Mission accomplished. Italy's Women's Under-17 national team booked their place in Round 2 of European Championship qualifying with a convincing 4-0 victory over Northern Ireland in their final Group A1 fixture. The Azzurrine finished on four points, ending the group on a high after steadily improving both their performances and results. Following an opening defeat to Austria and last Saturday's draw with hosts Norway, who topped the group after beating Austria 4-2 today, Priscilla Del Prete's side effectively sealed qualification in the first half, despite needing only a draw to progress. Emma Fiorani (Sassuolo), born in 2011, broke the deadlock in the 12th minute before Giorgia Rossi (Roma) doubled Italy's advantage. The Azzurrine continued to dominate after the break, with Martina Battocchio (Juventus) adding a third nine minutes into the second half before a Devany own goal completed the scoring. Italy's superiority was underlined by their 24 attempts on the Northern Ireland goal.

 

"We're delighted to have qualified and with our performance," said the Italy coach. "We played better football than our opponents, not just today but also for long spells in our previous matches. I'm convinced that as our fitness improves, the results will reflect the quality of our play. I worked with this group last year as well, and we made a similar start. We went on to make huge strides over the following months, and with hard work, there's no reason we can't do the same this season."

Round 2 of qualifying will take place in the spring, with a place at the European Championship finals in Finland, scheduled for 9 to 22 May, up for grabs. The tournament will also serve as a qualifier for the Under-17 World Cup, which is held annually in Morocco.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-4 ITALY (HT 0-2)

NORTHERN IRELAND (4-3-3): Agoha; Steele, Cowan, Devany, Fitzsimmons (Harper 76’); Guest (Smyth 87’), Donnan (Anderson 60’), Murray (Hepburn 60’); Mcmullan (Moore 87’), Robinson; Valente-Curley. Subs not used: Mclaughlin, Lee, Turner, Kitson. Coach: McDowell.

ITALY (4-2-3-1): Wenin; Mariani, Oberparleiter, Fiorani, Ferraro (Chessi 55’); Gavazza (Grigoli 61’), Rossi (Vianello 63’); Battocchio, Crotti, De Clemente (Ferranti 55’); Elshamy (Faggioli 55’). Subs not used: Ruotolo, Saragoni, Dall’Ava, Brunetti. Coach: Del Prete.

REFEREE: Miletic (Bosnia). Assistants: Markovic (Bosnia), Benneche (Norway). Fourth official: Jensen (Norway).

Goals: 12’ Fiorani (ITA), 25’ Rossi (ITA), 54’ Battocchio (ITA), 68’ Devany (own goal, NIR).

Bookings: Guest (NIR), Mcmullan (NIR), Chiessi (ITA).

UEFA WOMEN'S UNDER-17 CHAMPIONSHIP – ROUND 1

League A – Group A1

Matchday 1 – Wednesday 7 October

Norway 4-0 Northern Ireland

ITALY 1-3 Austria

Matchday 2 – Saturday 10 October

Norway 0-0 ITALY

Austria 4-1 Northern Ireland

Matchday 3 – Tuesday 13 October

Northern Ireland 0-4 ITALY

Austria 2-4 Norway

Standings: Norway 7 pts, Austria 6 pts, ITALY 4 pts, Northern Ireland 0 pts.