2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup | India handed tough draw, to face USA and Brazil in Group A
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Hosts India has been handed a tough draw along with the 2008 runners-up, the United States of America, Brazil, and Morocco, in the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup which will be held from October 11-30 this year. The draw for the 16-team tournament was held at FIFA headquarters on Friday.
India will play their first game in Group A against the United States on October 11. Meanwhile, this will also be their first appearance in the tournament which started in 2008. With this, they would also be hoping to finish the top two in their group and qualify for the quarterfinals.
Interestingly, no host nation has ever managed to reach the semis of the tournament, losing out in the group stages itself. The contenders for the trophy are Germany, which is the only nation to play all six editions of the tournament. They will have Nigeria, Chile, and New Zealand as competitors in Group B.
Group C comprises Spain, Colombia, Mexico, and China while Group D has Japan, the 2014 winner, facing Tanzania, the first-timers from Africa, Canada, and France, who won the title in 2012 when the event was held in Azerbaijan.
North Korea, which has won the tournament twice, does not feature in the World Cup, this time around. The same is the case with neighbors South Korea. The 2022 event was originally scheduled to be held in 2020, but could not happen due to Covid-19.
The 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup will be held from October 11-30 at three venues -- the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Margao, Goa, and the Dr. D.Y Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai.
