The Eaglets of Mali and the Young Starlets of Ghana have imposingly booked a place in the last 16 knock -out rounds at the ongoing U-17 World Cup in India.
The Malians were the first to book a semi-final spot after an assured 3-1 win over New Zealand to finish second behind unbeaten Paraguay who also beat Turkey 3-1 to re-affirm their status as title contenders. The 2015 runners-up started slow with a 3-2 loss from table leaders Paraguay but redeemed themselves with a 3-0 win in their second game against Turkey.
The Eaglets dominated the game at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and soon opened the scoring through Salam Jiddou after 18 minutes and hitting the bar twice in the encounter.
Traore who was always a constant threat on the left wing at the U-17 African Cup of Nations doubled their lead five minutes after the break with a curling effort which ended up in the far top corner.
New Zealand pulled back a goal in the 72nd minute but Mali proved that they can handle the pressure on the big stage with Lassana N’Diaye scoring Mali’s third, also his third of the tournament.
Mali will play group F runners-up on Wednesday for a spot in the quarterfinals.
Ghana later during the day, thrashed hosts India 4-0 in New Delhi to jump from 3rd to 1st in Group A on goal difference after all the three top nations tied on six points.
Two goals by captain Eric Ayiah and a pair of late goals from Richard Danso and Emmanuel Toku ensured Ghana made it through to the semi-finals with a +4 goal difference, two ahead of Colombia and the United States.
The home fans knew the task ahead prior to facing the two-time U-17 World champions but their support and moral never changed despite the scoreline. They might have been knocked out of the tournament after three straight defeats but considering this was India’s first ever FIFA international competition, the hosts bowed out with their heads held high.
Ghana will face one of the best third-placed teams, (currently the USA) on Wednesday next week.
GROUP A
|
MP |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
Points |
| Ghana U-17 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
4 |
6 |
| Colombia U-17 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
3 |
2 |
6 |
| United States U-17 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
3 |
2 |
6 |
| India U-17 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
9 |
-8 |
0 |
GROUP B
|
MP |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
Points |
| Paraguay U-17 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
5 |
5 |
9 |
| Mali U-17 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
8 |
4 |
4 |
6 |
| New Zealand U-17 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
8 |
-4 |
1 |
| Turkey U-17 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
7 |
-5 |
1 |
GROUP C
|
MP |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
Points |
| Iran U-17 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
1 |
6 |
6 |
| Germany U-17 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
-3 |
3 |
| Costa Rica U-17 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
-1 |
1 |
| Guinea U-17 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
-2 |
1 |
13th/10
: Costa Rica v/s Iran
: Guinea v/s Germany
GROUP D
|
MP |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
Points |
| Brazil U-17 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
6 |
| Spain U-17 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
| Niger U-17 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
-3 |
3 |
| North Korea U-17 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
-3 |
0 |
13th/10
: Niger v/s Brazil
: Spain v/s North Korea
GROUP E.
|
MP |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
Points |
| France U-17 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
2 |
7 |
6 |
| Japan U-17 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
7 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
| Honduras U-17 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
6 |
0 |
3 |
| New Caledonia U-17 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
12 |
-11 |
0 |
14th/10
: France v/s Honduras
: Japan v/s New Caledonia
GROUP F.
|
MP |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
Points |
| England U-17 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
2 |
5 |
6 |
| Iraq U-17 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
| Mexico U-17 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
-1 |
1 |
| Chile U-17 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
7 |
-7 |
0 |
14th/10
: Mexico v/s Chile
: England v/s Iraq
Featured Photo: FIFA
