Singapore to host AFC U-17 Women’s Asian Cup 2024 Qualifiers, 4 players to make international debut

Singapore is set to host the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-17 Asian Cup Qualifiers, announced the Football Association Singapore (FAS) last Wednesday (Apr 20). 

The Young Lionesses have been drawn into Group D, where they will first face Turkmenistan on Apr 28 before playing against Bangladesh on Apr 30 at Jalan Besar Stadium. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has withdrawn from the tournament. 

Head coach Falida Aikaterini has selected a 23-man squad that will play on home soil in the  for the Young Lionesses’ first international competition of the year. 

Four players – Anna Vaswani, Mulan Ayliffe, Nisreen Aziz and Syarifah Nur Amanina – have been called up for the first time. Defender Irsalina Irwan has also been added to the squad, being the only player to have earned three caps for the national senior women’s team.

The girls have been selected based on their performances in last month’s JENSYS 2022 Japan-ASEAN Under-17 Women Football Tournament, where Singapore finished fourth. 

They have also been selected by their respective clubs during last season’s Deloitte Women’s Premier League (WPL) and the Women’s National League (WNL). 

Coach Falida shared that she believes that the team she has selected has the range and capabilities needed to go up against their opponents despite the lack of experience in international football. 

“While the qualifiers may be the team’s first international competitive tournament, I believe the talent and resilience of the girls will shine through even in the face of tough opponents such as Bangladesh and Turkmenistan,” she said. 

The U-17 Asian Cup will see a total of eight teams participating in the competition. This includes the top three teams from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-16 Women’s Championship Thailand back in 2019, which were champions Japan, North Korea and China. 

Ticket sales for all matches of the AFC U-17 Women’s Asian Cup Qualifiers can be purchased via the FAS website.