India, one of the least anticipated teams in the competition, will play the USA in their opening FIFA Women's Under-17 World Cup match in Bhubaneswar as clear underdogs. Along with Morocco and Tanzania, two other teams from Group A, and hosts India, who received an automatic spot in the age-group championship, are the three tournament debutants (Group D). The hosts will be difficult to score against, according to head coach Thomas Dennerby, and India can make significant progress if they can draw a point against the USA on Tuesday at the Kalinga Stadium.
The USA entered the tournament as the CONCACAF champions, and they would like to start off their campaign with a victory knowing full well that a mistake against India may cost them dearly in a Group that also includes Brazil, a title candidate.
The top two teams from each of the four groups will advance to the quarterfinals, and in such a high-stakes competition, every point counts.
Dennerby's team has well-rounded preparation for the competition because to exposure tours to Italy, Norway, and Spain, even if they haven't yet faced up against highly formidable South American and European opponents.
While acknowledging that his players still need to improve their attacking, he said that his club has made significant strides in both defence and fitness.
"USA are the favourites against us, no doubt about that. But that is on paper and football is played on a pitch for 90 to 95 minutes. We feel that we also have a chance to get points against USA," Dennerby said at the pre-match press conference.
"We have prepared well since February and the players are ready for the tournament. Reaching the quarterfinals will be a huge achievement but we are currently on Tuesday's match," he said with captain Astam Oraon by his side.
The basis of the Indian team is formed up of the U-18 Women's SAFF Championship champions from 2022. The assault will be led by Lynda Kom Serto, the tournament's top scorer.
Anita Kumari and Nitu Linda will play on the wings, and the young Shilky Devi might be the key player in the middle of the field.
The USA is competing in the competition for the fifth time overall and third straight time. But despite coming in second in the 2008 competition, they have never advanced past the group stage, and this time they hope to break their curse.
The USA won the Concacaf U-17 Women's Championship with the support of 21 players, 15 of whom are in India.
One player to watch out for is midfielder Riley Jackson, who was named the Concacaf tournament's best player.
Amalia Villarreal, who tied for the team lead in goals scored, will spearhead the assault, with Victoria Safradin, the Golden Glove winner, playing goalkeeper for the USA.
Another player to watch out for is the midfielder Mia Bhuta, whose father was raised in Rajkot, Gujarat. Prior to the competition, the USA had beaten Spain once (2-0) and drawn once (1-1) in addition to defeating Germany 1-0 in the winner of the European qualification round.
USA has scored 58 goals and given up one in their seven CONCACAF tournament games.
On the first day of competition, Brazil and Morocco will face off at the Kalinga Stadium in Group A. In Group B games, Germany plays Nigeria at Margao's Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium while Chile takes on New Zealand there.
