The Irish Football Association is preparing to host this year’s UEFA Women’s Under-17 European Championship from 4 to 17 May.
And the draw for the eight-team tournament will be staged in Belfast tomorrow (25 March).
Northern Ireland, who qualify as hosts, now know their potential opponents in the group games.
Round two of the qualifiers for WU17 Euro 2026 saw England, France, Germany, Spain, Finland, Poland and Norway qualify for the finals after topping their respective League A groups.
It is only the second time the Irish Football Association will host a UEFA women’s tournament, the first being the Under-19 Championship in 2017.
Group games are scheduled to be played at Inver Park in Larne and The Showgrounds in Coleraine, with the Clearer Twist National Stadium at Windsor Park hosting matches in the latter stages of the tournament.
In tomorrow’s draw - it is being staged at the National Stadium - the teams will be drawn into two groups of four and no teams are seeded.
As hosts Northern Ireland will be allocated to Group A in position A1. The seven remaining teams are in one pot and will be drawn freely one after another.
The first ball drawn will determine the team in position B1. The second ball drawn will determine the team in position A2. The third ball drawn will decide the team in position B2. The same procedure is repeated for positions A3, B3, A4 and B4.
Tomorrow’s draw is due to be conducted by David Gough, UEFA’s Head of Women's Football Competitions, assisted by former Northern Ireland international Rachel Furness, ambassador of the tournament.
Northern Ireland’s games in the group stages will be played on Monday 4 May (Larne), Thursday 7 May (Coleraine) and on Sunday 10 May (Larne). Their opponents will be revealed tomorrow.
The semi-finals are pencilled in for Thursday 14 May at the National Stadium, with the final on Sunday 17 May (6pm) at the National Stadium.
The WU17 Euros will also determine the five teams who will qualify for the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup 2026.
Netherlands won last year’s WU17 Euros. They defeated Norway in the final. The tournament was staged in the Faroe Islands.
Germany won League A Group 1 in round two of the WU17 Euro 2026 qualifiers, which were staged over the past four weeks. They enjoyed wins against Republic of Ireland and A1 mini tournament hosts Sweden and drew with Denmark.
England reached the tournament after topping A2. They had a 100 per cent record in qualifying, defeating hosts Croatia, Turkiye and Italy.
Finland won A3 after defeating Latvia and Romania and drawing with hosts Czechia, while France topped A4 with victories over Iceland and Austria and a defeat to hosts Serbia.
A5 was won by last year’s runners-up Norway. They hosted the mini tournament and enjoyed wins against Scotland, Greece and Switzerland.
Five-times WU17 Euro winners Spain enjoyed emphatic wins against Kosovo and Hungary in A6 and also drew with hosts Portugal.
Group A7 was played in Wales where Poland defeated the hosts, Slovakia and holders Netherlands.
