Three games, three defeats, no points: Lea Motyka’s early goal gives France a 1–0 win and ends the Copper Princesses’ U-17 Women’s World Cup

The Copper Princesses' FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup ended on Saturday 24 October with the narrowest of their three defeats and the same number of points as the other two. France beat Zambia 1–0 in the final round of Group D matches in Morocco, ZamFoot reports, to finish second in the group and go through to a round-of-16 tie against the United States or China; Zambia finish the group without a point.

The goal came after a quarter of an hour. ZamFoot's account has Maelys Ane running down the French left and crossing into the penalty area, where Zambia failed to clear and Lea Motyka finished in the 16th minute. France nearly doubled the lead soon afterwards when Sharlie Yerro was left unmarked in the box from a corner but could not score. In the second half France controlled the game and protected what they had. Ane was named player of the match.

‘Do or die’

Head coach Carol Kanyemba had set the stakes plainly. In a pre-match interview on Friday reported by News Diggers, she called the match a do-or-die encounter and said she wanted her players to express themselves without fear. "We know they've got their strengths and weaknesses," she said. Zambia's hope, News Diggers noted, was to progress as one of the best third-placed teams, for which a result against France was essential. The result did not come, and the campaign closes with the 5–0 defeat to Japan in the opener, the 3–2 loss to Venezuela in which Zambia led twice before conceding in the 100th minute — reported by Lusaka Brief on Thursday — and Saturday's 1–0.

ZamFoot reports that Kanyemba's side will now regroup and build on the experience of the tournament for future assignments. The margin of the final match — one goal, against a side that went on to top-two in the group — will be the part of the record the coaching staff point to. The tournament itself continues in Morocco; Lusaka Brief has not been able to confirm the final Group D table from the reports available and gives only Zambia's three results here.

Sources: ZamFoot, “Copper Princesses suffer third straight defeat to end disappointing World Cup campaign” (25 Oct 2026); News Diggers, “It's do or die against France – Kanyemba” (24 Oct 2026).