FIFA has announced the official details for the draw of the 2026 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, which will be hosted in Morocco between 17 October and 7 November.
The draw is scheduled to take place at FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, on Thursday, 21 May, with the participating nations divided into four pots ahead of the group-stage allocation.
This will be the second consecutive edition of the expanded 24-team tournament to be staged in Morocco following the 2025 competition, which ended with North Korea women’s national under-17 football team winning the title for the fourth time in its history.
North Korea remain the most successful side in the history of the competition, despite the tournament itself only beginning in 2008.
FIFA has also confirmed that Morocco will continue hosting the tournament through to the 2029 edition as part of a long-term agreement covering five consecutive championships from 2025 onwards.
Morocco Placed in Pot One
As hosts, Morocco women’s national under-17 football team have automatically been placed in Pot One for the draw. They are joined by some of the strongest nations in youth women’s football, including Spain women’s national under-17 football team, North Korea, Japan women’s national under-17 football team, United States women’s national under-17 football team and Canada women’s national under-17 football team.
FIFA said the placement of teams into the various pots was determined using results from the previous five editions of the tournament, with more recent performances carrying greater weight in the rankings.
The full draw pots are as follows:
Pot One
- Morocco
- Spain
- North Korea
- Japan
- United States
- Canada
Pot Two
- Brazil women’s national under-17 football team
- Mexico women’s national under-17 football team
- CAF representative
- Germany women’s national under-17 football team
- France women’s national under-17 football team
- China women’s national under-17 football team
Pot Three
- New Zealand women’s national under-17 football team
- CAF representative
- Poland women’s national under-17 football team
- CAF representative
- CAF representative
- Chile women’s national under-17 football team
Pot Four
- Venezuela women’s national under-17 football team
- Norway women’s national under-17 football team
- Samoa women’s national under-17 football team
- Australia women’s national under-17 football team
- Puerto Rico women’s national under-17 football team
- Argentina women’s national under-17 football team.
Morocco to Be Sole Arab Representative
Morocco are guaranteed to be the only Arab nation participating in the tournament after Arab teams from Asia failed to qualify.
The African qualifying competition is also continuing, with no Arab side managing to progress to the decisive second qualifying round scheduled to take place between 22 and 31 May.
The tournament will once again feature 24 teams divided into six groups of four, with FIFA applying its standard principle of avoiding, where possible, placing two teams from the same confederation in one group.
The official match schedule, including venues and kick-off times, is expected to be announced following completion of the draw in Zurich.
