CommBank Young Matildas Extended Squad Named Ahead of FIFA U20 Women's World Cup 2022

Head Coach Leah Blayney has today named an extended squad, including shadow players, chockful of Australia's leading emerging female footballers, as the CommBank Young Matildas commence final preparations ahead of the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup Costa Rica 2022™.

23 players will travel to Mexico this Wednesday, 20 July, to participate in a 10-day pre-tournament camp which will include a closed-door match against Mexico's U20 Women's National Team on 26 July, with a further nine shadow players to continue training with their respective clubs.

The final 21 players that will represent Australia at the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup Costa Rica 2022™ will be chosen in late July and then travel to Costa Rica on Monday, 1 August, where they will continue their preparations, including a further closed-door match against Colombia's U20 side ahead of the tournament.

"I'm really excited with the players the coaching staff have selected in this extended squad, as they are not only highly talented footballers but quality people," Blayney, whose CommBank Young Matildas Assistant Coach is the experienced Rado Vidošić, current Head Coach of Liberty A-League Women's side, Melbourne City, said.

"While twenty-three players will initially travel to Mexico for a pre-tournament camp, it doesn't mean those named as shadow players won't be considered for selection in the final squad for the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup.

"Due to strong competition for spots amongst the group, it will be a real challenge to select the final twenty-one, but by intent, the squad will likely be the youngest at this year's tournament.

"With significant interruptions caused by the pandemic impacting our pathway, by design, we want to fast-track the development of our best-emerging footballers on the international stage, and this tournament presents the perfect opportunity to meet that objective, as we have one eye on the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2027," Blayney explained.

Australia's place at the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup Costa Rica 2022™ was confirmed by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in March of this year after DPR Korea withdrew from the global tournament.

With the CommBank Young Matildas finishing fourth at the AFC U19 Women's Championship Thailand 2019, it meant Australia replaced DPR Korea as one of the AFC's representatives at this event's FIFA U20 Women's World Cup.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and with Australia's borders closed, Football Australia's national youth teams were in hibernation for over two years and were stood up again in March 2022.

Of the 23 players travelling to Mexico this week, sixteen were members of Australia's U23 Representative team that recently participated in the AFF Women's Championship 2022 in the Philippines, providing much-welcomed international and tournament exposure ahead of the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup Costa Rica 2022™.

"Because of the pandemic, our national youth teams have been starved of international competition over recent years when compared to the rest of the world," Blayney said. "It was a deliberate move by Football Australia to send an Under 23 representative team to the AFF Women's Championship, to provide important training time and match minutes for a large number of footballers we had earmarked for the World Cup honours in Costa Rica."

Blayney was Assistant Coach of the Australian U23 Representative team in the Philippines.

"We have an exciting group of footballers coming through in both the CommBank Young and Junior Matildas' ranks, and while we will have played a lot less football at both a domestic and international level than those we will face in Costa Rica, I'm confident that the final twenty-one we select will match or eclipse any team for desire and competitive spirit, plus deliver performances that Australian fans will be proud of," Blayney concluded.

Running from 10 to 28 August 2022, the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup 2022™ features 16 nations drawn into four groups of four teams. The top two finishers in each group will advance to the knockout stages, commencing on 20 August 2022.

The CommBank Young Matildas are drawn in Group A, which will see them face host nation Costa Rica to open the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup Costa Rica 2022™ at the Estadio Nacional, San Jose on 10 August 2022, following by group matches against South American champions Brazil (13 August) and UEFA's Spain (16 August).

All of Australia's matches for the tournament will be shown live, free and in HD on SBS and SBS On Demand with a full studio broadcast.

COMMBANK YOUNG MATILDAS | EXTENDED SQUAD | FIFA U20 WOMEN'S WORLD CUP COSTA RICA 2022™

Shadow Players

COMMBANK YOUNG MATILDAS | MATCH SCHEDULE | GROUP A

Costa Rica v Australia

Date: Wednesday, 10 August 2022 (local)/ Thursday, 11 August 2022

Venue: Estadio Nacional, San Jose

Kick-Off: 8:00 pm CST (local)/ 12:00pm AEST

Broadcast: SBS Australia

Brazil v Australia

Date: Saturday, 13 August 2022 (local)/ Sunday, 14 August 2022

Venue: Morera Soto, Alajuela

Kick-Off: 2:00 pm CST (local)/ 6:00am AEST

Broadcast: SBS Australia

Australia v Spain

Date: Tuesday, 16 August 2022 (local)/ Wednesday, 17 August 2022

Venue: Morera Soto, Alajuela

Kick-Off: 8:00 pm CST (local)/ 12:00pm AEST

Broadcast: SBS Australia