England’s U17 Women’s Team Prepares for World Cup Semi-Final Against Spain

Following their quarter-final victory against Japan, England is set to compete against Spain on Thursday for a spot in the Women’s Under-17s World Cup final, with live coverage available on the BBC. Natalie Henderson’s team, which previously suffered a 4-0 defeat to Spain in the European U17s final in May, secured their place in the semi-finals by overcoming Japan in a penalty shootout. This marks England’s first appearance at an U17s World Cup finals since 2016, and their campaign in the Dominican Republic has been characterized by fluctuating fortunes. The team demonstrated resilience by recovering with ten players to defeat Mexico in their second group stage fixture, followed by substitute goalkeeper Rebekah Dowsett’s decisive performance in the shootout against Japan. Despite these achievements, Henderson stated that her squad is “not satisfied yet” and aims to advance further against Spain. Speaking to BBC Sport, Henderson remarked, “There is real pride and emotion at the moment. It is a great achievement for the staff and the players to reach a World Cup semi-final.” She added, “When we qualified for the tournament, we wanted to compete to go as far as we could. I feel very proud of the journey we’ve been on so far.” The semi-final match will be broadcast live on BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website, and the BBC Sport app, commencing at 22:45 GMT on Thursday. Head coach Natalie Henderson, who previously worked at Newcastle’s boys’ academy, expressed her hope that her players will “take away memories they will never forget” from the semi-final, while emphasizing that the long-term objective is for them to progress into the senior squad. The previous England Under-17s squad to participate in the World Cup finals featured several players who are now current Lionesses, including Niamh Charles, Alessia Russo, Georgia Stanway, Ella Toone, and Lotte Wubben-Moy. Henderson stated, “We think these tournaments and experiences are crucial for their development.” Henderson further commented, “We want to be in more major tournaments like this and expose players to what it’s like to participate in them from a pressure perspective and also culturally.” She described the matches against Mexico and Japan as “probably the two craziest games of football we’ve ever been involved in,” adding, “They showed the true character of this squad, who we are as a team and how much we believe in each other.” Spain is considered the strong favorite, having decisively defeated England in the Euros final; however, Henderson indicated that her team intends to “show off on the big stage.” She also stated, “A lot of work went into the build-up to the tournament. We have spoken about being united, together, present and enjoying the moments together.” Henderson further articulated the team’s philosophy: “We also want to be ruthless in the way we play football and show off on the big stage. They are the values we have in this team.” She concluded, “We truly believe we can find a way and we have enjoyed riding the challenges together. I know the mindset of the players and they are not satisfied yet. “We want to keep going as far as we possibly can. As long as every member of staff and player can say they gave it their best shot – that is what we want.”