FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2022 Draw, Highlights: India, Brazil, Morocco and USA slotted in Group A

Following the completion of the qualifying stages in the first week of June, FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup draw is all set to take place at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland on Friday (24 June). As many as 16 countries, including hosts India, will participate in the event. We take you through all the relevant details for the tournament as India host a FIFA junior-level World Cup for the second time  — after 2018 FIFA U-17 Men’s World Cup. Troubled history: Postponement and cancellation due to pandemic India were declared the host of the seventh edition of the Women’s U-17 World Cup in 2019 and were slated to host the event in 2020 (2-21 November) before the COVID-19 pandemic forced a postponement of the biennial event. The new dates for the tournament released were 17 February- 7 March in 2021 with five venues: Bhubaneswar’s Kalinga Stadium, Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium, Guwahati’s Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, Ahmedabad’s EKA Arena, and Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium. However, with ever-increasing cases during the first wave of COVID-19, the organisers were forced to push the tournament further to 11-30 October. Change in venue Back in April, FIFA made the announcement of the venues with Goa’s Fatorda Stadium being added to the roster while only Navi Mumbai and Bhubaneswar were retained . Praful Patel, AIFF president at the time, confirmed in a statement the decision was taken keeping in mind the prevalent COVID-19 situation in the country as FIFA limited the venues fearing the spread of cases inside the bio-bubble. It is understood that Goa was included as the venue after it successfully hosted two seasons of ISL and will host the most number of matches during the World Cup. Meanwhile, the Indian team, who are placed in Group A as hosts, will play all their three group matches in Bhubaneswar. The final will be played in Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium on 30 October. Format for the World Cup In the 16-team tournament, teams will be divided into four groups with four nations in each. The top two teams of each group will advance to the quarter-finals based on points obtained (three points for win, one for draw, and zero for loss). In case of a tie-breaker among group teams, the winner will be decided through goal difference followed by goals scored (if needed). In case of a tie-breaker above the three criterias, fair play points will decide the winner. In the knockout stages, teams will compete in a single-elimination style tournament with a third-place playoff also to be played between the two losing teams of the semi-finals. Participating teams in the draw Besides hosts India, 15 nations have qualified from different continents. Defending champions Spain, France, and Germany have qualified from UEFA (Europe), Brazil, Chile, and Colombia from CONMEBOL (South America). From CONCACAF (North America), Canada, Mexico and USA made the cut while Morocco, Nigeria, and Tanzania form the CAF (Africa) trio . New Zealand are the lone OFC (Oceania) representative. Pots for the draw India go into Pot 1 alongside Japan, Spain, and Germany. Mexico, Canada, Brazil and New Zealand are in Pot 2 while African champions Nigeria are in Pot 3 along with France, USA and China. Tanzania, who are in their first World Cup are in Pot 4 with South American nations Chile, Colombia and another African side Morocco. Rules for the draw Each group will be formed with one team drawn from each of the four pots. This effectively means India won’t face any of their fellow Pot 1 rivals in defending champions Spain, Asian champions Japan and Germany in the group. FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup group stage draw Live venue, date and timing The draw for the group stage of FIFA Women’s World Cup 2022 will take place on Friday (24 June) in Zurich and can be viewed Live on Sports18 1 from 3:30 PM (IST). Read all the Latest News ****, Trending News ****, Cricket News ****, Bollywood News ****, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook****, Twitter and Instagram****.