India to take on Brazil in U-17 WC

Press Trust of India

NEW DELHI: India will play Brazil in a FIFA World Cup. And at home, in the U-17 tournament for women.

India have been clubbed alongside the football powerhouse, Morocco and USA in a tough group for the upcoming U-17 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the draw for which took place in Zurich on Friday.

The country is slated to host the tournament from October 11 to 30 across three venues: Bhubaneswar’s Kalinga Stadium, Goa’s Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium.

India, being the host nation, are an automatic selection and are placed in Group A. A total of 16 teams across four groups will participate in the tournament.

India will begin their campaign against USA on October 11 (Tuesday) in Bhubaneswar. Their second match will be against Morocco on October 14 (Friday) at the same venue. The home team’s last group stage match against Brazil will be on October 17 (Monday) at the Kalinga Stadium.

India were scheduled to host the 2020 edition of the big-ticket tournament but the tournament was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This is the second time India is hosting a FIFA tournament after the U-17 men’s World Cup in 2017.

Defending champions Spain, who beat Mexico in the final of the 2018 edition, are placed in Group C along with Colombia, China, and Mexico.

Group B consists of Germany, Nigeria, Chile and New Zealand. Japan, Tanzania, Canada and France constitute Group D.

India face USA test

The Indian women’s football team will look to strengthen its attack when it takes on USA in the second match of the threenation U-23 tournament at Larods IP, Sweden on Saturday. An injury-time goal saw the team lose 0-1 to Sweden in the opening match despite putting up a spirited effort.