Superstar J-Lo to provide glitz at under-17 Women's World Cup

By David Gold

April 17 – International pop superstar Jennifer Lopez will perform at the Opening Ceremony of this year’s FIFA under-17 Women’s World Cup in Azerbaijan, FIFA have announced.

The performance at the Tofig Bahramov Stadium in Baku on September 22 will mark Lopez’s inaugural performance in Azerbaijan, and tickets for the ceremony are available from the tournament’s official website by clicking here.

The 42-year-old New York-born singer, who has also appeared in a number of films, has enjoyed worldwide success during her career, selling more than 55 million records, courtesy of hits such as If You Had My Love and Waiting For Tonight.

The announcement of J-Lo’s appearance is a major boost for Azerbaijan which hopes that this summer’s tournament will showcase its capability to host a major international sporting event.

Baku is bidding to stage the 2020 Olympic and Paralympics, and the country is also planning a joint bid with Georgia for football’s European Championships in the same year.

Having a female superstar of Lopez’s stature supporting the under-17 World Cup should help raise the profile of the women’s game in Azerbaijan – an expected key legacy of the tournament.

FIFA is running two female-centred football campaigns, aimed at increasing participation in the sport among young girls, in the months leading up to the competition.

The first is a festival with seven events designed to show football as more than just a sport.

The second, “Live Your Goals”, will use female footballers as ambassadors to encourage young girls to follow their dreams.

Azerbaijan is languishing jointly in 135th place in the FIFA Women’s World Rankings.

Matches at the tournament will take place at both Baku and Lankaran.

So far New Zealand, China, Japan, North Korea, Ghana, Nigeria, Brazil, Colombia and Uruguay have qualified to compete in the tournament, which runs until October 13.

The European and North American representatives will be known following regional qualifiers later this year.

Asian teams have dominated the biennial under-17 Women’s World Cup, which first took place in 2008 in New Zealand, with North Korea the champions; neighbours South Korea won the last tournament in Trinidad & Tobago two years ago.

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