Ghana to face Colombia in U17 World Cup opener in India

Ghana will play Colombia in the opening match of the 2017 FIFA Under 17 World Cup as the two sides clash to open the competition.

The Black Starlets will take on the South Americans in New Delhi on 6 October as the opening game of the global competition.

The match will kick off at 17:00 local time at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

Ghana will face the USA three days at the same time and venue before playing hosts India 12 October at 20:00 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to complete their Group A matches.

Hosts India were today clubbed with two-time champions Ghana, the United States and two-time semi- finalists Colombia in a tough Group A of the upcoming FIFA Under 17 World Cup.

India would kick off their campaign against the USA on October 6 and clash with Colombia on October 9 before concluding the first phase with match against Ghana, winners in 1991 and 1995, on October 12.

New Delhi will host India's all three Group matches.

The first match of the tournament will be between Colombia versus Ghana (Group A) and New Zealand versus Turkey (Group B) in New Delhi and Mumbai respectively.

India, by virtue of being hosts, were the first to be placed in Group A in the draw in which Rio Olympics silver medallist shuttler P V Sindhu and Indian football captain Sunil Chhetri took part along with football legends Esteban Cambiasso and Nwanko Kanu.

Apart from New Delhi, the other cities earmarked for the October 6-28 tournament are Mumbai, Kochi, Goa, Guwahati and Kolkata which will also host the final.

Two teams from each group along with the four best third-placed teams in the preliminary phase will move to the round of 16 to be held from October 16.

The quarterfinals are scheduled for October 21 and 22 and the semi-finals on October 25 in Guwahati and Navi Mumbai.

The third-place game and the final are both scheduled in Kolkata on October 28.

India, New Caledonia and Niger are making their debuts in the tournament.