(2005-07-31)31 July 2005 (aged 19)	Western Suburbs FC
10	3MF	Olivia Ingham	(2005-11-09)9 November 2005 (aged 18)	Wellington Phoenix FC
11	3MF	Kiara Bercelli	(2005-02-23)23 February 2005 (aged 19)	Alamein FC
13	3MF	Lara Colpi	(2005-05-05)5 May 2005 (aged 19)	Western Springs AFC
14	3MF	Olivia Page	(2005-05-05)5 May 2005 (aged 19)	Eastern Suburbs AFC
15	3MF	Ella McCann	(2005-03-25)25 March 2005 (aged 19)	FC Nelson
19	3MF	Zoe Benson	(2006-08-14)14 August 2006 (aged 18)	Eastern Suburbs AFC
20	3MF	Megan Simpson	(2006-09-01)1 September 2006 (aged 18)	Nomads United
7	4FW	Ruby Nathan	(2005-10-11)11 October 2005 (aged 19)	Auckland United FC
9	4FW	Milly Clegg	(2005-11-01)1 November 2005 (aged 18)	Wellington Phoenix
12	4FW	Alexis Cook	(2005-07-01)1 July 2005 (aged 19)	Northern Rovers

Competitive record

FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup

FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup
Year	Host	Round	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad
2008	New Zealand	Group Stage	3	1	0	2	4	4	Squad
2010	Trinidad and Tobago		3	0	0	3	2	11	Squad
2012	Azerbaijan		3	0	0	3	3	8	Squad
2014	Costa Rica		3	0	1	2	1	7	Squad
2016	Jordan		3	1	0	2	5	7	Squad
2018	Uruguay	Third place	6	3	1	2	6	7	Squad
2022	India	Group Stage	3	0	0	3	2	10	Squad
2024	Dominican Republic		3	0	1	2	2	9	Squad
2025	Morocco
Total		Third place	27	5	3	19	25	63	–

OFC U-17 Women's Championship

The OFC Under 17 Women's Championship is a tournament held once every two years to decide the only two qualification spots for the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and its representatives at the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. Since 2017 it has been renamed as the OFC U-16 Women's Championship and held in the year preceding the U-17 World Cup.^[3]

OFC U-17 Women's Championship
Year	Round	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
2010	Champions	3	3	0	0	37	0
2012	Champions	3	3	0	0	29	1
2016	Champions	5	5	0	0	55	0
OFC U-16 Women's Championship
Year	Round	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
2017	Champions	5	5	0	0	47	1
2023	Champions	5	5	0	0	51	1
2024	Champions	5	5	0	0	26	0
2025	To be determined
Total	6 titles	26	26	0	0	245	3