Young Matildas Kick Off FIFA U-20 Women's Cup Vs Colombia 2024

The CommBank Young Matildas have been drawn in Group A alongside hosts Colombia, Mexico and Cameroon for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Colombia 2024™.

Featuring 24 nations for the first time, the biennial global youth showcase will take place from 31 August - 22 September across four venues in Colombia.

The Final Draw was made in the early hours of Thursday morning (Australian time) at Hall 74 Centro de Eventos in the Colombian capital, Bogotá. Australia was drawn out of Pot 3 which also included Korea Republic, Ghana, Canada, Paraguay and Argentina.

Australia will call Estadio El Campín in Bogotá home with all three of their group stage matches to be held in the 39,000-capacity stadium.

They will open their campaign and the tournament against Colombia on Saturday, 31 August (local) before taking on Mexico on Tuesday, 3 September (local), finally completing their group play against African side Cameroon on Friday, 6 September (local).

CommBank Young Matildas' Head Coach Leah Blayney, who was in attendance for the Final Draw, expressed her delight at opening the tournament against the hosts and discovering their opponents for the group stage.

"We are very pleased with the draw today and extremely excited to come to Colombia and play in the opening match of FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup 2024™," Blayney said.

"After featuring in the opening match back in 2022, we know what an occasion this will once again be for our playing group with the passionate Colombian crowd in attendance. We expect the atmosphere to be second to none and for it to be an incredible opportunity we will be looking to fully embrace."

"Drawing Colombia, Mexico and Cameroon is an enticing prospect and will provide our team with a diverse range of playing styles to tackle. This exposure to a mix of football systems and cultures will provide so many fantastic learning and developmental moments and be beneficial for their long-term careers.

"Our preparation for our group stage rivals will have to encompass playing against those similar playing types and formations. We are very fortunate that we've got a versatile playing group and tactically we feel like we're in a good place around our flexibility. That's going to be something that we're going to look to test ourselves at this FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup 2024," concluded Blayney.

This will mark Australia's fifth appearance at the tournament with the CommBank Young Matildas qualifying for the tournament by taking home bronze at the AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup Uzbekistan 2024™. They will represent Asia alongside former winners DPR Korea, reigning U-20 silver medallists Japan and Korea Republic.

Entering its 11th edition, the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup sees the 24 competing countries divided into six groups of four teams. The top two nations from each group, and the two best third-place finishers following the completion of group play will progress to the knockout phase.

A Round of 16 will take place for the first time in tournament history and is scheduled for 11 and 12 September, with the quarterfinals contested on Sunday, 15 September. The semi-finals will be held on Wednesday, 18 September with the final to be played on Sunday, 22 September 2024.

MATCH SCHEDULE | FIFA U-20 WOMEN'S WORLD CUP COLOMBIA 2024™

Colombia v Australia

Date: Saturday, 31 August 2024 / Thursday, 1 September 2024 (AUS)

Time: 6.00pm (local) / 9.00am (AEST)

Venue: Estadio El Campín, Bogotá, Colombia

Mexico v Australia

Date: Tuesday, 3 September 2024 / Wednesday, 4 September 2024 (AUS)

Time: 5.00pm (local) / 8.00am (AEST)

Venue: Estadio El Campín, Bogotá, Colombia

Australia v Cameroon

Date: Friday, 6 September 2024 / Saturday, 7 September 2024 (AUS)

Time: 8.00pm (local) / 11.00am (AEST)

Venue: Estadio El Campín, Bogotá, Colombia

FINAL GROUPS | FIFA U-20 WOMEN'S WORLD CUP COLOMBIA 2024™