FIFA U-17 World Cup: Ghana 4 - 0 India; Starlets Whip Host Nation To Qualify For Next Stage

Ghana's Under-17 team have qualified for the second stage of the ongoing Under-17 World Cup in India.

The Black Starlets beat host nation India by 4 goals to nil at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi to book a place in the Round of 16.

What looked like a gritty display in the first half by the hosts, ended up being a thrashing as they ended their World Cup commitments.

The start was frantic and end-to-end as Ghana had a goal disallowed in the sixth minute after carving open the Indian back-line. After a blistering counter-attack, the travellers were two-on-one with Dheeraj Singh, but the final pass saw Aiyah being deemed off-side.

The goal resulted from a great team-work by the Ghanian players as they stretched the India defenders from left flank to right before Captain Eric Ayiah pounched on the chance to score for the Starlets in the 43rd minute.

Eric Ayiah completely unmarked in the box doubled the lead in the 52nd minute and got his second on the day by smashing the ball in from Arko-Mensah's cutback and that probably ended India's World Cup journey. 

Both the Ghanaian substitutes added their names to the goal sheet.

Richard Danso ran clear of the Indian defence before slotting it calmly past Dheeraj with four minutes to end of proceedings.

A minute later, Emmanuel Toku hits the back of the net from a rebound after Ibrahim Sulley's shot cannons back off the post.

Ghana thus qualifies by leading Group A with 6 points ahead of Colombia and USA who also have 6 points apiece, with India sitting at the bottom with no point.

Both teams had played two matches with Ghana winning one and losing one while India were yet to pick their first win in the competition.

Ghana needed a win to progress to the next stage of the competition while India were chasing their first win in a FIFA organised competition.

India returned from the gala empty-handed, losing all three matches and scoring a solitary goal.

The Black Starlets, on the other hand, made it to the next round.

Ghana will play the 3rd placed team in Groups 'CDE' in the Round of 16 on Wednesday, October 18 at the Dr. DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai.