For Austria’s U19 women’s national team, the dream of taking part in the U20 World Cup in Colombia in 2024 could become reality. The ÖFB selection missed the ticket in July by failing to advance to the European Championship semi-finals, but could now benefit from an increase in the field of participants from 16 to 24 teams. A fifth European World Cup starter will be determined in the duel between Austria and Iceland. The two teams finished third in the group.
“We were all a bit speechless because we had of course finished talking about the World Cup after the European Championships in Belgium. Now we have an outstanding second chance to set another milestone for Austrian women’s football,” said U19 team boss Hannes Spilka. An Austrian team has never been represented at a World Cup at women’s football level. “It is now up to us to seize this unique opportunity and do everything in our power to still get the World Cup ticket.”
The venue and kick-off time of the play-off game are still being determined by UEFA. European champions Spain, Germany, France and the Netherlands are the remaining European World Cup participants in the tournament, which will take place between August 31 and September 22, 2024.
