Suzhou, May 10: The Indian women’s U17 players will step into the biggest match of their young careers when they face hosts China in the quarter-finals of the AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup here on Monday, with a World Cup spot at stake.
No Indian women’s team has ever stood one win away from qualifying for a FIFA World Cup on merit.
Victory for the Young Tigresses will seal their place in the 2026 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco. Though India have played the U17 men’s and women’s World Cups as hosts in 2017 and 2022, respectively, the nation has never reached the world’s biggest stage through qualification.
Head coach Pamela Conti made it clear that the team’s focus remains firmly on the next step.
“We are approaching this match in the same way we approached the entire tournament, with excitement and with the desire to win,” said the Italian.
“We know we are facing a very strong team, but we will do everything possible to give this happiness to the country.” India reached the quarter-finals after a commanding 4-0 victory against Lebanon in their final group-stage match, securing the country’s first-ever knockout stage appearance at the AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup.
The Young Tigresses also became the first Indian women’s side to reach the knockout stage of any Asian Cup competition since the 2004 AFC U19 Women’s Championship, which was also held in China.
China is one of the favourites in the competition, having topped Group A with three wins from three matches against Myanmar (6-0), Vietnam (3-0) and Thailand (6-0).
During the knockout stage, no extra time will be played if the scores are level after 90 minutes, and the winner will be decided on penalty shootout.
“China are one of the strongest and most important teams in Asia. They are the team with the tallest average height in the tournament, and have physically strong players who attack in numbers, so we need to be very focused defensively. (PTI)
