EP 21: 20th anniversary of the 2002 FIFA U-19 Women’s World Championship (October 2022)

On the eve of the 2022 U-17 Women’s World Cup, host Tom McCabe is joined by women’s soccer historian Jen Cooper for a look back at the first FIFA women’s youth championship held in Canada in 2002 and the growth of FIFA women’s youth tournaments since then.

That inaugural event — known as the FIFA U-19 Women’s World Championship — featured several young players who are now household names, including Marta, Cristiane, Christine Sinclair, Heather O’Reilly, and Alex Scott. The 12-team tournament boasted an average attendance of more than 11,000 fans per game, including more than 47,000 for the final between host Canada and Concacaf rival USA — one of the last FIFA finals played under the golden goal rule.

Podcast produced by Brian Quarstad.

Music created by LiteSaturation and found at Pixabay.

View the video of the session at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Liv0pht1eUE&list=PLF9oL3yRaMyyYqsS1Qqj6XxUV8RU6p4tC&index=22&pp=iAQB

For more US soccer history, visit the SASH website at https://www.ussoccerhistory.org/