Gemma Lewis has named an exciting 21-player Junior Football Ferns squad to take on the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Costa Rica 2022.

Spearheaded by captain Kate Taylor, who won her first senior international caps against Norway and Wales for the Ford Football Ferns last month, the squad also features five-cap Fern Ava Collins, while defender Marisa van der Meer was part of the Tokyo Olympics squad last year.

Eight of the squad were part of the Lewis-coached inaugural Wellington Phoenix A-League Women’s team. Three players – van der Meer, Grace Wisnewski and Macey Fraser – were also part of the bronze medal winning team at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2018.  

Lewis is delighted to be able to draw on this level of experience in the squad, as she targets reaching the quarter finals as one of the team’s objectives – which, in a group containing three-time FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup champions Germany, as well as Colombia and Mexico, is a challenge the team is ready for.

“It’s a tough group, but any group for a world cup is tough,” she acknowledges.

“We want to get a good result: we ultimately want to get out of the group. I guess that’s quite brave of us to say, but we feel if we go into that first game against Mexico and get something out of that game, then we’re going to be in a good position to try and push through and get out of the group.

“It’s a tough turnaround and Germany are going to be an extremely tough team as well as Colombia. So for us, it’s about putting our best foot forwards, it’s about us improving our level of consistency and punishing teams when we do get opportunities to try and get those results. And on our day, we can definitely do that.

The opportunity to play in a world cup is special for any player, but for this group it will be particularly meaningful. The FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2020 and FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2020 were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning that for many in this squad, Costa Rica 2022 will be their first FIFA World Cup. And as Lewis explains, it’s not something the players are taking lightly.

“For these players now they've been waiting for this for a number of years, so it's a huge, huge, opportunity for them,” she says.

“Going into this they kind of have a lot more pride about it, they're a lot more driven and they have a lot more motivation behind it because it’s something that they've experienced being taken away from them. And now they really want to grasp the opportunity and show what they can do.”

New Zealand was nominated as the OFC participant at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Costa Rica 2022 based on historical results in the competition after the 2021 OFC U-19 Women’s Championship was cancelled.  

New Zealand’s best performance in the FIFA U-20 World Cup remains the quarterfinal appearance in Canada in 2014 when the Aaron McFarland-coached side went down to 4-1 to eventual finalists Nigeria.

The Junior Football Ferns will depart for Costa Rica on 29 July.

New Zealand U-20 squad for FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Costa Rica 2022:

Alyssa Whinham; Wellington Phoenix

Aniela Jensen; University of the Pacific

Ava Collins; St John’s University

Ava Pritchard; A-League Off Season Programme

Brianna Edwards; Bankstown City Lions

Charlotte Lancaster; A-League Off Season Programme

Charlotte Wilford-Carroll; A-League Off Season Programme

Ella Findlay; Eastern Suburbs AFC

Emma Pijnenburg; A-League Off Season Programme

Grace Wisnewski; A-League Off Season Programme

Jana Niedermayr; Eastern Suburbs AFC

Kate Taylor; A-League Off Season Programme

Macey Fraser; Wellington Phoenix Academy

Marisa van der Meer; A-League Off Season Programme

Milly Clegg; Auckland United FC

Murphy Sheaff; Jacksonville University

Ruby Nathan; Auckland United FC

Rylee Godbold; A-League Off Season Programme

Te Reremoana Walker; A-League Off Season Programme

Tupelo (Tui) Dugan; Arizona State University

Zoe McMeeken; A-League Off Season Programme

Kate Duncan (Auckland United FC) was set to be part of the squad, but unfortunately had to withdraw due to injury.

Junior Football Ferns Fixtures: FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Costa Rica 2022

V Mexico – Thursday 11 August, 8am NZT / Wednesday 10 August, 2pm local time

V Germany – Sunday 14 August, 5am NZT / Saturday 13 August, 11am local time

V Colombia – Wednesday 17 August, 11am NZT / Tuesday 16 August, 5pm local time

All games will be broadcast live on Sky Sport.

Article added: Monday 25 July 2022