History was made as the Fifa Under-17 Women’s World Cup India 2022™ began on Tuesday, with Chile beating New Zealand 3-1 at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa to record their very first win in the competition.
USA, meanwhile, broke some new ground of their own in defeating the tournament hosts 8-0 at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, their biggest-ever win at the tournament, eclipsing their 6-0 defeat of Gambia in 2012.
Also victorious were Brazil, 1-0 winners over Morocco, and Germany, who came from behind to beat Nigeria in Group B.
Brazil’s leading scorer when they won the South American U-17 Women’s Championship earlier this year to qualify for India 2022, Jhonson wasted little time in showing her prowess in front of goal. Presented with a chance just five minutes in, after Brazil had won back possession in the Moroccan half, she took it with aplomb to give her side the lead.
The Brazilians stayed on the front foot for the rest of the match and had 18 attempts on goal, five of them on target. The scoreline remained the same, however, as A Seleção kept a clean sheet in their opening match of the tournament for the third time running. Another solitary goal was enough to give them three points against Nigeria and two years later they kicked off with a goalless draw against Japan.
The result should not take the gloss off an important day for the Moroccans, who became the first north African side to play at the U-17 Women’s World Cup.
The India fans created quite an atmosphere at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. After enjoying the pre-match fireworks display, they roared their approval every time the home side approached the US penalty box.
It did not take long, however, for the Stars and Stripes players to puncture their enthusiasm. There were only nine minutes on the clock when Melina Rebimbas made the most of Riley Jackson’s good work down the right flank to put USA ahead. The Concacaf side doubled their advantage six minutes later when Charlotte Kohler scored from a corner.
Onyeka Gamero was rewarded for some energetic pressing when she dispossessed Purnima Kumari to make it 3-0. And though the home crowd kept the noise levels up, further goals from Rebimbas and Gisele Thompson gave the US a 5-0 halftime lead.
Ella Emri and Taylor Suarez made it seven shortly after the restart. Mia Bhuta, who has Indian family on her father’s side, then completed the scoring with a stunning strike from distance – much to the delight of her dad, who was looking on from the stands. Undaunted, the India fans supported their side right to the end, raising the roof every time the hosts ventured forward.
Nigeria made a strong start in the day’s second game and took a deserved lead 30 minutes in when Miracle Usani fired a low free-kick into the corner of Eve Boettcher’s goal.
With lots of German flags waving in the stands, the European side did not lack support whenever they went forward and pulled level just four minutes into the second half, with Svea Stoldt getting on the end of a corner from the left.
The German comeback was completed on the hour mark, when player of the match Mara Alber struck to give them the perfect start to their campaign.