The opening match of Group C of the 7th U17 Women's World Cup in India was played at the D.Y. Patil Stadium in New Mumbai, India on October 12 at 7:00 p.m. against Mexico and China.
[Overview of the U17 Women's World Cup]
Since its inception in 2008, the FIFA U17 Women's World Cup has been held every two years. North Korea, South Korea, France, Japan and Spain have won the first six editions, while China has participated twice. 2012's third edition, China's first participation in the tournament, with a win, a draw and a loss of four points, ranked third in Group D, failed to qualify. In the fourth edition of the tournament in 2014, China competed again, with one win, two losses and three points, also ranked third in Group D, and once again had no chance of advancing.
China originally did not qualify for the 2022 U17 Women's World Cup after finishing third in the U16 Women's Asian Cup in Thailand in 2019. However, due to the withdrawal of runners-up North Korea, China were able to make a return appearance, their first since 2014.
The 2022 U17 Women's World Cup will be held in India from October 11-30, hosted by the cities of Bhubaneshwar, Goa and New Mumbai. According to the draw, the groupings for the U17 Women's World Cup 2022 in India are as follows:
Group A: India, United States, Morocco, Brazil;
Group B: Germany, Nigeria, Chile, New Zealand;
Group C: Spain, Colombia, Mexico, China;
Group D: Japan, Tanzania, Canada, France.
[Team China]
The head coach of China's U17 women's soccer team is Wang Anzhi, who has played for Beijing Kuanli, Sichuan Quanxing, Chongqing Lifan, Chengdu Wuniu and Beijing Yanjie Sheng, and was named to the national soccer team's training roster in 2003.The U17 women's soccer team held its 7th training session on August 22nd, and then departed for Barcelona, Spain on September 1st for an overseas training session, during which it beat Spaniards 4-1, Catalans U19 5-0, and Badalona Seagulls 1-0. U19, 5-0 Catalonia U17, and 1-0 victory over Spain's Badalona Seagulls.
At the pre-match press conference, Wang Anzhi said: "We are honored to be in the same group with the previous champions and runners-up, Spain and Mexico, as well as with South American powerhouse Colombia. Playing with high-level teams is of great value to us. We hope to present exciting matches to the audience. Our main goal is still to train the team, to compete with international high-level teams of the same age, to identify the gaps and learn from our opponents. Although the epidemic has had a certain impact on the exchange, our preparation has not been affected too much, and we have been proceeding according to the established plan in terms of physical fitness, technical and tactical aspects.
[Mexico]
Mexico missed the inaugural U17 Women's World Cup, but has not missed a single tournament since and has improved year after year.In 2010 and 2012, Mexico placed third in their group and failed to advance.In 2014, Mexico finished second in Group D at the U17 Women's World Cup hosted by Costa Rica, advancing to the round of eight before losing to Japan.In 2016, Mexico finished top of Group A at the U17 Women's World Cup in Jordan, topping Group A to advance to the last eight, but were then eliminated by Venezuela.In 2018, Mexico reached the final of the U17 Women's World Cup hosted by Uruguay, but fell to Spain, 1-2, to finish as runners-up. Prior to preparing for the tournament, Mexico had defeated Brazil U17 and Barcelona B in warm-up matches.
[Historical encounter]
In the 2014 U17 Women's World Cup in Costa Rica, China was placed in Group D with Mexico. At that time, China lost 0-4 in the second round of the group stage and ended up in the third place of the group, failing to advance.
[Projected debut]
China: 1-Liu Chen; 2-Hsu Zhiyi, 3-Wang Yi, 13-Zhou Chenxin, 14-Zeng Yujia; 8-Wang Aifang, 6-Lu Jiayu, 11-Wang Guliang, 5-Wu Yejia; 9-Yin Lihong, 10-Qiao Ruiqi.
