New Zealand – who qualified by winning the OFC U-17 Championship as hosts in April – have been drawn with Brazil, Japan and Mexico in a strong-looking Group C at the tournament, which takes place during September and October in Azerbaijan.
The pool is arguably the strongest of the four but Temple says his aim of progressing to the knockout stages has not been affected by last week’s draw.
He believes the opening fixture will be of particular importance as his side looks to put the foundations in place for a successful campaign.
“That first game against Mexico will be huge because it sets everything up and dictates your attitude leading into the final two matches,” Temple says.
“We will need to win to give ourselves the best chance of qualifying from the group.”
Temple also led the Young Football Ferns at the inaugural U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2008, which New Zealand hosted but failed to make it past the group phase.
He is aiming to go at least one step better this time and feels his squad has the talent to do so.
“It’s obviously a very tough group with opposition that present different challenges to us but we have to be confident in our own ability to cause them problems too. We’ll be taking a positive approach and giving it our best shot at causing some upsets.
“I’m confident in the ability of my players to be able to rise to the challenge and make these teams take note of us. Who we play is out of our control but what we can control are our performances and that will be the focus now leading into the tournament.”
The New Zealand players would write themselves into the record books by making the quarter-finals as the 2010 crop were also forced to return home early, losing to Venezuela, Spain and Japan under coach Dave Edmondson in Trinidad and Tobago.

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