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The Women’s International Cup will feature three
of the powerhouses of the women’s game - USA,
England and France - alongside Northern Ireland.
The round-robin games will be staged at Ballymena
Showgrounds, Mourneview Park in Lurgan,
Portadown’s Shamrock Park and at the National
Football Stadium at Windsor Park.
Running from October 18-23, the U19 tournament
is a key part of the association’s preparations for
hosting the UEFA Women’s U19 Championship
Finals in August 2017.
Irish FA National Women’s Coach Alfie Wylie said:
“This is a fantastic opportunity for our players to
play against some of the best teams in the world.
We only have to look at the track records of all
three teams to understand the calibre of their
player development pathways to consistently
produce talented players year on year.”
He pointed out the US women’s national team are
the current world champions and said many of the
young American girls taking part in this month’s
tournament will no doubt aspire to play in the full
US women’s national team one day.
Alfie added: “France are the current UEFA Women’s
U19 champions, having recently secured the title in
Slovakia, while the England women’s national team
did exceptionally well at the Women’s World Cup
in 2015 with Mark Sampson’s side collecting the
bronze medal. I have no doubt that the England U19
team will come to Northern Ireland with extremely
high expectations.”
Both England and France have qualified for the
UEFA Women’s Under-19 Championship Finals 11
times, with France winning the overall title on four
occasions and England winning it once.
Northern Ireland will warm up for
next summer’s UEFA Under-19
Women’s Championship by hosting
a mini-tournament across four
venues later this month.
Fixtures for the Women’s International Cup
are as follows:
Tuesday 18 October
England v USA
Ballymena Showgrounds. Kick-off 14:00
Northern Ireland v France
Ballymena Showgrounds. Kick-off 19:30
Thursday 20 October
France v USA
Mourneview Park, Lurgan. Kick-off 12:00
Northern Ireland v England
Shamrock Park, Portadown. Kick-off 19:30
Sunday 23 October
France v England
National Football Stadium at Windsor Park.
Kick-off 12.00
USA v Northern Ireland
National Football Stadium at Windsor Park
Kick-off 16:30
Tickets for the tournament are now on sale
via Ticketmaster. They cost £5 for adults
and £3 for children (aged under 16).
Further information about the Women’s
International Cup and the UEFA Women’s
U19 Championship can be found on
the tournament’s official website
@WU19EURO2017
@UEFAWU192017
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NORTHERN IRELAND HOSTS
INTERNATIONAL CUP