USA drawn into Group A for 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup

CHICAGO – The U.S. Under-17 Women’s Youth National Team will face host India, Brazil and Morocco in Group A at the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, taking place at three stadiums from Oct. 11-30.

The Final Draw took place early this morning Eastern Time at the FIFA Headquarters in Zurich. Former U.S. Women’s National Team star and 2002 FIFA Under-19 Women’s World Cup champion Heather O’Reilly assisted with the Final Draw.

As the USA was drawn into A2, it will face India at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar in the tournament’s opening game on Tuesday, October 11 at 8 p.m. local / 10:30 a.m. ET. The match is expected to draw a capacity crowd. The USA will then face Brazil on Friday, October 14 at Kalinga Stadium (4:30 p.m. local / 7 a.m. ET) before finishing group play vs. Morocco on Monday, October 17 at Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa (8 p.m. local / 10:30 a.m. ET). India has used an offset time – which will be nine and half hours ahead of ET during this tournament – as its local standard time since 1906.

This will be a tournament of many firsts for the USA. It will mark the USA’s first-ever meeting with India and Morocco at any level of international women’s soccer and the first-ever meeting with Brazil at the U-17 Women’s World Cup. It will also mark the first-ever matches in India for any U.S. Women’s National Team.

Host India, Asian power Japan and the top two finishers in European qualifying – champions Germany and runners up Spain – earned the seeds across the four groups. In Group B, Germany drew Nigeria, Chile and New Zealand. Group C features Spain, Colombia, Mexico and China PR. Group D features Japan, Tanzania, Canada and France.

U.S. U-17 Women’s Youth National Team

2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Group A Schedule

Date        Opponent     Venue                                                        Kickoff           

Oct. 11       India           Kalinga Stadium; Bhubaneswar                 8 p.m. local / 10:30 a.m. ET

Oct. 14       Brazil          Kalinga Stadium; Bhubaneswar                 4:30 p.m. local / 7 a.m. ET

Oct. 17       Morocco     Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium; Goa     8 p.m. local / 10:30 a.m. ET

“It’s a very exciting day for our young group, to find out our path in India,” said U.S. Under-17 Women’s National Team head coach Natalia Astrain. “They played very well to win the Concacaf qualifying tournament in the Dominican Republic to earn the right to compete the World Cup and this will be another fantastic experience for them in their progression as people and players in international soccer. We have great respect for all our opponents and I’m really looking forward to seeing our players get the chance to show their talents on the world stage, especially as we get the honor of playing the first game of the tournament.”

This will be the first world championship for women’s soccer held in India, which hosted the men’s FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2017 at which the USA fell in the quarterfinal round to eventual champion England.

The 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup will feature 16 teams, with the top two finishers in each group advancing to the quarterfinals. Should the U.S. advance to the second round by winning the group, it would meet a second-place team from Group B. If the USA finishes second in the group, it would face the first-place team from Group B.

All 32 matches of the tournament will be played in three stadiums: Kalinga Stadium (Capacity: 15,000) in Bhubaneswar on the east coast of India and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (Capacity: 19,000) in Goa and DY Pati Stadium in Navi Mumbai (Capacity: 55,000), which are located on the west coast.

Kalinga Stadium has an artificial surface while the other two stadiums are natural grass. DY Pati Stadium will host the Third-Place Match and World Cup Final on Sunday, October 30 while Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium will host both semifinals on Wednesday, October 26.

Additional Notes:

• These will be the first matches ever by any U.S. Women’s National Team in India.
• India qualified as hosts of the tournament and will make its first appearance in the competition. While the USA has never faced India in international women’s soccer before, U.S. midfielder Mia Bhuta, who hails from Pittsburgh, Pa. and served as captain at several matches during World Cup qualifying in the Dominican Republic, is of Indian descent.
• Brazil won the 2022 South American U-17 Women’s Championship in Uruguay and qualified by finishing in the top-three. Brazil rolled through group play, outscoring its opponents 21-0 and then won all three games in the final stage – against third-place finishers Chile (8-0), Paraguay (3-0) and second-place finishers Colombia (1-0) to win the South American U-17 title for the fourth time.
• This will be Brazil’s sixth appearance at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup with its deepest runs coming to the quarterfinals in 2010 and 2012.
• Morocco will make its first appearance in the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. It qualified by defeating traditional African power Ghana in the fourth and final round of the lengthy 2022 African U-17 Women’s World Cup Qualifying Tournament.
• After dropping the first leg 2-0 in Accra, Morocco dramatically rallied at home in Rabat to win 2-0 and then won the penalty kick shoutout 4-2 to gain its historic berth to the tournament.
• This will be the first appearance at a FIFA Women’s World Cup at any level for both India and Morocco.
• The 2020 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup which was to be staged in India was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic so this will be the seventh FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, and the tournaments has been dominated by Asian teams with teams from that Confederation winning four of the previous six titles.
• North Korea won the inaugural tournament in 2008 in New Zealand, defeating the USA in the championship game in overtime, and South Korea won the second installment in 2010 in Trinidad & Tobago, defeating Japan in penalty kicks after an entertaining 3-3 tie through regulation and overtime.
• In the third U-17 WWC in 2012, France broke through, defeating North Korea in penalty kicks in the championship game in Azerbaijan, but Japan returned the trophy to Asia in 2014, defeating Spain, 2-0, in Costa Rica.
• In 2016, North Korea won again, defeating Japan in penalty kicks after a 0-0 tie in regulation. That tournament was played in Jordan.
• In 2018, the trophy returned to Europe as Spain beat Mexico, 2-1 in the Final in Uruguay.
• The USA won the 2022 CONCACAF U-17 Women’s Championship in the Dominican Republic, defeating Mexico 2-1 in the championship game, but the Americans had already booked their place in the Women’s World Cup with a 3-0 victory against Canada in the semifinal. The USA outscored its opposition 58-1`over the seven matches of the tournament.
• Quite a few players who appeared for the USA in a FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup have gone on to play for the full U.S. Women’s National Team, most notably Samantha Mewis, Kristie Mewis, Morgan Gautrat, Crystal Dunn (all of whom helped the USA reach the Final in the inaugural tournament in 2008), Andi Sullivan, Midge Purce, Jane Campbell, Ashley Sanchez, Sophia Smith, Naomi Girma, Jaelin Howell and Trinity Rodman.
• The USA missed the 2010 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup after falling in penalty kicks in the semifinal of the CONCACAF qualifying tournament to Canada despite out-scoring the opposition 38-0 over five games. The USA missed the 2014 U-17 Women’s World Cup after falling in penalty kicks to Mexico in semifinal of the CONCACAF qualifying tournament despite outscoring its opponents, 24-1.

2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Groups

Group A (Bhubaneswar & Goa):

• India
• USA
• Morocco
• Brazil

Group B (Goa & Bhubaneswar):

• Germany
• Nigeria
• Chile
• New Zealand

Group C (Navi Mumbai & Goa):

• Spain
• Colombia
• Mexico
• China PR

Group D (Goa & Navi Mumbai):

• Japan
• Tanzania
• Canada
• France