Spain will meet Germany and Nigeria will take on Colombia for a spot in the final next Monday (AEDT) at the Dr DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai, after a thrilling quarter-final round showed why all of the last four teams are still in the hunt for World Cup glory.
Colombia
Colombia are in the midst of a history-making run at the U-17 Women's World Cup, making it out of the group stages for the first time before making light work of quarter-final opponents Tanzania, a 3-0 victory sending them through to a semi-final showdown with Nigeria.
A massive reason for the nation's newfound success at the tournament has been their star forward Linda Caicedo, the tournament's joint-top scorer who has scored four goals in three games and is an electric prospect in women's football.
Caicedo only took three minutes to find the back of the net against Tanzania in torrential rain, navigating the conditions with ease and delivering the most effortless of chip finishes to set the tone and set her country on their way to securing a place in the final four.
Well acclimated with the biggest stage having already scored twice at the U20 Women's World Cup earlier this year to go along with her terrific performances in India, Caicedo will look to continue her scintillating form against Nigeria as the figurehead of Colombia's dream run.
Nigeria
Nigeria, who have participated in all editions of the U-17 Women’s World Cup except for 2018, stunned the highly fancied USA to book their spot in the the semi-finals.
Forward Amina Bello led the assists at the end of the group stage with three to her name, before drawing a penalty which gave the African side the all-important advantage in the quarter-finals.
The Nigerians impressively managed to hold their opponents, who scored 13 goals in the group stage, to only one goal as they held on a dramatic penalty-shoo-out which ended 4-3.
In what will be their first ever semi-final appearance at the tournament, Nigeria will look to repeat this defensive effort against Colombia and arrest the goalscoring form from an important win against Chile on matchday 3, which gave them the second spot in Group B.
Spain
The defending champions will go into their semi-final clash against Germany looking to become just the second nation to win two U-17 Women's World Cup titles, and certainly have the talent to do just that.
After a brilliant long-range Momoko Tanikawa strike had them 1-0 down after 66 minutes, recent Barcelona Femini signing Vicky Lopez was the heroine in Spain's quarter-final win over Japan, the forward netting the equaliser in the 87th minute and the winner in stoppage time.
Lopez is fast becoming one of the best young talents in women's football, showing her skill on the world stage after an incredible domestic 2021-22 season for Real Madrid's women's youth team where she scored 60 goals in just 17 games.
While they haven't blitzed through their competition, they did beat fellow final four companion Colombia 1-0 in the group stage, a result that's sure to have their confidence up if they beat Germany and the latter overcome Nigeria.
Germany
Germany's best finish at the U-17 Women's World Cup was a third place in 2008, and they return to the semi-finals in a great position to surpass that if they can triumph over Spain and reach the final.
Die Nationalelf met Brazil in the quarter-finals again after knocking them out in 2012, and managed to replicate the feat, winning 2-0 thanks to strikes from Marie Steiner and Melina Kruger.
As well as quarter-final performers Steiner and Kruger, Germany brings more firepower into their match-up with Spain in the form of forward Loreen Bender, tied for third in the tournament's golden boot race with three goals so far.
Bender netted a brace in a 3-1 win over New Zealand and was amongst the rampant scoring in a 6-0 thrashing of Chile as Germany dominated Group B en route to their semi-final berth.
