England Name U20 Women's World Cup Squad as FIFA Boycott Storm Subsides
England have named their 21-player squad for the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup in Poland, ending a delay caused by a boycott threat that briefly cast doubt on whether European teams would compete at all. BBC Sport
The tournament runs from 5 to 27 September, with the final in Lodz. England open their campaign against Canada on Saturday 5 September at 17:00 BST, with Brazil and Tanzania completing Group B.
Head coach Lydia Bedford, appointed in March, named her squad after a preparation path that took in fixtures against Canada and Japan in May, a training camp in Portugal, and a bronze-medal finish at a mini-tournament featuring the USA and Colombia in July. She has overseen just four matches in the role. England Football
One name worth watching is Erica Meg Parkinson, the North Carolina Courage midfielder who earned a surprise call-up to the senior England squad back in March. Her inclusion gives Bedford a player already accustomed to the step up.
England are one of six European nations in the 24-team field, alongside France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and hosts Poland. The top two from each group advance automatically to the last 16, joined by the four best third-placed sides — a format that rewards even a cautious start.
The squad announcement had been pushed back from its scheduled slot of 14:00 BST on Thursday 20 August, with the FA citing "operational reasons." England Football The real cause was a political storm at the top of the game that threatened to pull the entire tournament from under the players' feet.
FIFA had proposed creating the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), a new company that would manage commercial and ticketing rights across all FIFA competitions, including the World Cups. Twenty-one per cent would have been sold to a private investment company — a move that triggered outrage from several confederations. BBC Sport
UEFA, European football's governing body, led the opposition and threatened a boycott of all FIFA competitions. The proposal was aborted, but not before it prompted calls for FIFA president Gianni Infantino to resign. BBC Sport
France confirmed during the standoff that they still planned to compete regardless of UEFA's threat. BBC Sport In the end, the boycott did not materialise, and the European nations are all heading to Poland.
For Bedford's young squad, the political turbulence is now background noise. The football starts on 5 September, and England have a group that looks navigable on paper. Canada first, then Brazil — the kind of fixture that sells itself — followed by Tanzania. Survive the group, and the knockout stage opens up.
The final in Lodz on 27 September is the destination. For now, 21 players have their names on a squad sheet that, for a few nervous days, looked like it might never arrive.
