The FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Dominican Republic 2024™ will mark a turning point in the history of the competition. From 2025, the tournament will be held annually instead of every two years, and the number of countries competing will increase from 16 to 24.

The changes have been welcomed with open arms by the coaches with whom Inside FIFA spoke during the latest tournament that was played on Dominican soil. That goes for those countries who are used to qualifying and playing in every tournament as well as those who find it more difficult to qualify.

Katie Schoepfer, coach of USA, whose side beat England in the play-off for third place, said that from next year the World Cup will be “a great opportunity for more players to gain that all important experience of playing in such a high-profile tournament”.

Schoepfer also had the following to say: “Our goal isn’t necessarily to assemble the best U-17 team in the world. We want to make sure that we’re preparing these girls to come through to our senior team and make an immediate impact when they get called up.

“So I think the more players we can give this World Cup experience to, the more they will know what to expect from playing at these big tournaments and how other countries play and set up. How countries like England, Spain and Korea DPR play. As they get older, they’ll be more courageous and fearless and know exactly what to expect, which will make our programme grow and improve.”

Simone Jatobá, who headed up the Brazil side at the U-17 World Cup for the second time in a row, believes the changes will help the youth development process. “I think it’s great in terms of developing the category. Because U-17 is an age group that needs a lot of work and the girls start to play later than the boys,” she explained.

“Now we have a U-15 category in Brazil, which we only started last year. If girls start playing at U-16 or U-17 level, they miss out on a lot of footballing experience. With this new World Cup format, we will be able to develop more players quicker every year. The players will experience more different, real-life situations and when they get to U-20 level, they’ll be more prepared.”

Aotearoa New Zealand are another regular at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. In fact, they are only one of two countries, along with Japan, to have never failed to qualify. They had their best showing to date in 2018 when they finished third. Alana Gunn, their coach at the World Cup in the Dominican Republic, takes a holistic view of the changes to the tournament.

“It’s interesting because it’s my first year in charge of the side and now we’re already preparing to compete in World Cup qualifiers every year. As a result, we’ve increased the pool of players we’re working with, which also means increasing the number of coaches and backroom staff,” she explained.

“I think we’ll be able to build some really strong, solid foundations, which will ultimately stand us in excellent stead moving forward and going into every World Cup and qualifier. Of course it doubles the workload and burden, but it also doubles the benefit. It’s going to be amazing.”

Gunn also places a lot of emphasis on achieving good results. “World Cups at this age are essential for us because we struggle to get games of this magnitude outside of a FIFA World Cup setting. We have to work extremely hard and not just take it for granted that we’re going to qualify every year. We’re aware how important these tournaments are for the development of our players.”

England, on the other hand, were playing in only their second ever U-17 Women’s World Cup in the Dominican Republic. This did not appear to faze them, however, as they shone throughout the tournament and finished fourth. Their coach, Natalie Henderson, is looking ahead to 2025 and focusing on the overall development of her players.

“I think tournaments like this are incredibly important for the development of our girls, both on and off the pitch. So the more tournaments we can qualify for and compete at, the better it is for them and their development," she said. "Coming up against this kind of opposition is a bonus. For me, it’s a positive change.”

For first-timers Ecuador, who ended up reaching the quarter-final, more World Cups mean more chances to qualify. “The fact that there are 24 teams is very good for us because that means that four countries will qualify from South America, whereas before only three made it through. We need to keep improving and striving to reach these tournaments on a more regular basis,” said their coach, Eduardo Moscoso.

“I think it’s crucial to have more World Cups because it’s the only way to look at what other countries are doing in terms of their tactical approaches to the games, with many countries having different physical and technical game plans. It’s great because there will be more opportunities to compete, and at the same time, there will be more scope for players to receive better training and guidance.”

Mildred Cheche, coach of debutants Kenya, talked about the changes from both a general and specific point of view. “More teams means more chances of qualifying, not just for us but for all African countries. And that will be something positive for the whole region,” she said.

“It will also have a big impact on programmes like Kenya’s because most of the time we tend to focus on the senior national teams. Now we’ll be forced to focus more on the youth leagues, because that’s where we pick most of the players from. School football will also become more important and relevant. That’s why I think it will have a positive effect in the long run.”