FIFA along with the Local Organising Committee (LOC) on Wednesday announced the schedule for the upcoming U-17 Women’s World Cup as per which hosts India will play three group stage matches at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.
The official draw of the prestigiuos tournament will be held on June 24 as the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa will host the semifinals with DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai set to host the final.
Hosts India will be playing its three matches on October 11, 14 and 17 with the final set to be held on October 30.
The 24 group stage games will conclude on October 18 and the matches will be shared among all three host states – Odisha, Goa and Maharashtra.
The quarterfinals will be held on October 21 and 22 following which the semifinals will be staged on October 26.
The DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai and the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda will equally share the four quarterfinal games.
Issuing a statement, LOC Project Directors, Ankush Arora and Nandini Arora said: “We are extremely grateful to FIFA, our host states and all other stakeholders for their continued support in the aligned vision of uplifting women’s football.”
“The launch of the schedule is a significant moment on the road to the historic tournament. The preparations for hosting India’s second FIFA competition are progressing as per timelines and we remain confident of delivering a highly successful tournament, one which will provide a platform for future stars of women’s football to shine,” the statement added.
Notably, the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup will be the seventh edition of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup and it will be for the second time that India host a FIFA tournament after the men’s 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup, and the first time that India host a FIFA women’s football tournament.
India were originally selected as hosts of the 2020 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup on March 15, 2019 however, on November 17, 2020, FIFA announced that the 2020 edition of the tournament would be cancelled due to the then COVID-19 pandemic.
Instead, India were appointed as hosts of the next edition of the tournament in 2022.